CAS bans Spanish cyclist Valverde worldwide for two years

May 31, 2010, 20:00 GMT

lausanne, Switzerland - Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde was banned for two years on Monday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport over evidence of having doped with the blood booster EPO.

The world's highest sports court granted a request by the ruling cycling body UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to extend a ban on racing in Italy, imposed last year by the nation's Olympic Committee, to a worldwide ban.

Valverde was retroactively banned from January 1, 2010 but he was allowed to keep his results until then, including the 2009 Vuelta title.

Valverde was implicated in evidence seized by Spanish authorities in 2006 in connection with Operacion Puerto case centring on doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

The Italian authorities banned Valverde for two years via a blood bag containing EPO that was linked to him via DNA tests. He never failed a doping test.

Valverde protested before CAS that he could not be banned based on the Spanish evidence while the UCI and WADA aimed to have the ban in effect worldwide.

The CAS judges agreed by a 2-1 majority that 'it could use the evidence collected in the course of the Operacion Puerto for the purpose of the CAS arbitration.

'The CAS Panel found that the scientific evidence ... was sufficient to conclude that Mr Valverde committed an anti-doping rule violation, considering that Mr Valverde's blood contained EPO.'

The UCI expressed its satisfaction with the CAS ruling which ended the affair almost four years after Operacion Puerto started.

'The International Cycling Union (UCI) is satisfied by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the Alejandro Valverde case,' the UCI said in a statement.

'The UCI and cycling as a whole have certainly suffered greatly from this affair. The damage caused by Mr Valverde's behaviour since the UCI became convinced of his guilt cannot be fully compensated for by this regulatory sanction.'