December 7, 2007 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) – Alexander Vinokourov (formerly Astana), who was handed a one-year suspension by the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation, has announced his retirement from the sport according to AFP. Vinokourov was team captain of Astana in the 2007 Tour de France until he tested positive for homologous blood doping on July 21 and 23, which lead to the team’s withdrawal from the Tour. The 34-year-old cyclist said today in the Kazakh city of Almaty that he will no longer be riding competitively and that this is a definitive decision. “I’m slamming the door and leaving.”

Vinokourov also protests his innocence and claims that his national cycling federation caved in to pressure from the UCI to suspend him despite proof that he was not doping. He is represented by some of the same lawyers who are defending the discredited winner of the 2006 TdF, Floyd Landis. The Landis case will be heard before the international Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

A one-year suspension was handed down Thursday by the vice president of the Kazakh federation, Nikolaï Proskourine. This suspension would technically allow Vinokourov to compete in the August 2008 Beijing Olympics. The suspension is also mild and cyclists from other countries in similar situations would normally face a two-year suspension. The suspension is so mild, in fact, that it might be appealed by the UCI or by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Vinokourov claims that Europeans don’t want to see Kazakhs doing well in major cycling events, a theory that apparently is popular in his native Kazakhstan.

Vinokourov also claims that other sports are protected from doping scandals simply by their economic power. “I don’t think that cycling is dirtier than any other sport,” he remarked, asking why the media doesn’t pry into doping scandals with tennis or soccer. His words on this matter echo recent remarks by WADA President Dick Pound.

For the complete article in French click here.