I don't get it!! The ASO has no problem win him­ racing but the Italian cycling federation does. Only­ because there is one stage on italian soil he cannot­ race. These organizations need to get on the same page!

danthecan123 or is this Mr bitter himself Le Mond.

Valverde was sentenced because of his blood left for­ Fuentes. But actually there any other evidence?
1.­ Fuentes was the doctor of Spanish national team.­ Cyclists left their blood for the examination and some­ of them had impure intentions. But also Valverde? We­ don't know. And CONI also.
2. Of course someone can­ say that anyone doesn't left so much blood. But you­ have to notice if he left it many times or not.­ Everyone would die if a doctor collect your blood in so­ much amount. He left it during many visits. But­ everyone thinks: if there is so much blood it has to be­ impure.
In fact CONI haven't any real and­ argumented evidence.
I write it from the point not of­ the Alejandro's fan but just person. Think about­ it.

The authorities must close the time gap between testing­ and punishment. Puerto examination started in 2006. ­ "Puerto cyclists" may have begun in 2004. ­ Punishment to one rider (Valverde) in­ 2009.
'
Elementary psychology- match the timing of­ the reward or punishment as close to the incident as­ possible, so the recipient clearly assoicates pain/­ reward with their action.
'
Equally, match the­ punishment with the severity to deter ALL cyclists in­ the system = 3 or 4 yr bans, not 1 or 2­ years.
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The authorities have no clue about­ delivering basic human incentives and disincentives. ­ So the authorities will remain busy.

meant to finsh by saying "Innocent until PROVEN­ guilty"

Here's wishing for a entertaining,­ drug free TDF with or without Valverde

Do any of us really know if Valverde is guilty... So­ far we hear some code words from OP and allegations­ from CONI about his guilt, however something does not­ seem right to me.
1) If he is guilty why has it taken­ so long for CONI to produce the "evidence" to­ the UCI as they were supposed to 2 weeks ago?
2)How­ can CONI be sure this is AV's blood unless it is an­ exact match? If exact match why is it taking so long­ for CONI to produce the evidence?
3) If CONI obtained­ this evidence because "a deputy incorrectly­ authorised the release of the bag of blood in­ question" is this legal?

Am not an expert on­ drugs in sport and I am not saying Valverde is not­ guilty or guilty however I do think there may be a­ vendetta from some Italian sources as it appears to­ them the Spanish Cycling Courts is reluctant to open OP­ AND penalise their riders, whilst some top Italian­ riders were banned for their involvement in OP.­ It's like " if you're not going to ban­ them, we will do it for you with a big rider although­ we dont have legal jurisdiction" .. is this­ right.. you be the judge.

What I do know is Valverde­ has been banned without anyone so far producing any­ verified evidence.. and the state of cycling is so bad­ many of us assume someone is guilty of doping at the­ mere mention or allegation by another body. We no­ longer live in a society of "innocent until proven­ guilty".. its like if someone says he doped then­ .. well he must have doped. (LA point in case)

I read­ Armstrongs comments and IOC report on a certain lab in­ France and the way they conducted and handled blood and­ urine samples and it seemed pretty worrying to me...­ its easy for people to make mistakes and you could be­ called a drug cheat for life and LAMBASTED by all­ concerned based on simple human error. Don't get me­ wrong I feel for the people trying to make the sport­ clean too but this is a mess... however bad things can­ we afford to waive the "Innoc

Don't know about you lot, but I keep my blood where­ it belongs, in my veins!!

mike c i completely agree with you! its only right­ thats he's been banned but more action should be­ taken against every rider!
if they're clean there­ should be no problem!!
i think we should look forward­ to the tour not oooo who's gonna be caught­ next!!?
its a great race! VIVE LA TOUR!

pedro, there is another article in the cycling page­ that explain how coni obtained the dna from operation­ puerto and how they matched the Dna

What a mess. Have to say, I'm still baffled by the­ methods employed by CONI in this case. Can anyone­ actually explain to me the process CONI employed in­ matching up Valverde's DNA with the Fuentes blood­ bags? In any event, it smells of sculduggery and I­ can't beleive that it would be­ admissable/enforceable. This is, in itself, a­ technical issue and does nothing to prove or disprove­ Valverde's guilt. Yes there has been strong­ rumours for some time, but the least the world's­ top ranked rider deserves is a swift, professional,­ thorough investigation? The UCI and WADA are being­ made to look useless yet again?! On a side issue, I­ don't think Valverde's absence will have much­ of an effect on the overall - his past performances­ suggest he doesn't hold up over 3 weeks and has at­ least two bad days, where he loses bags of time.

AndJusticeForAll

The idiot speaks for himself.

Illegal? the spanish substitute judge gave the italian­ federation some data coleltected in fuentes clinic. One­ bag of blood Dna matched Valverde's Dnacollected­ last year when the tour crossed italy and prompted the­ authority tro ban valverde. How is this illegal?? what­ has the mafia to do with this?? You have a strange­ concept of justce given your nick name. Pheraps you­ should change it to andjusticeforall(apart from­ valverde)!

Valverde is the envy of Italian cyclists. No wonder­ the corruptive Italian S**t Mafia does anything illegal­ to discredit a top Spainard. Shame on them. Nothing­ proved legally. The past belongs to the past.

I love the TdF but enough of this negative stuff.­ Let's make a standard spec for the bikes, no­ changing for time trials. Let's keep the same­ design of helmet as worn on the first day, Blood, Urine­ & hair samples to be collected 1 month begore the­ start, urine samples to be collected daily & BANNED­ FOR LIFE IF THEY FAIL ANY TEST.
Or, leave them to do­ what they & stop yakking about it. Either one is­ fine by me, but PLEASE, no more middle of the road­ stuff!

its very good..but not fair why Contador may start and­ CONI did not look to his involvement in theOperacion­ Puerto asthere is really strong indication...

jeremycordonnewby, I was about to correct you on some­ of the many inaccuracies in your essay but then I­ remembered, there's no helping some people.

those in charge of TDF are soft on doping. it dont­ matter what country he did it in. the fact he did it.­ he should be banned for life like all riders when­ caught..

serves him right! ha ha ha

all cheaters should go out, Valverde is cheater and a­ lyer he should leave for good