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Saiz granted ProTour license
Manolo Saiz, implicated in the Spanish doping scandal Operacion Puerto, was granted a ProTour license for his cycling team on Monday by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
The team, formerly called Liberty Seguros, then Astana-Würth, and now Astana, is led by Vuelta a España champion Alexandre Vinokourov. The team is owned by Active Bay, and Saiz is a major shareholder of that company.
Saiz resigned as team director in June, a month after being swept up in a raid in which police seized bags of blood and doping substances and equipment. He was questioned by police in Madrid after reportedly being arrested with 60,000 euros and banned substances in his possession.
Saiz has denied any involvement in doping.
Nevertheless, five Team Astana riders were forced to skip the Tour de France after being implicated in the Spanish investigation. Vinokourov and the remainder of the team then were forced to pull out as well because a Tour team must have a minimum of six riders to compete.
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