The new Astana is "under surveillance" by the UCI

The ongoing tussle between Tour de France organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and the UCI over the ProTour might end up affecting the Astana team. With the UCI demanding that the Tour de France allow all the ProTour teams to start, and the ASO historically fighting to limit the number of teams it is required to invite to 18, the Astana team might find itself on the chopping block after suffering three doping positives in 2007.

Although no official comment has been made on that matter yet, it's rumoured that ASO isn't interested in organizing the Tour de France with teams like Astana, who have had doping positives of Matthias Kessler (testosterone), Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreï Kashechkin (blood doping), and reportedly maintain ties to Dr. Michele Ferrari.

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Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.