Tadej Valjavec Suspended

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled on the appeal of the International Cycling Union (UCI) against the decision of the Senate of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia (OCS) regarding the Slovenian cyclist Tadej Valjavec.

The CAS has set aside the decision of the OCS to exonerate the athlete from any doping offense and has imposed a two-year ban on him starting on 20 January 2011, as well as the disqualification of all his results obtained between 19 April and 30 September 2009 and a fine of EUR 52’500. The CAS found that anti-doping tests performed in April and August 2009 revealed abnormalities in the context of the athlete’s biological passport to a degree which was entirely consistent with blood manipulation.

The CAS has therefore confirmed the reliability of the indirect method of detection based on the blood profile of athletes and already established in previous CAS decisions concerning the Italian cyclists Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti.

For further information please visit www.tas-cas.org.