ROME (AP) — The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor confronted Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde on Thursday with DNA evidence and documents that allegedly show he was in contact with a doctor at the center of the Operation Puerto blood doping case in Spain.
The rider maintained his innocence during questioning at Rome's Olympic stadium.
Valverde was also notified that the Italian judiciary had opened a separate criminal probe into his alleged role in Puerto. The Caisse d'Epargne rider did not speak to reporters after the 45-minute hearing.
His Italian lawyer, Federico Cecconi, said the cyclist tried to "clarify that he had no part" in the affair.
Prosecutor Ettore Torri said the case against Valverde is based on a DNA match between samples taken during the Italian leg of last year's Tour de France and a blood bag seized in a 2006 raid on the doctor's blood doping clinic in Madrid.
Torri contended that documents found in the raid also link Valverde to the doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes. The documents indicate the amounts the rider paid and what substances were used in the blood doping process, Torri said.
The prosecutor said Valverde and his lawyers did not respond to the specific allegations, arguing instead that Italian sports authorities have no jurisdiction on the case.
Spain's judiciary has questioned the use of blood found in the raid as evidence by the Italian committee. On Wednesday, the Madrid court handling the Puerto affair said that evidence gathered in an investigation into an alleged offense in Spain cannot be used in a probe of another alleged offense elsewhere.
The Italians countered they were within their rights to prosecute Valverde and that evidence had been collected according to the rules.
More than 50 cyclists were originally linked to the Puerto doping ring, including top riders like Ivan Basso of Italy.
After initially being implicated in the investigation, Valverde was banned by the International Cycling Union from competing in the 2007 World Road Racing Championships.
The UCI had called on the Spanish cycling federation to open proceedings against him, but it declined to do so, and eventually Valverde was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to compete at the championships.
In 2008, the 28-year-old Valverde won the UCI ProTour and the opening stage of the Tour de France.