Unipublic hopes for Valverde participation

By Monika Prell

Even if Alejandro Valverde is alleged to be involved in Operación Puerto the organisation of the Vuelta a España, Unipublic, hope that he will participate in this year's edition. Just yesterday lamented it lamented of the slow progress in the investigation.

During yesterday's presentation of the two stages of the Vuelta a España that will cross the province of Murcia (September 14 and 15), Javier Guillén, the General Secretary of Unipublic, expressed his wish to see Valverde in the 2007 edition even if the Caisse d'Epargne rider has already publicly declared that he won't participate.

"He said already last year that he won't participate in the Vuelta, because he will focus on the Tour, but later he crashed in France and changed his plan, so that he did finally he participated in our race."

Unipublic hopes that Valverde, as Murcian, "could learn a lesson from his team mate Oscar Pereiro who, like him, will challenge the Tour and has confirmed that he will be at the start of the Vuelta in Vigo." The start town is in the same Galician region where Pereiro lives.

Stage 13 will be run between Hellín and Torre Pacheco over 150 kilometres, and the start of the 14th stage will be in Puerto Lumbreras. The cyclists will, after 205 kilometres, arrive at Villacarrillo, in the Sierra de Cazorla.