In the midst of the Tour de France comes word that the Court of Arbitration for Sports will suspend an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Union Cycliste Internationale of the Spanish cycling federation’s decision to not open disciplinary proceedings against Tour contender Alejandro Valverde in connection with the Operacion Puerto scandal.

But CAS said it was delaying the case for six months as it awaits evidence — a bloog bag — from Spanish authorities.

Here’s the CAS release …

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspends the procedure

Lausanne, 11 July 2008 – In a decision issued on 10 July 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) affirmed its jurisdiction to decide the appeals filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Cycling Union (UCI) against a decision taken by the Spanish Cycling Federation not to open disciplinary proceedings against the Spanish rider, Alejandro Valverde.

The CAS has, however, suspended the arbitration procedure for a maximum duration of six months in order to allow the Spanish legal authorities to issue a decision on a request for production of evidence (blood bag “no.18”) which is currently in its possession. The first - informal - request from the CAS was not accepted by the magistrate in charge of the file. A second request has been sent by the CAS through official channels, to the competent Spanish authorities. Such procedure of mutal legal assistance can take several months.

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