Kazakh cyclist Vinokourov signs deal to return to Astana until the end of 2010

Vinokourov returns to Astana after doping ban

LONDON — All apparently is forgiven.

Alexandre Vinokourov is returning to Astana two years after his positive test for blood doping forced the team to withdraw from cycling’s premier event and caused it to be banned from the race in 2008.

Astana reached an agreement with the Kazakh cyclist that runs through next year, the team said in a statement on Monday. It also has Alberto Contador, winner of the Tour this year and in 2007, under contract.

Vinokourov resumed his cycling career earlier this month after serving a two-year suspension. He will race with Astana beginning Saturday in the Tour of Spain, which he won in 2006.

Contador won the Tour de France for the second time last month with former teammate and seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong finishing third. The Texan announced during the race that he was forming his own team for 2010 with Radio Shack as the sponsor.

In June, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Vinokourov’s two-year ban for blood doping.

The Kazakhstan cycling federation gave him just a one-year ban, but the UCI, cycling’s governing body, filed an appeal to impose the standard suspension. Vinokourov has denied doping during the 2007 Tour.

He finished third at the 2003 Tour and fifth in 2005.

Astana receives most of its financial support from Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna.