In recent days the Spanish media has been speculating as to why Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was left off the start list of the Volta a Catalunya this week. The thought was that perhaps his Caisse d’Epargne team had been notified in advance of an unfavorable decision against rider by the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS).
Earlier this month CAS denied Valverde’s appeal against his two-year racing ban imposed by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) which prevents him from racing in Italy. Now the Spaniard is awaiting a decision on whether the Italian ban will be enforced globally in an appeal that was brought forth by the International Cycling Union (UCI). If CAS judges in favor of the UCI, it would end his 2010 season and could see him out of the sport until 2012 if a full two-year ban is enforced.
“We must be cautious, we are waiting for what happens with these two outstanding issues, and then we will decide which races he will ride, but he is training as if he will be racing,” his Caisse d’Epargne team told the Diario de Navarra.
In late December Valverde told Spanish newspaper El Mundo he would ride in the Santos Tour Down Under, the Tour of the Mediterranean, Haut Var, Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and the Vuelta al País Vasco, which means the decision taken against him earlier this month could have factored into his non-participation this week.
Valverde has always denied doping, but some inconsistencies in his evidence appeared to be uncovered during the CAS hearing held in January. The most notable conflict was with the blood bag that was identified by the code ‘Valv.Piti’. The central figure in the Operacion Puerto scandal, Eufemiano Fuentes, often used the names of riders’ pets as codewords. The Spaniard denied owning a dog named Piti, but his testimony was contradicted by a Spanish journalist who interviewed the rider at home just before the Puerto raids took place.