Astana Out of TDF as Race Organizer ASO Drops Bombshell

Gone from the 2008 Tour will be the turquoise and yellow colors of the Astana squad

As it has been widely reported, team Astana, that of 2007 Tour de France Champion Alberto Contador and third place finisher Levi Leipheimer, has been barred by the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the organizer of the Tour de France, from competing in the 2008 edition. Tour director Christian Prudhomme cited the team's past as the reason they were excluded. "We remember what happened in 2006," Prudhomme told Reuters. "Then came 2007 with a new team who asked us to trust them. We did that and paid dearly for it."

Race director Pudhommes decision to bar Astana will not sit well with many fans, especially those in America following Leipheimer and Horner

The implications of ASO's decision will have profound affects on the 2008 version of the race. Without the powerful Astana team to dictate the tactics of the race, controlling the peloton will probably be done by committee, with 2007 runner-up Cadel Evans's Silence-Lotto team being left to control the pace along with other contenders like Caisse d'Epargne, Rabobank and possibly even the Italian team Lampre.

Evans will hope he has to form to hear his nation's national anthem played in Paris in 2008

Also dramatically affected will be the final outcome of the race. Contador and Michael Rasmussen (since kicked off of the Rabobank team) were the two best climbers in the 2007 edition, and were the only ones to put Cadel Evans under pressure. Now that Contador is out, other climbers will be able to try to attack the race at their pace. Some riders besides Evans that should be considered possible winners of the 2008 Tour are Damiano Cunego of the Lampre squad, Alejandro Valverde of the Caisse d'Epargne, and Dennis Menchov of Rabobank. Either way, the 2008 edition will be an open, unpredictable race from start to finish.

If Cunego can continue to improve his skill in the time trial, he could make a run at the GC in the 2008 TDF