Full name Tadej Valjavec 2000–2003 Fassa Bortolo Height 1.71 m Rider type Climbing specialist Role Bicycler | Discipline Road Name Tadej Valjavec Current team Retired 2004–2005 Phonak Weight 59 kg | |
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Born April 13, 1977 (age 46)
Kranj, Yugoslavia ( 1977-04-13 ) Olympic medals Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's individual road race Competitors Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish, Fabian Cancellara, Andy Schleck, Jens Voigt Similar People Gorazd Stangelj, Carlos Sastre, Kim Kirchen, Uros Murn, Yaroslav Popovych | ||
Tadej Valjavec (born April 13, 1977 in Kranj) is a Slovenian former professional road bicycle racer, who last competed for the Sava team. He is well known as a good climber due to his rides on mountain stages in the Giro d'Italia. Although he has achieved relatively few professional wins in his career, he has consistently performed well in the Grand Tours, with three top ten and four further top 20 finishes.
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Doping
On May 4, 2010, Valjavec's name was released as being one of several riders under investigation by the UCI for "irregular blood values". He was provisionally suspended by Ag2r-La Mondiale and pulled from their squad for the impending Giro d'Italia. Team manager Vincent Lavenu stated that should the Slovenian cycling federation sanction him, he would be fired. Valjavec has proclaimed his innocence and claimed an unreported illness is responsible for the values. On July 30, the Slovenian federation officially cleared Valjavec, criticizing the usage of the biological passport in this case stating that it failed to take into account the possible natural reasons for Valjavec's irregular levels. The UCI will likely appeal the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
On April 22, 2011 The Court of Arbitration for Sport set aside the decision to exonerate the athlete from any doping offense and imposed a two-year ban on him starting on 20 January 2011, as well as the disqualification of all his results obtained between 19 April and 30 September 2009.
Tour de France record
Giro d'Italia record
