Allegations of Drug Use
Alejandro Valverde has been linked by documentary and DNA evidence to the Operación Puerto, a blood-doping affair which erupted in 2006 against doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and a number of accomplices. It uncovered doping products, bags of blood and code names that appeared to link top athletes, including 60 cyclists, to a highly-organized system of doping, which relied heavily on blood transfusions.
Valverde was not initially linked in the investigation, but internal documents from Madrid's Court 31 allegedly linked Valverde to confiscated blood via codes Valv, Piti and 18. In 2007 Valverde was banned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) from competing in the UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart but Valverde was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to compete at the championships. Dick Pound, World Anti-Doping Agency president, said the CAS decision did not mean that Valverde was no longer a suspect.
In early 2009 the Italian National Olympic Committee matched DNA samples taken from Valverde during a rest day in Italy of the 2008 Tour de France to blood seized in the Operación Puerto investigation. At a February 2009 appearance in front of the Olympic Committee, Valverde maintained his innocence and questioned the Italians' jurisdiction over this case. In May 2009, the Italian Olympic Committee suspended him from competition in Italy for 2 years, effectively barring him from the 2009 Tour de France, which detoured briefly onto Italian soil. Valverde filed an unsuccessful appeal against the Italian ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport; in a second hearing, scheduled for 18–21 March 2010, the UCI and WADA will contest the Spanish Cycling Federation's decision not to open a case against Valverde.
Finally, on 31 May 2010 it was announced the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeals from WADA and the UCI and Valverde is banned for two years, starting 1 January 2010, but rejected the request that any results obtained by the athlete prior to the beginning of the suspension be annulled.
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