High Road were surprisingly left out when the Vuelta a Espana organisers unveiled their 20-team list for the stage race.

The team, known as T-Mobile before the German sponsor left cycling at the end of last season, are the only one of the 18 outfits in the elite ProTour not taking part in the Vuelta.

"I don't know why we have been left out," High Road leader Mark Cavendish said after his win in the Tour de Romandie prologue in Switzerland.

"However, the race is not as important as the Tour de France and the Giro [d'Italia] for our sponsors. Actually, the Tour of Britain and the Tour of Missouri are more important to them than the Vuelta.

"The organisers' decision is probably political: perhaps they want to please the crowd with more popular riders in their country."

Organisers Unipublic did not give any reason for leaving High Road out, although the team's past doping record could be one of them.

They said the 20 teams invited had been chosen because they "met the necessary criteria in terms of ethics, image and administrative matters".

The Astana team barred from entering the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia because of their implication in doping scandals over the past two years are among those invited.

The August 30-September 21 race is the only one of the big three tours Astana will ride in this year.

"We will have the best field of the three big tours," Vuelta director Victor Cordero stated. "We have got a great route and the teams will be motivated and coming with the best riders they have."

The Vuelta had already made it clear Astana would be asked to take part, arguing the team should not be punished since they had sacked their disgraced riders and overhauled their structure.

Alberto Contador, Spain's most exciting young rider, joined Astana after his Tour de France triumph last year when his Discovery Channel team was wound up following the withdrawal from the sport of the sponsors.

Last November, Deutsche Telekom announced it was withdrawing from professional cycling, ending its contract with Team T-Mobile, now Team High Road.

Former T-Mobile riders Bjarne Riis, who won the Tour de France in 1996, and Erik Zabel admitted last year to using banned substances during the 1990s.

T-Mobile launched an anti-doping programme and the sacking of German Patrik Sinkewitz and Italy's Lorenzo Bernucci following positive dope tests, plus the dismissal of Ukrainian rider Serhiy Honchar for breach of conduct appeared to back Deutsche Telekom's zero-tolerance stance.

2008 Vuelta teams:

Astana, Caisse D'Epargne, Euskaltel Euskadi, Saunier Duval, Andalucia-Caja Sur, Karpin Galicia, AG2r-La Mondiale, Bouygues Telecom, Cofidis, La Francaise des Jeux, Credit Agricole, Gerolsteiner, Team Milram, Lampre, Liquigas, Quick Step, Silence-Lotto, Rabobank, Tinkoff, Team CSC.

Reuters