The 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said on Thursday he was stunned by the decision to bar his Astana team from this year's edition.

"It's an injustice we cannot compete," the Spaniard said. "I have spent a lot of time preparing for it.

"On Tuesday I worked from 10 in the morning until eight in the evening doing exhausting tests to improve my time trial technique especially for the ones on the Tour which are harder and longer than other races. This could all have been for nothing."

Already left out of the Giro d'Italia, Astana will not be invited to any events organised by Amaury Sport Organisation this year including the Tour, ASO said on Wednesday.

The team, whose reputation has been tarnished by several doping scandals, could not be trusted, said Tour director Christian Prudhomme.

"I am in shock and very disappointed," said Astana's American rider Levi Leipheimer, third in last year's Tour. "We are all left wondering.

"I chose this team because it was a very new team which I've already experienced," he added. "The entire team will fight back."

International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid, who said last week there was no reason for organisers not to include Astana in the Tour, said he could not understand ASO's decision.

Astana changed their structure after being forced to pull out of last year's Tour when Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov, who has since retired, tested positive for blood doping.

His compatriot Andrey Kashechkin, Italian Eddy Mazzoleni and German Matthias Kessler were also involved in doping-related incidents. All were thrown out of the team.

Now under the guidance of former Discovery Channel manager Johan Bruyneel, still backed by the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation and sponsored by the country's oil companies, wealthy Astana have subscribed to anti-doping programmes.

"Is it Astana are a victim of the war between the UCI and ASO?," said Bruyneel.

"The Tour will lose its credibility without some of the best riders in the world. Other teams in the same situation as us can compete without problems."

Contador joined the team on a two-year deal in October and Astana had two other riders in with a chance of winning the showpiece event in July in Leipheimer and former Tour runner-up Andreas Kloeden of Germany.

Federico Bahamontes of Spain, who won the Tour in 1959, was also critical of ASO's decision.

"Contador isn't to blame for anything. When a rider tests positive they ban him and the rest of the team continues racing," he said.

"In this case it is the team who have failed and the rider is the one who is paying the price."

Reuters