Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde lost his appeal Tuesday against a two-year doping ban from racing in Italy. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Italy's Olympic committee was allowed to suspend Valverde using evidence seized by Spanish police in 2006 in the Operation Puerto investigation. Valverde said he was denied a fair trial and vowed to challenge the “unacceptable” verdict at the Swiss Federal Court. It only has authority over CAS – which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland – if it finds the sports court abused the legal process. The Italian Olympic body banned Valverde last May after it matched DNA evidence from a blood bag taken at a Madrid clinic allegedly involved in an athletes' blood-doping ring with his sample obtained when the 2008 Tour de France crossed into Italy.
