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Valverde wants another shot at Tour

by VeloNews.com

• December 14, 2009
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Alejandro Valverde is hoping to return to the Tour de France in 2010 and make a run for the final podium.

The possibility of a universal two-year ban isn’t stopping him from forging ahead with strong ambitions for next season.

“The big goal will be the Tour,” Valverde said during a break at a Caisse d’Epargne team camp in Spain. “We’ll see if we can do it pretty well, because this year is definitely hard.”

Valverde is serving a two-year racing ban in Italy for what CONI says is a clear link between Valverde and the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal. That ban kept him out of the 2009 Tour because part of the route passed through Italy. Valverde’s lawyers are trying to get the ban revoked while UCI and WADA officials want to expand the ban to all nations. The Court for Arbitration in Sport has postponed a hearing originally set for late November.

Valverde has vowed his innocence, but the Italians say they have a DNA match between Valverde and one of the blood bags found in police raids in May 2006.

“You learn to live with it,” Valverde said of the Italian ban. “We hope to find a solution as soon as possible, but it’s not when you want, but when they want.”

Valverde still hasn’t decided if he will defend his title in next year’s Vuelta a España. The 2010 route will be rolled out later this week.

“I have always liked the Vuelta a lot and I’d like to race it,” Valverde said. “But a lot depends on how the year unfolds.”

So far, Valverde has confirmed he will debut his season at the Tour Down Under and then race at the Tour Mediterranean, Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and the Vuelta al País Vasco before the Ardennes classics.

Valverde will be back to the Dauphiné Libéré, where he’s enjoyed excellent results, all before what he hopes is a return to the Tour.

There certainly aren’t any Italian races on that schedule.