Friday’s EuroFile: Basso won’t race on Saturday; CSC confirms for TDU
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Oct. 13, 2006
Ivan Basso – cleared by Italian officials of doping allegations on Thursday – will not race in Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia.
Basso spoke with Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis and decided not to take part in the season finale despite being cleared to race after Italian officials ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to open an investigation into whether the 2006 Giro d’Italia champion was linked to an alleged doping ring in Spain.
“I am a free man but Riis decided it would be better if I don’t race Lombardia,” Basso told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Bjarne told me it was not an ethics-driven decision but a sporting one: ‘As we don’t know what will happen in 2007, it would make little sense for you to take part in the final race of the season with CSC.’ It’s he who decides and it’s he who’s boss.”
Basso, 28, firmly maintained he did not work with controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes despite some circumstantial evidence authorities believed linked him to the alleged blood doping ring uncovered in May by Spanish police.
Basso and 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich were among nine riders from four teams who were kicked out of the 2006 Tour a day before it started after their names appeared in a police dossier released by Spanish authorities.
Basso hasn’t raced since winning the Giro in May, but said he remained fit while denying allegations he worked with Fuentes and the alleged blood doping ring Spanish authorities continue to investigate.
Last week, a Spanish judge ruled that evidence uncovered in the police investigation should not be used to sanction riders while the so-called Operación Puerto investigation is ongoing.
“I continued training with the goal of racing again as soon as the situation was resolved,” Basso said. “But perhaps that has come too quickly, just two days from the Tour of Lombardy.”
Italian authorities gave Basso the green light to resume racing, but said it could re-open the investigation if more evidence comes forward.
Basso steadfastly maintained his innocence and insisted he never worked with Fuentes. Spanish authorities uncovered phone taps and bags of frozen blood labeled with the nickname “Birillo,” thought to be the code name used for Basso. “I don’t have anything to feel ashamed about. And I don’t have to defend or justify myself either,” he continued. “My win in the Giro was not a surprise. It came off the back of four years in which I was finishing among the leaders in the Tour de France. Now my objective is to start winning races again. I will win the Giro or the Tour and I’ll sweep away every doubt. The fans don’t just want to see the case closed. They want to see me win like I did in May.”
Basso said he will meet with Riis on Monday to decide his immediate future. Basso is under contract with Team CSC through the 2008 season, but there have been some suggestions the pair has fallen out and that Basso could leave the team next year. Basso said he’s barely spoken to Riis since the Tour debacle.
CSC, O’Grady confirmed for TDU
Two-time Tour Down Under champion Stuart O’Grady will bring his Team CSC squad for the 2007 Tour Down Under, race officials confirmed this week.
O’Grady, 33, won the TDU in 1999 and again in 2001, but has been frustrated in recent years with professional commitments in Europe in attempts to race in his home race. O’Grady convinced Team CSC boss Bjarne Riis to include the Australian race in the team’s 2007 racing schedule.
“We are thrilled that the winner of the inaugural Tour Down Under will be returning to the event with an all-star team,” said Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith on the race web page. “I expect Stuart will have a home-town win on his mind as he sets out to defend his 1999 and 2001 Tour Down Under victories.”
In addition to O’Grady, other Aussies making an appearance will be Team CSC teammates Luke Roberts and newcomer Matthew Goss. Ex-pro Scott Sunderland will act as sport director while 1996 Tour de France champ Bjarne Riis will be a special VIP guest of the race.
Team CSC is the first confirmation for the Jan. 16-21 race. T-Mobile makes plans for 2007
The T-Mobile’s women’s team is also rebuilding for 2007, with ex-pro Kristy Scrymgeour taking over as new manager and eight new riders among the bolstered 11-rider roster for next season.
The team’s managers, athletes and support staff are meeting for three days in Lugano, Switzerland to “forge the team spirit that could propel them to even greater success in the coming season,” according to a report on the team’s web page. The complete 2007 roster is expected to be released this week.
The team has been undergoing team-building exercises, equipment testing and schedule meetings to plan for the upcoming season.
On Saturday, the T-Mobile men’s team, riders, management and support staff, travel to Lugano to begin their get-together and plan ahead for the 2007 season, the team reported.
Armstrong jersey on auction
Celebrating 10 years of cancer survivorship, Chris Brewer, publisher of ThePaceLine.com – the official fan site of Lance Armstrong and the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team – announced today a very special eBay auction with all proceeds benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
“I wanted to do something really special for our readers in celebration of this milestone,” Brewer said. “We were very fortunate to have this incredibly rare item donated by our friend Roy Wiggins, and then Lance stepped up to say he’d sign and personalize the jersey for whoever wins the auction.”
Brewer was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer in 1996 just two weeks after the seven-time Tour de France champion and underwent very difficult surgeries as well as a six-week regimen of chemotherapy.
“It’s all about giving back to the cancer community,” Brewer said. “If it wasn’t for the advances made in the 70s and 80s, then there would be no Lance story, nor my own.”
The auction runs through October 22 with no reserve price on the jersey.
FILED UNDER: Road
Andrew Hood
Hood cut his journalistic teeth at Colorado dailies before the web boom opened the door to European cycling in the mid-1990s. Hood's covered every Tour since 1996 and has been VeloNews' European correspondent since 2002. He lives in Leon, Spain, when he's not chasing bike races.