PARIS (AP):

FOR THE second time in three years, Tour de France champion Alberto Contador looks likely to miss out on cycling's most prestigious race.

Contador's Astana team was banned from the July 5-27 race yesterday because it pulled out during the 2007 edition under a doping cloud and was excluded in 2006 after being linked to Operation Puerto.

Contador, who won last year's Tour for the now-disbanded Discovery Channel, was one of five Astana-Wurth riders implicated in the Spanish blood-doping scandal that forced the team's withdrawal in 2006.

Astana has been banned because of the "damage caused by this team to the Tour de France and cycling in general, both in 2006 and 2007", organisers said.

"The Astana team last year betrayed the trust of organisers."

Contador said he was devastated by the decision.