Apparently, someone at Caisse d'Epargne felt queasy about backing Valverde after his CONI-sanction was upheld, and he was reportedly suspended from competition. Valverde, however, protested that this was not the case, and claimed that he simply had a week-long gap in his racing program, which he filled with family time. The Spaniard explained, “While waiting for a decision about my future and during a week in which no race was in my program, I spent a lot of time with my three sons. We had a great time."
Now...we know that doping is a bad thing, and to fail to condemn an athlete convicted of performance-enhancing drug use is to tacitly sanction his behavior. But Pappillon admits to being slightly conflicted about Piti. While one of Valverde's more obscure ex-Kelme teammates fingered him for partaking in that squad's infamous doping practices - explaining to us in great detail how the two were part of one of the most sophisticated systemic doping programs in cycling, the fact remains that Valverde is a brilliant racer who has thus far eluded the dope police and is technically free to compete on his UCI license. Sure, CONI did what the UCI couldn't - or wouldn't - do, and handed Valverde a two-year ban that will keep him off the bike on Italian soil at least until May 2011. And yes, the doping-in-cycling-whistle-blower, Jesús Manzano, testified that Valverde doped with him during their time together at Kelme. The conflict comes from the fact that Valverde just looks like he should be a champion cyclist, and it's a guilty pleasure here that we enjoy watching him ride - even though we imagine he has had to find more creative, and logistically-complex methods of enhancing his performance:
Of course, it's not totally impossible that Valverde is currently competing dope-free, in which case it would be great to know that he'd learnt his lesson. Highly unlikely, but not impossible.
Mother Nature is no longer backing Piti, and she finally accomplished what neither Pat McQuaid and the UCI nor CONI nor the bosses of the Real Federación Espanola de Ciclismo could, or would: keep Alejandro Valverde from contesting a major race. As the Spaniard himself writes on his blog, "¡Contra la naturaleza no se puede luchar!" or roughly, "Against Nature one cannot fight!"
VeloNews briefly explainss this latest development: "Another Amstel contender, Valverde, was forced out late on Saturday when he and two other Caisse d’Epargne teammates, Luis Leon Sanchez and Luis Pasamontes, were unable to fly out of Madrid."
So, while you watch Amstel Gold tomorrow, or read the race reports that follow, spare a thought for those riders who couldn't participate, especially Alejandro Valverde. And while you're there, perhaps you might also consider a few quotes, along with a special document that hasn't widely circulated...the 2006 Operación Puerto summary dossier...
- "I will continue the fight if it will serve a purpose. It Italy, France and Germany, things change. In Spain I prefer to let it go. Here, nothing's changed. I'm tired. I don't have any faith in the (Spanish) authority. I remember during the Vuelta 2003, Fuentes arrived at our hotel driving a Porsche with thermoses of EPO on the passenger seats without hiding them. At the same time, at the Giro or the Tour, we were already being careful." - Jesús Manzano
Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor who worked with the Kelme team and Jesus Manzano, has denied giving the cyclist any illegal substances. "If Jesus Manzano did these things it was hidden from the team," Fuentes was quoted by El Diario Vasco as saying. "We have no knowledge of what Manzano has said goes on within the team." However, a close friend of Manzano's, José Luis Montoya, called Fuentes a "hypocrite" on the Spanish Antenna 3 TV station. "When I read this in the newspaper, it has particularly incensed me," he told AS. "In the first place, that this gentleman says that Manzano hid all this from the team, is a total lie. This man is a hypocrite. He was not hiding it, far from it. I took Jesus Manzano from here (Zarzalejos) to a hotel in Torrejon de Ardoz to see this gentleman. There I found myself with cyclists from all over Spain who were there doing exactly the same thing. He gave us a prescription, we went to a certain pharmacy in Madrid to get certain medical products. I have spoken to Jesus and asked him if he still had the prescriptions Eufemiano gave him. He still has them in the gentleman's own handwriting and with his signature."- 2004 report by CyclingNews.com
"In Spain, you could tape EPO syringes to your windshield and no one would stop. In France you couldn’t do that any more." - Jörg Jaksche
Summary Dossier - Operation Puerto (Operación Puerto)
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