Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde received a two-year ban from world sport’s top court, the CAS, over his implication in the Operation Puerto drugs scandal which erupted in 2006.
The ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport will please several bodies who have been campaigning to see an Italy-wide ban on the Spaniard extended worldwide.
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 Roma-ndie 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 and the World Anti-Doping Agency against the Spanish Cycling Federation and the Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde,” CAS said in a statement on Monday.
“Accordingly, the CAS has imposed a two-year ban on Alejandro Valverde starting on January 1, 2010.” — AFP