Contador, right, and the Astana team feel they have been frozen out of the Tour de France [AFP]

"It's an injustice we cannot compete," the Spaniard told local media.
 
"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."

Astana, who were also left out of the Giro d'Italia, will not be invited to any events organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) 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 Christian Prudhomme, Tour director.

"I am in shock and very disappointed," said Levi Leipheimer, Astana's American rider who finished third in last year's race.

"I chose this team because it was a very new team which I've already experienced," he added in a statement released by Astana.

"The entire team will fight back."

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, and all were thrown out of the team.

Alternate Astana

Now under the guidance of former Discovery Channel manager Johan Bruyneel, still backed by the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation (KCF), 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 Astana on a two-year deal in October after Discovery Channel, the team he won the Tour with last year, folded.

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," Bahamontes said.

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

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