Apr 20, 2007
Basso Is Not Welcome To The Tour
Discovery Channel must have seen this coming when they decided to sign Basso. Christian Prudhomme is cracking down on the Operation Puerto people, 50 in all. Armed with the news of Jan Ullrich’s positive DNA match with the Operation Puerto blood bags and news that Fuentes is back to his old ways, the ASO must have a queasy feeling in their stomachs. But I can’t say I do not blame them.
Operation Puerto was a mess in many ways. the investigation was sloppy and inconclusive. There were more leaks than actual evidence. The Spanish Guardia Civil looked about as bad as Alberto Gonzalez does now. Poor management of information and a bumbled investigation do not help the cause of eliminating drugs in cycling.
Now the A.S.O finds itself with the heavy favorite Ivan Basso about to go for the win. Baso has been cleared by the Italian courts and is more or less deemed innocent. But the Tour is particularly prickly especially as the Landis situation is not yet resolved. That last thing they need is a well timed doping report implicating Ivan Basso either before during or after a Tour win. So, with respect to keeping the Tour free of controversy Basso and others will not be invited.
“The Tour was sullied last year,” Prudhomme said in Friday’s edition of L’Equipe. “It won’t happen again.”
Discovery Channel should be upset and should fight this, but the Tour can simply turn Basso away as it chooses.
Basso’s only recourse is to do well and win again at the Giro. Basso could also submit his DNA for testing, but this is playing russian roulette as testing procedures may not be reliable as we can see in the Landis case.
At least Levi Leipheimer can take solace in the fact that he can still get his chance to be the man at the Tour. Leipheimer tore up the TT course at the Tour de Georgia and despite a 29 minute breakaway could have been on his way to repeat the performance of Floyd Landis from last year.
Basso is scouting the Giro. If he and Johann thought he was going to race the Tour would he be doing this now? I don’t think I will see Basso or the 50 in London.
“Basso is scouting the Giro. If he and Johann thought he was going to race the Tour would he be doing this now? I don’t think I will see Basso or the 50 in London.”
I don’t think the one has anything to do with the other. The Giro comes first on the calendar, so of course he’s scouting those stages now. Every other Giro contender is doing the same thing.