Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov is to return to Astana, the team he was riding for when banned for two years for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France. Astana, one of the leading teams in the sport reached an agreement with the Asian time trial champion Monday that will see him ride for the team until the end of next year, the team said in a statement. Vinokourov's first race for the team will be the Tour of Spain which starts next Saturday in Assen, the Netherlands. Vinokourov, who won the Tour of Spain in 2006, resumed his cycling career earlier this month. Astana's Alberto Contador won the Tour de France for the second time last month, with teammate and seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong finishing third.
