Tour de France officials revoked its wild-card bid to Spanish team Comunidad Valenciana on Tuesday, citing alleged links to the "Operación Puerto" doping scandal broiling in Spain.

The announcement comes after two weeks of speculation that the continental Spanish team would lose its Tour invitation when the team’s assistant sport director, José Ignacio Labarta, was among five people arrested last month. Others detained were Manolo Saiz, doctors Eufemiano Fuentes and José Luis Merino Batres, and former mountain biker Alberto Leon.

"The implication of Comunidad Valenciana's deputy director, (Jose) Ignacio Labarta, even if he has withdrawn from the team, led the organizers to withdraw their invitation," Amaury Sport Organization said in a statement Tuesday. "The team will not be replaced."

Comunidad Valenciana officials reacted angrily to the decision Tuesday. Team manager Vicente Belda said it was like "putting innocents against the wall and shooting them." "I’ts easier to kick out the poorer one that’s thin and dressed bad and throw them to the lions. Labarta said he left the team because he didn’t want to hurt the team and we put all of our riders at the disposition of the UCI and the Spanish authorities to make controls and now that’s served up for nothing," Belda told EFE. "Labarta is left without a salary and I think we will be, too, in no time." Belda also complained about the difference in treatment accorded his team and Astana-Würth. "There’s no difference between the cases," Belda said. "In the case of our team, if you look at the circumstances, it’s worse for the other." Despite Saiz’s decision last week to step down from day-to-day operations of Astana-Würth, the team’s fate is in the hands of the UCI, though Tour officials warned individual riders could be kicked out of the race. Because it’s part of the 20-squad ProTour league, Astana-Würth is not dependent on invitations to start the Tour.

"With regard to the investigation of Manolo Saiz in this affair, prejudicial to the image of cycling, the Tour de France has noted the announcement of his withdrawal from the Tour, a withdrawal that the organization would have demanded anyway," the Tour statement said.

A spokesperson for Würth said the team did not expect to be kicked off the Tour.

"The team considers it has complied with all the requirements of the UCI's code of ethics with the removal of Manolo Saiz until he can prove his innocence and by naming another sporting director," said the spokesperson.

"We therefore hope the UCI will accept this and give us the green light."

Race officials said they are waiting for the UCI to make a decision on the team’s immediate future. The UCI is expected to meet Wednesday to confirm the ProTour license after new sponsor Astana took over for Liberty Seguros, which ended its annual $8.5 million sponsorship deal in the wake of Saiz’s detention.

"Should riders or members of the team be suspected by judicial authorities before or during the competition, the code of ethics will have to be harshly applied," ASO said.

Agritubel, the other "wild card" team, will join the 20 ProTour teams for the July 1 start in Strasbourg.