Alberto Contador could miss out on the chance to defend his Tour de France crown after his new team, Astana, were banned from this year's race.
Spaniard Contador won the controversial 2007 race while riding for the Discovery Channel team but joined Astana on a two-year deal when the American outfit withdrew from the sport at the end of the year.
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced today that Astana will not be allowed to compete in any of their events in 2008.
‘ASO decided not to invite Astana to the races they organise in 2008 because of the damages this team caused to the Tour de France and cycling in general,’ the ASO said in a statement.
‘The Astana team essentially betrayed the organisation's trust last year.
‘However, ASO will remain attentive to the efforts Astana are putting in place to go through 2008 without incidents and without suspicion and they could be considered for future events.’
Astana were forced to withdraw from last year's race after lead rider Alexandre Vinokourov failed a doping test.
The team were barred from entering the 2007 Tour of Spain and had already been informed that
they could not compete at this year's Giro d'Italia despite coming under new management.
A disappointed Contador gave his reaction to the ASO's decision following Wednesday's conclusion of the fourth stage of the Challenge de Mallorca, in which he is competing.
‘The Tour is the race that I have always dreamed of, I have always fought for and I hope to fight for in the future. My objective this year was to win it again, but they have not given me the chance to try it,’ Contador told reporters.
