No Tour for Valverde!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/may09/may11news3

Oooops... It seems you can't escape from your past after all. Even though it's good to get dopers out of cycling it seems unfair that the Spanish still don't investigate all the riders (and athletes) related to Pueto.
The past few weeks have really swept away most of the classics results from the past five years. First we can erase all the placings of one Davide Rebellin and the we have this kid's records too...

 

Two years. So it means no tour this year, or next year. Shame on the Spanish authorities for dragging their feet on this one. CONI had to do their job.

Here's a question. We think the Fuentes' cycling business was small compared to what he had going on in tennis and soccer. Could CONI take blood samples from Spanish tennis and soccer players (when they happen to play in Italy) and match them as well? Or are they too chicken for that.

 

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Well you see the reaction from the Spanish authorities to the Valverde case so you can imagine what they would do if a footballer was prosecuted. They did everything (and still do) in their power to stop CONI from prosecuting Valverde. On the other hand I don't think Italians want to bust their footballers, or the CONI doesn't have balls to do something that huge.

Though I read from Wallstreet Journal that this Valverde case is a "first of it's kind" and may bring many similar cases in the future (if Valverde is banned by the UCI). Before no other national body has been able to ban a rider except his own but if CONI can ban (and UCI will accept ban) a Spanish athlete then this should be possible in other sports too.

 

Well isn't the point that he's now just banned from Italy. But as the tour goes thru there this year, it means no Valverde. It doesn't mean he's banned from Spain, or other countries.

 

No unless UCI reinforces the ban worldwide which would mean that he couldn't start any race sanctioned by the UCI. CONI says that the UCI has to reinforce to ban since they (CONI) are an olympic federation. Or atleast that's what the Italians are hoping now.

 

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