Team Astana out of Tour after Vinokourov tests positive
Team Astana have withdrawn from the Tour de France after Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.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, a time trial in Albi - 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.
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