Spanish cyclist Valverde banned until 2011

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-01 09:49

GENEVA - Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde received a two-year ban Monday from world sport's top court, the CAS, over his implication in the Operation Puerto drugs scandal which erupted in 2006.

Spanish cyclist Valverde banned until 2011

File photo of Alejandro Valverde competing in the Tour de Romandie cycling race in Ovronnaz.

The ban was backdated to January 1, 2010, meaning Valverde will be free to ride competitively again from December 31, 2011, meaning he would be able to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Valverde, the recent winner of the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland and one of the most feared racers in hilly one-day classics and one-week stage races, has been banned from racing in Italy since May 2009.

The Italian authorities took a blood sample from the Spaniard at the 2008 Tour de France when it passed through the country, and it matched one of the blood bags containing the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) from the 2006 Puerto raid.

"The CAS has partially upheld the appeals filed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) and the Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde," CAS said in a statement.

CAS found that the scientific evidence, "blood bag number 18, scientific evidence that such blood contained EPO, DNA evidence that clearly demonstrated that blood bag number 18 contained Mr Valverde's blood, "was sufficient to conclude that Mr Valverde committed an anti-doping rule violation".

UCI expressed its satisfaction with the ruling, saying the decision it took along with the WADA to pursue Valverde and the Spanish federation had been validated.

CAS said Valverde's case had arisen after an initial Spanish criminal investigation in 2004.