Tadej Valjavec

Tadej Valjavec (born 13 April 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.

Doping
On 4 May 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 30 July 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 22 April 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.

Major results

 * 1994
 * 1st Overall Giro di Basilicata
 * 8th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships


 * 1995
 * 1st Overall Giro di Basilicata


 * 1998
 * 3rd GP Kranj


 * 1999
 * 1st Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Slovénie


 * 2000
 * 3rd Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 4th Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 7th Tour du Haut Var


 * 2001
 * 5th Road race, National Road Championships
 * 7th GP Industria & Commercio di Prato
 * 8th Tre Valli Varesine


 * 2002
 * 1st Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda
 * 6th Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 7th Giro dell'Appennino
 * 10th Overall Tour de Suisse


 * 2003
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Giro di Toscana
 * 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 6th Giro dell'Appennino
 * 10th Overall Tour of Belgium
 * 10th Trofeo Matteotti


 * 2004
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 9th Overall Giro d'Italia


 * 2005
 * 6th Overall Deutschland Tour
 * 9th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 10th Overall Tour de Romandie


 * 2006
 * 8th Overall Tour of Slovenia
 * 10th Trofeo Melinda


 * 2007
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
 * 3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 4th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 9th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 10th La Flèche Wallonne


 * 2008
 * 10th Overall Tour de France


 * 2009


 * 7th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 9th Overall Giro d'Italia


 * 2010
 * 9th GP Lugano
 * 9th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato


 * 2010
 * 8th Gran Premio dell'Insubria-Lugano
 * 9th GP Industria & Commercio di Prato


 * 2011
 * 2nd Overall Cinturón Ciclista Internacional a Mallorca


 * 2013
 * 4th Overall Tour of Slovenia
 * 5th Overall Istrian Spring Trophy
 * 8th Overall Tour de Slovaquie
 * 10th GP Kranj