The International Cycling Union (UCI) has named Italian Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas-Doimo), Spaniard Jesús Rosendo Prado (Andalucía-Cajasur) and Slovenian Tadej Valjavec (Ag2r-La Mondiale) as three of the riders that have had irregularities show up on their Biological Passport.
According to the UCI, the riders, National Federations, teams, National Anti-Doping Organisations and the World Anti-Doping Agency have all been notified of the provisional suspension, and maintain that each rider should be presumed innocent until a final decision has been taken in the matter.
Also today, Renato Di Rocco, who is the Italian Cycling Federation president and vice president of the UCI, told Italpress that Carlo Scognamiglio (ISD-Neri) was also included on the list. The ISD-Neri team has said they have had no notification on the matter, and have consulted with their attorney.
As reported by VeloNation earlier today, Pellizotti has been removed from the Liquigas-Doimo roster, and was one of the big favorites for the overall victory. Suspicions were raised about Pellizotti during last year’s Tour de France when he reportedly returned abnormal blood values. He won the King of the Mountains jersey and he has been monitored since.
Slovenian Tadej Valjavec (AG2r) finished 8th overall in the Italian Grand Tour last year, with his best performance this season 8th place in stage two of the Giro del Trentino last month. The French team has suspended the rider from competition as a precaution. AG2r team manager Vincent Lavenu said in a statement from the team: “Our team adheres fully to the biological passport and we have confidence in the competent authorities with their fight against doping.”
Rosendo’s biggest accomplishment was wearing the King of the Mountains jersey in the 2008 Vuelta a España from stage two to stage eight. His Andalucía-Cajasur team said in a statement that the dates in question for Rosendo that show hemoglobin and hematocrit values that border on anemia were caused by a reported medical issue. The team claims that the change in values were caused by a hemorrhoid which bled for several days. The information is listed in the rider’s medical history.
This is the second time the UCI has named riders suspected of doping due to irregularities in their Biological Passport. Last June Spanish riders Igor Astarloa, Ruben Lobato and Ricardo Serrano as well as Italians Pietro Caucchioli and Francesco De Bonis, also were named due to anomalies in their blood values.