Cyclingnews.com reports that Alexander Vinokourov, dumped in spectacular style during the 2007 Tour de France for blood doping (which fuelled a spectacular return to form after an injury-plagued race) is planning a come-back. He says he's likely to return to the Astana team (the same team now run by Lance Armstrong's mate Johan Bruyneel and which Armstrong will ride for in his comeback season).
Has the world gone mad, or just Vinokourov? It was Vino and his fellow team mates that earned Astana such a reputation for doping that they were excluded from the 2008 Tour de France. Vino's ban for doping was astonishingly light, at a mere 12 months, and was the subject of a CAS appeal by the UCI, who suspended it following Vinokourov's retirement. What responsible cycling team would touch him, even with a ten foot bargepole?
In the meantime, most of the Fuentes-linked blood-dopers must be heaving a deep sigh of relief that the Spanish judiciary aren't going to pursue th case in the courts. Unless, of course this opens the way for the UCI to take the case forward.