Blood Doping

What began as a good week for Alejandro Valverde with a podium place in Paris-Nice finishes with the Caisse d’Epargne rider once again being involved in a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

Vuelta winner Alejandro Valverde is facing a worldwide ban from cycling after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) threw out his appeal against a decision of the Italian Olympic Committee, CONI, to ban him from racing in Italy for two years from May 2009.

That ban came about after a sample taken from Valverde during the Tour de France’s 2008 excursion into Italy was found to be a DNA match for a codenamed blood sample seized as part of the Spanish Operacion Puerto investigation.

Kacper Szczepaniak, who finished second to his brother Pawel in January’s Under-23 World Cyclo-cross Championships has reportedly tried to take his own life following last week’s revelations that the pair had tested positive for Recombinant EPO after the race in Tabor, Czech Republic.

Riccardo Riccò, the former Saunier Duval-Prodir rider who is due to return to the sport with Ceramica Flaminia next month after serving a 20-month suspension following his positive test for CERA during the 2008 Tour de France, has publicly dumped his partner and mother of his child, cyclocross rider Vania Rossi, after she failed a drugs test earlier this month.

Italy’s anti-doping authorities have hit Danilo di Luca with a two-year ban and fined the cyclist €280,000 as a result of his testing positive for CERA following two stages of last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Di Luca, who spent eight days last May in the race leader’s maglia rosa, which he had won in 2007, finished second in the race, 41 seconds behind Rabobank’s Denis Menchov, but details of his positive result were revealed in July, causing him to be provisionally suspended by the UCI.

Vania Rossi, the partner of former Saunier Duval-Prodir rider Riccardo Riccò, due to return shortly from a 20-month ban from the sport, has herself failed a drugs test, according to a statement released by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Friday. Rossi, however, vehemently denies that she uses performance-enhancing drugs, pointing out that she has been breastfeeding since giving birth to a baby boy last July.

Team Raleigh rider Dan Fleeman has announced that he will be publishing his
blood profile results exclusively on the BikePure.org website - a coup for the flourishing anti-doping organisation.

Fleeman, who recently joined Team Raleigh after spending the 2009 season with Cérvelo, was a driving force behind Bike Pure when it began in 2008.  Its aim is to restore honesty and integrity to a sport dogged by doping scandals for many years.

Team Astana are being investigated regarding a “penal infraction” relating to blood transfusion equipment seized from the team during the 2009 Tour de France according to a report on the Le Monde website.

The race was won by Astana rider Alberto Contador, with Lance Armstrong – then riding for Astana - coming third. 

A doctor whose client list includes embattled golfer Tiger Woods and former Olympic 100m champion Donovan Bailey has been placed under criminal investigation in Canada and the United States for providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs, according to The New York Times.

Cyclists Stefan Schumacher and Davide Rebellin are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have their disqualifications from the Beijing Olympics following positive tests for CERA rescinded.

Both have protested their innocence ever since the positive results, in both cases ascertained following retesting of the original samples, were revealed earlier this year.