However , the group running the Tour de France decided that Astana could not join the 2008 Tour de France . One week before the 2008 Giro d'Italia , the group running it invited the Astana team to join . On 13 February 2008 , the organizer of the Tour de France , the Amaury Sport Organisation , announced that Astana would not be invited to any of their events in 2008 due to the doping previously perpetrated by Astana , despite the fact that its management and most of its ridership had changed before the 2008 season .