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Valverde ban reduction? Forget it says UCI

Valverde will have to sit it out until 2011 even if he does come clean

Alejandro Valverde, can forget about any chance of his two year ban being reduced by cycle sport's governing body the UCI if weekend reports are to be believed. It had been suggested in some quarters that were Valverde to finally admit his guilt and offer to co-operate with the governing body he could expect the length of his ban to be reduced.

However a UCI spokesman this weekend rubbished the suggestion speaking to the Agence France Presse News Agency. Valverde's ban will stand until the end of 2011 – five years after he was first incriminated in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal by a blood bag which DNA tests proved belonged to him – Valverde has never failed a doping test.

Any idea that the UCI would consider shortening Valverde's ban was always extremely optimistic, the Valverde episode was not only costly for the UCI but also highly embarrassing for the sport. He was first banned by the Italian cycling federation from competing in that country a ban that the UCI did not immediately follow up on, until it had conducted its own tests which took far longer than originally expected. When finally imposed the UCI's ban was challenged by Valverde at the Court for Arbitration in Sport, (CAS) it finally came down on the governing body's side last month. In the interim Valverde continued to compete racking up some notable wins including the Vuelta, and more than once topping the UCI rankings as the best rider in the world.

 

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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Decster | 14 years ago
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This stinks of the UCI not wanting anymore exposé for what is common knowledge amongst fans of the sport.

Of course they should offer a deal to Piti to name riders, Doctors and Director Sportif, how else to clean up the sport?

Everyone knows that if one other rider speaks out and confirms what Landis has said well house of cards....

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