Doping violations rule Astana out of Tour of Beijing

Astana will not compete in the upcoming Tour of Beijing after it enforced the rules of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) whereby a team is automatically suspended for a week because of two doping infractions within a year.

The decision by Astana, who are run by controversial former rider Alexandre Vinokourov, will see them not only miss the final event in the WorldTour calendar, which runs from 10-14 October, but also the two semi-classics the Tour of Emilia and the Beghelli Grand Prix.

"All the team must not compete during this period," the MPCC said.

"This temporary suspension will allow the team to put in place measures that they judge useful."

Since the summer Astana has seen Kazakh duo Valentin Iglinsky and his older brother Maxim test positive for EPO.

Astana, who only signed up to the MPCC in 2013, is the third team to apply the rule following Rusvelo and AG2R, one of the founding members of the body created in 2007, who both had two doping cases apiece within the time limit.