Cycling News Flash for June 26, 2006

Edited by Jeff Jones

Astana-Würth out of Tour?

The Tour de France wants to exclude the Spanish Astana-Würth team from the race, according to reports in El Pais and AS. An official communiqué has not been released yet, but the Tour has already sent faxes to the UCI and Astana-Würth informing them of their decision.

According to AS, the co-manager of Active Bay (which owns the team), Pablo Antón has received the fax and intends to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Tour de France, which has a strict anti-doping stance, has already excluded the Comunidad Valenciana team on the basis of information from 'Operación Puerto'. However, it is not yet clear whether it can exclude a ProTour team without the blessing of the UCI. That may well be given, after several members of Astana-Würth have been heavily implicated by 'Operación Puerto'.

May 18, 2009 - Valverde to start Catalunya
May 15, 2009 - Valverde not welcome in Denmark
May 14, 2009 - Spanish federation wants proof in Valverde case
May 13, 2009 - Spanish Olympic Committee defends Valverde
May 12, 2009 - Valverde responds to sanction
May 11, 2009 - Italian tribunal delivers Valverde two-year suspension
May 8, 2009 - Valverde case: Italian Olympic Committee defends Torri
May 7, 2009 - Valverde to take legal action against CONI prosecutor
May 5, 2009 - WADA and Spanish federation join CONI and UCI on Valverde
May 1, 2009 - International Cycling Union joins in on Valverde's hearing in Italy

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