The fate of the Astana Pro Team's licence to race in the World Tour has yet to be decided. But according to Cyclingnews, the Licence Commission could wrap up this week and make the final decision in the Astana case.
"I hope for a decision ideally this week. I don't have a final date, but the sooner the better," UCI President Brian Cookson said. He added that this case sends "a really strong, powerful signal, not just to Astana, but to other teams as well, that this has to stop; we cannot have multiple doping cases from one team in a year".
"Teams have to take their responsibilities very, very seriously in terms of how they monitor riders, how they support riders and coach riders. Doctors as well have to be very, very careful about the processes that they have been involved in."
Some allegations have been made that the team has used the services of banned doctor Michele Ferrari: "Others who are allegedly floating around on the sidelines, the people who have been banned, there are rumours that they are still acting as intermediaries, it is a warning to them as well," Cookson concluded.
If the Licence Commission remove Astana's licence, the team would still be allowed to ride if they make an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The riders like Jakob Fuglsang hope that their team will stay in World Tour: “I have not done anything wrong, so if UCI take my job away from me, so I think it ends up in a lawsuit,” he explained. “If the team loses its license, it is likely that our sponsors withdraw, as they probably will not sponsor a team without access to the big races”, explained the Danish rider.
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