Kazakh rider Andrej Kashechkin has been fired by Astana after a "B" sample tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.
"Andrej Kashechkin from now on is dismissed with immediate effect," the team said in a statement Friday.
Kashechkin first tested positive during an unannounced control on Aug. 1 in Belek, Turkey. He was suspended from the team a week later pending analysis of his backup sample.
Kashechkin finished third in this year's Dauphine Libere race. He finished fourth in the 13th stage of the Tour de France.
