The blood doping investigation that started off in Spain about a week ago - regarding the "Manolo Saiz & Eufemiano Fuentes affair" - seems to make more and more victims. Not sooner then yesterday, the list with the 58 cyclists suspected of having to deal with Doctor Fuentes had the name of 1997 Tour de France winner, German Jan Ullrich. Well, today it was time for a worst thing to happen. The Tour de France organizers - that will get off on the 1st of July - already eliminated one team out of the competition.

We're talking about Astana-Wurth, the former team of Spaniard Manolo Saiz - also known, before the scandal, by the name of Liberty Seguros. Actually, this sanction was expected a few weeks ago. Still, Jean-Marie LeBlanc wanted to give Alexander Vinokourov a shot at the final victory, since he was one of the main contenders for Champs Elysees' win and let Astana enter the competition. Yesterday, though, the Tour manager changed his mind.

Questioned about the whole thing and the latest news concerning the doping scandal, the International Cyclist Union (UCI) president, Pat McQuaid said that: "Our hands are tied because we have to respect our own rules, same as the organizers of the Tour de France. It's frustrating because this affair is terrible, but for the time being, we have no proof that would enable us to sanction teams or riders".

A few hours later, McQuaid was proven wrong by the Tour organizers, when Vinokourov and his team were asked to step down of the French competition, for not damaging the image of the Tour. Actually, it seems that McQuaid started this whole mess, after sending the Secretary of State of Spain government a letter, in which he warned him of the latest findings on the blood tests: "I sent a first letter to the minister to warn him of our worry in the reading of blood samples of certain Spanish riders that were in our possession. And that even though the anti-doping tests on these riders were negative. I'm not suggesting that the UCI is the instigator of this affair, but in this letter I forwarded the name of a doctor on which we had serious doubts."