Cycling: After the UCI last week, somewhat surprisingly, demanded the withdrawal of the license for the controversial Astana team in a press release, L'Equipe now wants to know that the team has until March 20 to comment on the allegations to the license commission .
At the same time, this deadline also means that the Kazakh team around tour winner Vicenzo Nibali will definitely keep their license until March 20th. So, for example, nothing stands in the way of the Italian starting at Tirreno-Adriatico. In a first reaction, the racing team had announced that they would submit exculpatory documents to the commission and also made no secret of the possibility of taking legal action in order to keep the WorldTour license. A visit to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS is also possible.
Team doctor Joost de Maeseneer also commented on the allegations today. The Belgian doctor, who has faced allegations himself in the past, referred to Astana's membership in the MPCC: “We are members of the MPCC, which in turn is part of the French anti-doping program. We keep an eye on cortisone levels and also have a strict no needles policy. Outside supplements are prohibited, as are coaches who are not part of the team. We think this approach makes sense and that's why we joined MPCC in 2013 – unlike other WorldTour teams.” In his statement, he also describes the Iglinskiy brothers, who were convicted of doping as Astana drivers last year, as "idiots" and "individual cases".
So it remains exciting around Astana. We will keep you up to date.