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Ivan Basso looked like he redeemed himself yesterday with the honest admission of working with Dr. Fuentes and admitting that he is “Birillo”. But Basso has a career and palmares to think about. The Giro victory was a major milestone that was ripe to be taken away now that Basso admitted to doping.
The nine minute margin of victory over fellow OP convict “Il Bufalo” Gutierrez was impressive. So impressive that loud mouth Simoni declared that Basso was an “Extraterrestrial”. Simoni did not mean that Basso had a good friend named Eliot and had a heart that glowed. What he meant was that Basso was on something. We all owe Simoni a public apology for being so right on about Basso’s performance. So maybe Basso did offer Simoni cash in exchange for a victory. I have new respect for Simoni and hope he wins the Giro this year.
Yesterday Basso looked like he was a hero. He came out and did the courageous thing by admitting to doping. But today he looks like a weenie desperately trying to hold on to his Giro victory from last year. What Basso needs to understand is that its all or nothing. You have to come out and admit to doping and help try and prevent doping for the younger guys. Basso’s career is effectively over and he should concentrate on the next phase of life as a possible champion of anti-doping. Giving lame “I did not inhale” type excuses is insulting and takes away from the honesty of admitting to working with Fuentes in the first place.