Mauro Vegni, the Giro di Italia director, hopes that the Astana’s licence situation will be finished before the start of his race. He met with Brian Cookson, the president of cycling’s governing body (UCI), last week to say him his worry about the Astana situation. He does not want to live the same situation four years ago.

Alberto Contador won the italian three-week race. But the Spanish rider was tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France. He was able to race while the case continued, only to see his Giro title stripped after his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) failed.

“I asked him not to let the start the Giro start with this case up in the air as was the case with Contador. We can’t accept that anymore. He fully agreed with me and I’m confident the case will be clarified before the start of the Giro d’Italia”, Vegni told according to Cycling Weekly. “It’s up to others to decide things, but I think the UCI doesn’t want to have an unacceptable situation like we had with Contador. So I hope that UCI works with CAS to the point to making sure that a decision is reached before the start of the Giro.”

The Licence Commission may decide to stop the Kazakh team or to allow the team to continue as a Professional Continental team: “If the team loses its WorldTour licence, we need to understand why,” Vegni continued. “Only after, we will decide regarding the team. We’ll see what commission decides and if they stop [Astana], we will hear then the real decision for that decision. We’ll decide and act as a consequence of that. Today, Astana can ride the Giro d’Italia. If the verdict is negative, then clearly that puts their participation in doubt. If the verdict, instead, is linked to facts from the past, then I don’t think I can penalise a team and its riders. But as I said, it’s important to understand the verdict.”