BARCELONA, Spain — Alejandro Valverde of Spain won the Volta of Catalunya on Sunday, six days after receiving a two-year suspension from competing in Italy.

Valverde maintained his 15-second advantage over Daniel Martin of Ireland to achieve his fifth victory of the season. Haimar Zubeldia of Spain finished third, 22 seconds back.

Valverde was banned from Italy after being implicated in the blood-doping case known as Operation Puerto.

The ruling by the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping tribunal does not apply outside Italy, but could keep Valverde from competing in this year's Tour de France because part of the route goes through Italy.

The Caisse d'Epargne rider led the Volta from the second stage onward.

"I had to defend the yellow jersey almost immediately and all my team has worked to control the race and achieve a victory which is very important for me because of the difficult situation everyone knows about," Valverde told the news agency Europa Press.

"I hope that very soon all this injustice will be over and I will be able to concentrate on riding without having to think about other matters."

New Zealand's Greg Henderson won the final 68.85-mile stage between Sant Cugat and the Formula One circuit at Montmelo near Barcelona.

The Columbia rider gained the advantage in the final sprint and won in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 51 seconds. Lloyd Mondory of Franc and Fabio Sabatini of Italy were next.