The Astana professional cycling team is to review its anti-doping policy and is conducting an internal investigation, after Valentin and Maxim Iglinskiy returned adverse analytical findings for erythropoietin (EPO). ‘Astana Pro Team is conducting an internal investigation, and wishes to reassure the UCI and general public that preliminary findings demonstrate the events are of an isolated nature, and that no other member of Astana Pro Team knew or took part’, read a 10 October statement. ‘Astana Pro Team will investigate the events more thoroughly in the following weeks, and will request an audit of its own stringent anti-doping policy to identify whether even stronger measures would be possible and legally enforceable’.

Astana also confirmed that it has suspended itself from participation in World Tour events, in line with the principles agreed when it joined the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC) in 2013. These require cycling teams to suspend themselves from World Tour events for eight days, if two positives are reported in 12 months, with the suspension to serve from the date of the next World Tour event. On 6 October, the Astana team confirmed that Maxim Iglinskiy would ‘not stand against the second opinion following his positive test on 1 August 2014’. This followed the UCI’s confirmation of a positive test for Valentin Iglinskiy during the Eneco Tour, which also took place in August – Valentin has been released from the team after admitting he was acting on his own initiative. Astana’s self-suspension will apply from 10 October, the start of the Tour of Beijing, to 17 October, and will also take in the Tour of Emilia and the Grand Prix Bruno Beghelli.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirmed that the Astana team would face financial sanctions for breaching its rules requiring all World Tour teams to take part in all events. ‘We confirm that the financial penalties contained in the UCI Rules under such circumstances will indeed be applicable’, read a UCI statement. ‘The final decision regarding the fine will be made by the UCI Disciplinary Commission.’

The UCI also said that it viewed the positive tests for EPO by two riders of the same team ‘as an extremely serious situation and one which raises questions about the management of the team and the ethics which are upheld within it. We will be discussing this with the team to see whether we are satisfied that they are doing all they can to ensure their riders do not use performance-enhancing drugs. Once we have reviewed the situation, we will see if there are changes we believe need to be made internally at the team or indeed whether we should attach conditions to their licence going forward which are consistent with the WADA Code.’