Valverde banned from Italy for two years

8 comments
By AFP | Monday, May 11, 2009 4.14pm

The anti-doping tribunal of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Monday suspended Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde from competing on Italian soil for two years, the Ansa news agency announced.

Valverde, who was not present at the hearing, was punished for his role in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal.

The 29-year-old Spaniard can therefore not compete in any race that takes place in Italian territory, ruling him out of the next Tour de France, the 16th stage of which passes through Italy's Val D'Aosta region on July 21.

On April 1, CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri called for Valverde to be suspended for "violating the code of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA)".

The World Anti-Doping Agency welcomed the ban as "another brick in the all in the Puerto affair," the body's president John Fahey said in a conference call late Monday.

In February Torri claimed that a blood sample in the bag number 18 taken from the raided laboratory of the infamous doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was that of Valverde.

"We are in possession of documents that refer to Valverde concerning not just money paid to Fuentes but also various substances," Torri said back then.

Valverde, who rides for Caisse d'Epargne, subsequently announced on May 6 that he was launching a lawsuit against Torri.

"Mr Torri acts, in a repeatedly obstinate manner, with total disregard for the Spanish legal authorities, refusing to submit to the decision of the Madrid judge that forbids CONI from using criminal evidence against athletes," Valverde said in a statement.

Valverde has the backing of the Spanish justice system which has made it clear it is against any procedure brought by Italian authorities.

The Spaniard is one of the top cyclists in the world having twice won the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic in Belgium, while also finishing runner-up in the Tour of Spain in 2006, the same year he won the first of his two UCI Pro Tour title.

© AFP 2009

For more, visit Cyclingnews.com.

You can follow BikeRadar on Twitter at twitter.com/bikeradar and on Facebook at facebook.com/BikeRadar.

You might also like...

User Comments

There are 8 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 comments

  • If someone gets caught doping in Italy, and the Italian federation ban him for 2 years. The Italian cycling federation represent the UCI in Italy: so in essence the UCI ban him.

    Why is this not an international conviction?

    What am i missing?

    www.bikepure.org

  • Don't think you're lacking anything Myles.

    Presumably, it is because Valverde is subject to a criminal investigation in one country and the UCI banning him may a) leave them open to litegation and b) compromise the criminal investigation. Better off just leaving the Italians open to such possibilities.

    It's like the politicians here in the UK saying that "we've not broken any rules or found guilty of breaking rules so what's the problem"? when in fact the voters know that they have benefited from less than moral practices.

    Its the world we live in!!

  • The Puerto Affair still goes on...

    I am still wondering:

    * why Spanish authorities closed suddenly this case (much ado about nothing ???) although they've got lots of various evidences ? (rumors said hat it was done to protect tennisman Nadal... but who knows ?...)

    * why a 2 years ban for Valverde ? Usual bans are usually between 6 and 12 months.

  • It's a bit much, but ok.

    Still, if cheats find that this is what happens when they cheat, maybe it might make some think twice.

  • The only thing that will make cheats think twice, are lifetime global bans throughout all disciplines for the 1st conviction. The sad thing is the cheat catching systems are not even in the same book much less on the same page. the current system(s) are anything but fair, unbiased & anonymous.

  • I like Valverde but I knew that this witch hunt would catch up with him sooner or later.

  • He better watch out, he is under the radar now...

  • The phrase "under the radar" means you are flying under the radar sweep to avoid detection.

    Possibly you mean "on the radar" or lit up by radar"...

    :-)

Post a Comment:

You need to login or register to post comments.