Valverde out of Le Tour b4 it even starts... does the Puerto circus begin again?

Hot on the heels of Boonen's cocaine bust (the count now up to 3, by the way) comes another star losing his shine. We may have thought this one a foregone conclusion, indeed he can't say the Italians weren't communicating their intentions... Alejandro Valverde received a two-year suspension from the Italian anti-doping tribunal today in Rome for his connections to the 2006 doping investigation Operación Puerto. The decision prohibits the Spaniard, 29, from racing in Italy and the Tour de France, which passes through the country this year.

He will most likely appeal against this Italian ruling and does claim innocence in any case. The bigger question is what does the UCI do, faced with a Spanish rider banned not by his own governing national body, but by another? Do they take this further and resolve it - which would seem logical - or let it rest? I suspect they'll wait until their hand is forced, either by the appeal itself or pressure from the parties concerned. But they'd be better advised, surely, to get to grips with the broader issue of the DNA evidence that this case rests on and act now. With Operation Puerto festering like an open wound the Italians have clearly telegraphed their intent to test and pursue those accused as soon as they step onto their territory. If the blood bags and the connected DNA evidence are available, and if the case is legally and ethically strong, why not pursue it?