UCI says “no” to Vinokourov as manager at Astana

Alexandre Vinokourov would be willing to break his cycling career to be the manager of Astana next year, but UCI president Pat McQuaid says that if Vino takes that step, Astana would lose its Pro Tour license.

“Vino is a rider, ” the UCI president said. “We have a course for team leaders and managers. Vino is not registered on that list. The Kazakhs know that they must appoint a solid management team and that both ethically and in terms of quality of the riders on the ProTour level should continue. Otherwise their ProTour license will be under review.”

Johan Bruyneel also refuses to immediately resign as manager of Astana.

“My last day in service of the team is December 31, 2009,” said Bruyneel. “I am responsible for a group of people whose job I want to guarantee. The only chance for survival is that Rini Wagtmans, the liaison between Kazakhstan and the UCI, takes over. Personally I struggle with the influential Kazakhs who hang around the team. I am sick of curiosity.”

Tags: alexandre vinokourov, astana, cycling, johan bruyneel, Kazakhstan, Patrick McQuaid, pro tour, UCI