I missed this story on Cyclingnews.com the other day (CAS Confirms Valverde's Italian Ban | Cyclingnews.com), but it would seem that CONI's ban on Alejandro Valverde's in Italy (which includes races passing through Italy) has been upheld by CAS.  Valverde was banned in May 2009 after it was found the blood stored as part of the "Fuentes affair" contained his DNA. The Cyclingnews.com report goes a little further, saying:

According to analysis performed in a Barcelona laboratory as part of the initial Spanish investigation, the bag of blood contained EPO and so the CONI banned Valverde for two years.

It's also reported that the UCI plans to take action aimed at extending Valverde's ban worldwide.  In my view there's a wider issue - how can one of the biggest doping scandals have failed to result in more action being taken against offending riders?  Is it fair on the few riders who have been penalised that others involved have not been challenged? 

[The cyclingnews.com page linked above has a useful timeline of the Operacion Puerto case as it relates to Alejandro Valverde]

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