# 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.

## Career achievements
### 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 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 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

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Giro d'Italia | 30 | — | — | 9 | 15 | 34 | — | 13 | 9 |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 19 | 9 | — |
| Vuelta a España | — | 18 | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | 30 |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |