After Astana were granted a WorldTour licence for 2015, one of cycling’s greats, Bernard Hinault, has spoken out against cycling’s top division.

ASO, Tour de France race organiser, can no longer prevent Astana from attending their races, as they did in 200 when Astana was excluded from the ProTour.

“I’m against the WorldTour, quite simply because it’s money that’s prioritised over everything else and there’s no opportunity for the race organisers to punish cheats,” Hinault told Cyclingnews. “If organisers had that possibility, there would be a lot fewer people out there doing stupid things. That’s what they need to change because in my opinion it’s not good at all for cycling.”

Hinault thinks cycling should comprise of “a first, second and third division, like they have in football” and allow the organisers themselves more freedom in deciding on who participates in their races.