Lance Armstrong returning to the Tour next year

In response to the previous postings about Astana, man, I was SO gutted about Vinokourov in 2007, but surely Astana came down hard on him and immediately voluntarily withdrew the entire team etc...

... not much blame can be assigned to the team, surely?

You cannot blood dope without assistance from experienced medical professionals so the management of the Astana team must have been complicit in Vinokourov's (and his other team mates) cheating. The management didn't withdraw the team, nor did they apologise to ASO in any way, shape or form for the disgrace they brought to the Tour. That's why they were excluded this year.