Basso in trouble again ?

[Richard (Apples)]

Italian cyclist Ivan Basso has been
asked to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee's (Coni)
anti-doping prosecutor on May 2, the Ansa news agency said Tuesday.
Prosecutor Ettore Torri and his assistant Franco Cosenza have
called the Tour of Italy champion to appear at their offices in
relation to what they describe as a doping violation regarding "the
use or intent to use a banned substance or method", reported Ansa.
Basso was kicked off the Tour de France last year after being
implicated in the Spanish Operation Puerto scandal.
That saw him lose his job with Team CSC, although he later
joined Discovery Channel, the former team of seven-time Tour de
France champion Lance Armstrong.
According to ANSA the latest development has forced Basso to
withdraw from the Fleche Wallone - the first of two Belgian Ardennes
classics which was due to start on Wednesday - while his place at
this year's Tour of Italy is in doubt.
[size=150]"It's a complicated situation and his participation in the Giro
is now difficult," said Angelo Zomegnan, the general manager of the
Tour of Italy.[/size] "I hope that we can get to the bottom of this as soon as
possible as cycling can do without this kind of tension."
On Monday the International Cycling Union (UCI) put pressure on
Spanish authorities to do more to bring the Operation Puerto to a
conclusion, allowing them to prosecute any dope cheats.

[Richard (Apples)]

Your guess is a good as mine .

As you say though it looks serious.

I'm starting to think the whole bloody lot of 'em are at it

[Graham O]

The Tour De France organisation has also said that those implicated in Operation Puerto (or whatever it is) are not welcome.

To be honest, I think that the authorties should be strong with these guys. They should be forced to submit DNA.

last thing we want is a repeat of last year TDF. It would ruin the London start this year..

[Andrew G]

Good. I'm all for innocent until proven guilty, but when your first recourse when accused is to sign a top lawyer to look for loopholes, you hardly look whiter than white.

Ullrich tried the same, did a DNA test and they found it matched a load of the bags. Basso was keeping schtum despite saying he'd give DNA when signing for Discovery which wasn't helping his case.

Disco - no sympathy, they were going against the Pro tour teams unwritten agreement when they signed him and were just trying to profit from someone elses (CSC's) misfortune.

[-Adam-]

Er he may knock you out i fear if questioned like that, he's one hard case of ever there was one!

Looks like i may have to eat my words over Basso then... Guilty or not im getting a bit pissed off now that these stories have to break on the eve of major races everytime... why?

We've just had one bloody long winter in which bugger all happened about all these doping cases. Theres got to be a bunch of people somewhere that just have it in for professional cycling.

Now i am far from naive on the subject having chatted to a guy that raced for a division 2 team for 7 years up until 2001. The stories he had to tell really made me think. But i really believe that not everybody cheats. Even this guy believes its better now than it was when he was out there.

Thing is id just started to get interested in the Pro side of the sport again, after completely losing interest last august, and now, its all up in the air again... what am i to think, or believe!?

I don't think the 'I told you so' line on Discovery is really going to get anyone anywhere either. They signed a rider that was free from investigation completely, albeit with a little suspicion around him.

But fcuk me, look at Tinkoff!!! Their even going to ride the Giro, wheres the justice in that, most of them are at the very least just off a ban!

Plus the whole Landis thing rumbles on, with allegations that the french dope testing lab is trying to deceive...

Where will it end?

[-Adam-]

Somebody had better tell them they ought not to ride their lightweights on our beloved pot holed surrey roads then

[Graham O]

Its getting better chaps.

I think that T-Mobile are worth watching and supporting. They have a few brits who look to be doing really well. They also have a no tolerance attitude towards drugs. This does prove that its possible to win without drugs. In the one day races anyway. Not sure about the tours.

Similarly - Watch out for the 100%me teams expansion. I would bet that if and when the brits get together enough riders to form european team, it runs under the 100%me banner. That would be really cool and would send the right message to the likes of Discovery, CSC and quick step. It would also attract the right kind of sponsorship.

I think that there is light at the end of the tunnel. However I suspect that we are in for another rough year. It would be really bad if the English media got the chance to rubbish cycling when the tour comes to London. I wouldn't surprise me if they were working towards this right now...

[Ian A4size]

[quote]Basso has just been suspended by Discovery

[-Adam-]

Hmmm, doesn't Ray Pepe work for CSC?

I've always suspected he be a secrect arms dealer, much like nic cage in Lord of War! Which by the way is a quality film

[Mike I]

Does this mean that Basso's sister won't be in London in July? Maybe Sean has some pictures has a picture or two to remind us of what we could be missing?

[Phil S]

[-Adam-]

[Robh]

[img]http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t209/sbc205/elisa_basso_fhm_01.jpg[/img][/img]

[Richard (Apples)]

Its just getting worse and worse

Although on the bright side if this carries on maybe ACC could enter a team

ROME, April 30, 2007 (AFP) - Another 49 cyclists are implicated
in the Operation Puerto doping affair which is threatening to cast
an even darker cloud over the sport ahead of the first two major
stage races of the season.
According to Monday's Gazzetta dello Sport, a new 6000-page
dossier from the Spanish doping affair, which has already ensnared
Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, contains evidence which implicates a new
crop of suspected cheats.
'Operation Puerto' erupted in May 2006 when police uncovered an
alleged blood doping and doping network when they raided the
premises of a Madrid sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Police hundreds of small bags of blood, banned substances such
as EPO (erythropoietin), growth hormones and anabolic steroids, and
incriminating documents with alleged codenames and numbers for
Fuentes' 'clients'.
Some 200 athletes and 58 cyclists were reportedly implicated,
leading to the suspension of 13 riders - including Basso and Ullrich
- by their teams prior to last year's Tour de France.
Both Ullrich and Basso and many other riders implicated have
protested their innocence. So far, only Ullrich appears as guilty
following a recent DNA comparison test with blood found during the
raid.
Ullrich has since retired while Basso, who was initially cleared
by Italian authorities in the autumn, is to appear at a new hearing
scheduled by the Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) disciplinary
commission this week.
The Italian sports daily did not reveal the identity of the 49
riders it believes are also part of the affair.
But Gazzetta's report said: "Until now we thought there was only
one dossier of 500 pages, but it appears the Spanish authorities are
ready to launch another investigation.
"This new dossier is supposedly 6000 pages long. It is said to
mention 49 riders, among whom are some of the biggest names in the
sport, adding to the 58 already implicated."
If would mean 107 cyclists have now been implicated in Operation
Puerto, leaving the sport's world ruling body, the International
Cycling Union (UCI), and major race organisers with a major
headache.
The UCI is battling to get to the bottom of the affair which
dragged on for most of last season, while the organisers of the Giro
d'Italia and the Tour de France are keen to prevent further scandal
on their races.
A recent DNA sample from Ullrich reportedly linked the 1997 Tour
de France winner to blood found in Fuentes' laboratory.
It led Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme to declare
last week: [size=150]"The sport just cannot allow cyclists who are still
implicated in this affair to start the Tour de France if suspicion
still hangs over them."[/size] Basso will be asked to provide a DNA sample, which could prove
his innocence, when he appears at the CONI hearing on May 2.
After being suspended by his team, Discovery Channel, last week,
it appears his chances of defending his Giro d'Italia crown in the
May 12-June 3 race are hanging by a thread.
Giro director Angelo Zomegnan said last week: "As it stands his
(Basso's) participation in the Giro d'Italia will be difficult."