Vincenzo Nibali furious with Astana team-mates who failed doping tests
Wednesday 26 November 2014 16:57, UK
Vincenzo Nibali has disowned the four Astana 'idiots' who have returned positive doping tests to leave the team's WorldTour future in question.
The Kazakhstan-based team's licence was already being reviewed by the International Cycling Union after three doping offences in three months, and a fourth emerged earlier this week.
Brothers Valentin and Maxim Iglinskiy tested positive for EPO and Ilya Davidenok, a rider for their third division feeder team, returned a positive test for steroids.
Davidenok's young team-mate Victor Okishev became the fourth offender, and prior to that UCI president Brian Cookson had warned conditions could be attached to their 2015 licence.
But Nibali insists he has nothing to do with any of the cases - Maxim Iglinskiy was part of his Tour de France-winning line-up in July - and sees no reason why he should be affected by them.
"If people want to associate me with these cases, they don't understand anything," the Sicilian said in La Gazzetta dello Sport. "They are four idiots that have nothing to do with me.
"The problem is certainly not mine. I think about myself and I have a clear conscience. I certainly can't give answers for their problems.
"Also, the two riders race for the continental team and I don't even know who they are.
"Maxim Iglinskiy? In a team there are those you have to live with regardless. He was not part of my group and between us, there's no link."
