Old news or not? You decide... Anyway, he says it came down to being able to focus on the Tour. Seemingly not asked is what makes him so sure that the #1 disgraced squad from Le Tour '07 will get an invite next year, and what the alternative to Astana/Tour focus was, if any. My guess is he's banking on his yellow jersey to resolve the former issue. Whether there was ever another team in the mix... who knows?
Update [2007-10-23 18:13:37 by chris]: Levi too! Cites the I-(heart)-JB reasoning.