The UCI has accepted the proposal from the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) for mediation by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in order to solve the conflict over the participation of Alejandro Valverde in the world championships in Stuttgart next week.
The UCI had declared that Valverde was ineligible for participation at the Worlds because he was under investigation for possible doping violations in connection with the Operación Puerto case. However, the RFEC has contended that no new evidence has been presented, and that the UCI has no cause to place the rider under investigation.
UCI President Pat McQuaid has called for Valverde to submit his DNA for comparison with the blood seized in the Spanish investigation, and thus end all suspicion. "The DNA test would stop all questions about him, but he hasn't put his DNA forward and he is not going to, by the looks of things," McQuaid told Cyclingnews on Thursday.
"They [the Spanish federation] did ask us to go to CAS and we are prepared to do that in order to get it sorted. We will defend the case in CAS."
The mediation will take place Wednesday, September 26, in Switzerland, just days in advance of the world championship road race on September 30.
