The International Cycling Union UCI denies to have made a decision in Astana's license case. The federation is responding to news in De Telegraaf which reported that the UCI has decided to revoke the WorldTour license.

“Following a misleading article published today in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) would like to clarify that no hearing has yet taken place in the Astana case and therefore no decision has been made,” it said in a statement sent to CyclingTips.

“The UCI won’t make any further comment until the Licence Commission has rendered its decision.”

Astana have also responded to the news, telling Cyclingnews that March 20 was the deadline they had been given to form a legal response and supply all documentation to the Commission. On Thursday, they are expected to appear before the commission and is planning to send a team of representatives to Switzerland. They don't expect a decision to be made before the weekend of Paris-Roubaix and confirm that they are ready to take the case to case if they get stripped of their license.

Losing the WorldTour license will have major implications for the team of team manager Alexander Vinokourov. They will have to drop down to continental level and reduce their roster to a maximum of 16 riders. They will have to be registered in the country of the majority of their riders which is currently Italy. The team will be unable to participate in WorldTour races and can only do .HC races in their home country.