Alexandre Vinokourov has made a sigh of relief. The UCI license commission has given Astana a WorldTour license despite the doping scandals that have marred both the WorldTour and Continental teams. He may be relieved but he is vents his anger against the media and mainly La Gazzetta dello Sport that linked his team with doctor Michele Ferrari.

Alexandre Vinokourov describe these accusations as slander and has no doubt: this is a vendetta orchestrated from Italy. 

“The goal is the same – to destroy Astana,” Vinokourov told Vremya. “They envy us, especially the Italians. Two of the best Italian riders compete in the colours of a Kazakhstani team, and they do not like it. For example, [they don’t like] that Nibali rode the Tour of Almaty but did not ride the Tour of Lombardy. They also wanted to see him ride the Giro but he chose the Tour de France because for him the interests of the team come above everything.

“In addition, out of the 70 members of our staff, 20 are Italian. We invited the best specialists and they chose Astana. It is clear that they don’t like it although I don’t understand this reaction. An Italian wins the main race of the season yet they throw mud at his team. Where’s the logic?

“One misstep and they will punish not only you but the whole team. In any case, next year we will prove that Astana has won and will win honestly, without doping. We will make everyone respect our team.”

With the license in his pocket, the Astana manager will now try to take legal action.

“Around Astana there was too much noise. It was impossible to comment on all of the rumours about us, so we ignored them and focused on working with the UCI,” he said. "Now that all the difficulties are behind us, the team will consult with its lawyers. I believe that we must receive an apology at the least from the European press for the libel that has struck the team in recent months.”