MILAN, Italy — The president of the International Cycling Union hinted Monday that Astana’s chances of continuing to race next year could be in danger after two doping cases in a short space of time.
Kazakhstani cyclist Maxim Iglinskiy was provisionally suspended last week after testing positive for EPO, three weeks after his brother admitted to doping with the same substance.
"I’m sure this is something the license commission will be considering when they appraise their licenses for 2015," UCI President Brian Cookson told The Associated Press after the Giro d’Italia presentation in Milan. "I’m hopeful that these are two cases, which is two cases too many, but I’m hoping that they are isolated incidents and not symptomatic of a greater problem in the team. I hope so.
"We’ll wait and see on that one. The decision hasn’t finished yet and I don’t want to comment further. The second of the two cases is still an ongoing case so it’s not fair for me to comment until that’s completed."
Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali rides for Astana.
The team withdrew from this weekend’s Tour of Beijing after Iglinskiy opted not to contest his positive test on Monday.
The decision is in accordance with the rules of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), which Astana is part of, along with 10 other WorldTour teams.
Regulations state that any member team which has two positive tests within 12 months must suspend itself from racing for eight days as of the start of the next WorldTour race.
However, under UCI regulations a team can be sanctioned for missing a World Tour event.