MOSCOW — Katusha will be able to compete on the elite World Tour this year after the Russian team succeeded in its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the rejection of its original application. "CAS has upheld the appeal by Katusha against the International Cycling Union (UCI)," the Lausanne-based court said in a statement Friday. Katusha, who finished second in the World Tour standings last year, appealed to CAS in December after the UCI rejected its application to compete in the top flight because of the team's doping record over the past four years. "Following the hearing, the CAS Panel did not reach the same conclusions as the UCI Licensing Commission and decided to uphold the appeal," CAS said. The decision means Katusha will now be able to take part in all of cycling major races, such as the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour of Spain, as well as several top one-day and one-week races in 2013. "Undoubtedly, this is one of our biggest victories," said Igor Makarov, president of the Russian Cycling Federation and Katusha boss. With the season having already started, the UCI is in an uncomfortable position as only 18 teams are allowed in the World Tour. "The UCI will now evaluate the consequences of this ruling and will communicate further in coming days, as soon as such evaluation has taken place," the governing body said in a statement. — Reuters
