Tour de France:Team Astana have withdrawn from the Tour de France after Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.
The 33-year-old Kazakh rider - who won Saturday's 13th stage in Albi and yesterday's 15th - reportedly has two different kinds of blood globules which indicates he has taken blood from someone of a compatible group.
The team's decision also rules Germany's Andreas Klvden and Vinokourov's compatriot Andrey Kashechkin - who were lying fifth and eighth overall - out of the race.
A statement from Astana read: "The anti-doping control on Alexandre Vinokourov, that had been done on July 21st after the time trial in Albi, has been positively controlled.
"According to the ethical code of the Astana Cycling Team, Alexandre Vinokourov has been suspended with immediate effect. The rider asked nevertheless for a B analysis.
"Informed by the Astana management, the organisers of the Tour de France invited the team to withdraw, which was immediately accepted."
This year Vinokourov was widely believed to be the saving grace in a sport that has been irredeemably tarnished by doping scandals.
International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said today: "I cannot comment on this until the result of the B sample's analysis."
British rider David Millar, who was holding a press conference in Pau when the news broke, said: "Jesus Christ, I'm speechless.
Millar has served a two-year ban and was stripped of his gold medal from the 2003 world championships after admitting taking the banned blood-booster EPO. Yesterday he criticised Tour leader Michael Rasmussen for failing to make the anti-doping authorities aware of his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing.
Failure to do so on three occasions constitutes a positive test under International Cycling Union (UCI) rules and should bring about a two-year suspension.
Danish Cycling Union president Jesper Worre said Rasmussen had four warnings, two from the Danes and two from the UCI.
Rasmussen today expressed his regret that yet another Tour de France has been tarnished by a doping scandal. He has also been asked about allegations relating to the acquisition of bovine blood products but has protested his innocence.
The revelations have further damaged a sport still reeling from last year's winner Floyd Landis testing positive for excessive levels of testosterone, charges he is currently contesting.
"I am sorry for the Tour and the organisers that this event has happened now I have the yellow jersey," Rasmussen said today. "Since the start I have been tested 14 times including today and I have never been positive.
"I want to concentrate on the race."
Rasmussen rides for the Rabobank team, whose manager Theo de Rooy said: "There is no legal reason to stop him continuing the Tour until it ends on Sunday."