Alejandro Valverde Under Pressure: Impending CAS Dates Create Anxiety for Planned Tour Down Under Start

Alejandro Valverde's plan to race the Santos Tour Down Under to begin his 2010 season is being met with a level of anxiety among some Australian press. Still dogged by doping allegations stretching back to the 2006 Operacion Puerto investigation, Valverde has soldiered on, ignoring the looming CAS dates.

Alejandro Valverde is a well-known rider and newly crowned grand tour winner after his victory at last year's Vuelta a Espana. But as has been the case since about 2008, Valverde continues to be hounded by doping allegations from the Spanish investigation. To his credit, Valverde has managed to ride well despite the pressure of possibly being banned worldwide. He is currently banned from riding in Italy after the CONI judged that he was guilty of being involved in Operacion Puerto, but despite that has still managed to find success in other countries, including his home country of Spain.

Unfortunately for cycling, the Operacion Puerto debacle has continued to drag on with little or no resolution. The true facts of the case become hazier and hazier with each passing year, and the cycling public is not sure what to think. Italy says Valverde is guilty, WADA has yet to significantly respond and Spain stands stolidly behind Valverde. Instead of closure, Operacion Puerto drags on and on and on, threatening to affect racing in 2010 despite the fact that the investigation completed nearly four years ago.

Hopefully Valverde will win his CAS cases and all will be set right. But if not, if he is found guilty of doping way back in 2006, the Tour Down Under may have to manage a media frenzy leading up to their event. Instead of focusing on today's clean riders intent on perpetuating a positive image for cycling, the 2010 Tour Down Under could devolve into a public condemnation against one rider for his involvement in a scandal that is now ancient history. For the Tour Down Under, the cycling public and the riders and teams, this could end up setting a terrible tone for the new year, which is exactly what cycling doesn't need in these uncertain economic times.