Spain's Valverde appeals Italian ban at CAS
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde has appealed a two-year ban on him riding in Italy imposed by an Italian anti-doping tribunal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the court said on Friday.
Valverde, the world's top-ranked rider last year, was banned by Italy's Olympic Committee (CONI) last month and is poised to miss July's Tour de France as the 16th stage of the race passes through Italy.
CONI said blood samples Valverde gave at a doping control when last year's Tour entered Italy matched DNA from code-named bags of blood discovered in Spain's Operacion Puerto doping investigation, launched in 2006.
Valverde has repeatedly protested his innocence and his lawyers and the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) have said CONI has no right to rule on a Spanish rider.
"The athlete requests the CAS to state that CONI had no jurisdiction, exonerate him of any sanction and to terminate this matter," CAS said in a statement. The timing of the hearings will be announced later.
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