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Tuesday, May 26, 2009 Valverde fights Italian doping ban by Agence France-Presse at 9:17 AM EST   comments Categories: Pro Cycling, Doping   Spain's Alejandro Valverde said Tuesday he has filed a court complaint for "irregular conduct" against the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as part of his fight against an Italian doping ban. Earlier this month CONI's anti-doping tribunal suspended the 29-year-old Caisse d'Epargne rider from competing on Italian soil for two years for his role in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal. The ban means he can not take part in the next Tour de France, the 16th stage of which passes through Italy's Val D'Aosta region on July 21. But Valverde argues CONI made use of unlawfully acquired evidence and in his complaint he argues that several members of CONI and WADA may have committed the crime of disobeying Spanish authorities. In February CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri claimed that a blood sample in the bag number 18 taken from the raided laboratory of the infamous doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was that of Valverde. Valverde subsequently announced on May 6 that he was launching a lawsuit against Torri. "I hope that the injustice will stop very soon and that I can start again concentrating only on the races and nothing else," Valverde said Sunday after winning the 89th edition of the Tour of Catalonia.       comments Follow @Pro_Cycling Tweet Subscribe via RSS or daily email Contact the editor about this article