Tadej Valjavec

Norwegian Thor Hushovd finally ended his frustrating wait for victory on this year's Tour de France by winning a treacherous, rain-hit sixth stage from Gerona to Barcelona Thursday. Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader's yellow jersey with a 0.22sec lead on American Lance Armstrong after the 181.5km stage ahead of the first day of climbing in the Pyrenees on Friday. Despite attempts by Armstrong's Astana team to distance their yellow jersey rivals further with accelerations...Read Full Story

The Giro d'Italia starts in Amsterdam this Saturday, but the 32-year-old Liquigas rider will now miss the prestigious three-week race. Pellizotti also won the 2009 Tour de France's King of the Mountains jersey. Spain's Jesus Rosendo Prado and Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia are the two other riders facing disciplinary action. Valjavec finished 10th in the 2008 Tour de France. "Disciplinary procedures have been requested against the riders for apparent violation of the anti-doping rules. On the...Read Full Story

From Reuters: Slovenian rider Tadej Valjavec has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Friday that his biological passport showed he had manipulated his blood. Biological passports were introduced by the International Cycling Union ( UCI ) in 2008 to track any blood changes in riders against an original profile. “The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled on the appeal of the International Cycling Union against the decision of the Senate of the...Read Full Story

Last year’s Giro runner-up, Franco Pellizotti of Italy, who was also the 2009 Tour de France King of the Mountains, will miss the race along with the Spaniard Jesús Rosendo Prado and Slovenia’s Tadej Valjavec. Since January 2008, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has collected blood samples from professional riders to create a medical profile to be compared with data registered in doping tests. Disciplinary procedures have been requested against the riders for apparent violation...Read Full Story

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (Reuters) - Home rider Fabian Cancellara is the favorite to win the Tour of Switzerland after a strong performance on the final mountain stage on Saturday. German Tony Martin won the eighth and penultimate stage, a 181-km journey from Le Sentier to Crans-Montana, with a late attack but Cancellara finished third to move within four seconds of overall leader Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia (AG2R). Last year's race winner Roman Kreuziger of Czech Republic is third, 28...Read Full Story