2007 Tour de France champ Alberto Contador met with the press accompanied by Discovery Channel Team Director Johan Bruyneel and his family and Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky. Contador basically announced they he never doped and he is not involved in Operation Puerto (OP). He will not stop racing and will in fact give DNA samples and help with the investigation. The growing controversy surrounding the Tour champ resulted in Contador not being invited to several races especially in Germany where investigator Werner Franke is said to have evidence linking Contador to OP.

The announcement by Contador must surely be a way to help clear the air of suspicion surrounding Contador especially as he is now looking for a new team to race for in 2008. Tailwind Sports the company behind the Discovery Channel team has announced that they are stopping the team at the end of the 2007 season. Tailwind sports was unable to find a suitable sponsor since the announcement earlier this year that Discovery Channel would cease sponsorship. The never ending flow of doping news most likely scared away potential sponsors, especially with the admission by Ivan Basso of being “Birillo” of Operation Puerto fame. The involvement with Basso and other doping controversies which only intensified during the Tour de France may make any potential sponsor shy away.

Now, the remaining team and associated staff will be looking for a job for 2008. George Hincapie is said to have already signed for T-Mobile which will stay in the sport until 2010. Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych and Alberto Contador to name a few will be looking for work.

The end of Tailwind sports marks the end of a formidable team that started way back in the 90s as Subaru Montgomery. The team eventually landed a large sponsor in the United States Postal Service who was keen to advertise overseas. In 1998 they signed recovering cancer victim Lance Armstrong. In 1999 Johan Bruyneel came on board. The rest is history. Discovery Channel finally seemed to get past the Armstrong Era with Contador. The team performed better overall placing three racers in the top ten overall at the Tour.

Just like US Postal “took over” after the demise of Motorola in the early 90s a similar pattern is emerging at Team Slipstream is gaining momentum to be the next top American team. Slipstream may not take the ProTour opening left by Discovery Channel for 2008 as their main goal is entry to the Tour de France only and not the various Pro Tour events.

Another interesting note is a developing trend. The 2007 and 2006 Tour winning team have ceased sponsorship at the end of each season. Last year’s Phonak squad ended after Floyd Landis’ Testosterone case caused replacement sponsor iShares to cancel its sponsorship of the team. Now Discovery Channel is ending its sponsorship after having a Tour winner in its ranks. Sponsors are shying away from the sport and the doping headlines causing racers and support staff to actually lose their jobs. With lots of racers around and not as many teams, they pay for racers goes down due to supply vs. demand. Therefore each racer gets less money than they would have otherwise. So, the incentive to dope should now disappear.

Contador issued a release Wednesday notifying media of his plans to read a statement at the offices of Spain’s national sports council – the Consejo Superior de Deportes – in Madrid.

Contador will be accompanied by Discovery Channel team director Johann Bruyneel.

Via Podium Cafe: http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13062.0.html

This conference could also be setup to announce that Contador will not be racing while the WADA investigation to Contador’s Operation Puerto case is finalized. WADA decided to re-investigate Contador’s involvement in Operation Puerto which was previosuly dismissed by the UCI.

The World Anti Doping Agency has opened an investigation on Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel), winner of this years Tour de France, and his alleged involvement in Operation Peurto. WADA is working with ex-Liberty Seguros rider Jörg Jaksche, who admitted that he worked with the Spanish doctor while he was a team-mate of Contador at Liberty Seguros, after it received documents from German Professor Werner Franke that supposedly links the Spaniard to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes.

Documents seized in the case are said to contain the letters A.C., which is allegedly the initials of Alberto Contador. Jaksche’s initials are also present on the document along side the doping products that he has admitted to using. “I don’t know if Contador was a client of Fuentes,” said Jaksche. “I only know that I used those doping products that are shown on that document.”

With this action, WADA is overturning the UCI’s earlier decision to acquit Contador of any involvement in the case.

Johan Bruyneel, Contador’s team manager, has serious doubts of the integrity of Professor Franke. “‘He defended Danilo Hondo, when he was caught in the Tour of Murcia for using the banned substance Carphedon, if you ask me he only speaks the language of the person paying him,” said Bruyneel.

Cyclingnews.com

Hopefully the press conference is a simple announcement that Contador is simply not going to race and will participate with the WADA investigation. He could also reclaim his innocence and vow to fight. The other possibility would be that he could admit to being involved in Puerto which would not be a good thing for cycling or the Discovery Channel Team.

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.

The news is not so much shocking as it is refreshing. When Ivan Basso quit Discovery Channel last week it seemed to be a quiet admission of guilt. This time was not going to be so easy for Basso to get around the CONI investigation. More evidence came about and the DNA match of blood bags with Jan Ullrich did not bode well for Basso. The walls of justice were closing in on Basso.

In a refreshing and positive move Basso fessed up to his involvement in Operation Puerto. The Birillo blood bags were his, and he worked with Dr. Fuentes the whole time. Sure, he lied to the public about his involvement in the Operation Puerto scandal. he lied to Bjarne Riis and Team CSC and Discovery Channel. But, now the truth comes out and cycling fans around the world can feel the air is just a little fresher.

The hidden world of doping in cycling is gradually being exposed. I applaud Basso for fessing up to doping and avoiding a long legal battle simply makes no sense and insults the intelligence of the public. Cycling can survive the constant doping sucker punches if cyclist admit to the offense and help to clean up the system.

Basso should probably lose his Giro title from last year and any other result where he was using the services of Dr. Fuentes. With a minimum two year suspension, Basso could come back to cycling at the age of 31. Although he will not be able to compete at the Tour de France for four years.

Overall, cycling is gradually gutting out the dopers. With teams such as T-Mobile and Team CSC conducting their own tests and keeping DNA record on file, cycling is at the forefront of cracking down on doping. Basso’s confession can hopefully mark a turning point for doping in the peloton.

Well that did not last long. Ivan Basso announced that he is leaving the Discovery Channel team. Basso asked out of his two year contract in order to avoid being a distraction to the team as they try to find a new sponsor. Basso wants to make it known that this decision was 100% his and not of the team. Basso spoke with

from velonews.com

“Ivan was a great addition to our team and I am very sad to see him go,” Stapleton said in a team release. “He was one of our leaders and we expected big things from him this season.

“However, this team has 15 wins in 2007 and we have great depth and talent on our roster. We will continue to win and be competitive in all of our races, including the Tour De France.

“When we signed Ivan, all the necessary governing authorities had cleared him. He deserved a team and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence and we have no regrets.”

from cyclingnews.com

“Ivan’s request was unexpected and he was very emotional, but adamant, about his decision to be released. We spoke with him at length before granting his request. Although he was only on our Team for a short time, he was a great leader and a very well respected and selfless teammate. I, along with the entire team, wish him the best,” said Johan Bruyneel.

“Ivan was a great addition to our team and I am very sad to see him go. He was one of our leaders and we expected big things from him this season, however, this team has 15 wins in 2007 and we have great depth and talent on our roster. We will continue to win and be competitive in all of our races, including the Tour de France,” commented General Manager Bill Stapleton. “When we signed Ivan, all the necessary governing authorities had cleared him. He deserved a team and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence and we have no regrets.”

This news comes just as Operation Puerto is kicking back to life. Spurred on by Jan Ullrich’s positive DNA match with certain bags of blood another 48 cyclist are now being tied to the investigation.

It’s Giro time, so that only means that drug scandal news has to follow. This never ending story of doping in sport is getting tiring. I hope that young cyclist learn from these lessons and stay away from any forms of cheating. Your whole livelihood can go up in smoke just because you are looking for an edge.

Basso’ move to leave Discovery is shocking as it looks like he is getting ready for lots of time in the Italian Courts and not much time on the road. Basso’s Giro title will not be defended and perhaps many other riders will join Basso in the courts and off the roads. My hope is that if he is guilty that he simply admits to doping and tries to move on. It does not look good for Basso at this time and it takes a person who has been through the process of doping to help young cyclist avoid the same pitfalls. To do that you have to love the sport and want to give back.

On another note, perhaps Simoni was right all along last year when he accused Basso of a bribe for a stage win.

http://velonews.com/

Ivan Basso is angry about the timing of the recent reports about the opening of the CONI investigation. In fact the timing is questionable since we are two weeks away from the start of the Giro D’Italia and in the Spring Classics season. Basso was to make an appearance at Fleche Wallone on Wednesday and Liege bastonge Liege on Sunday.

Investigators from CONI did say that the Spanish Guardia Civil contacted them in November and December with more information and samples from the bags of blood that allegedly belonged to Basso. The investigation was ongoing but in private. Perhaps CONI was in a Discovery phase of gathering evidence to put together a solid case against Basso, but the timing suspect. CONI has had a bad reputation of pooping on the Giro in order to get the maximum publicity from drug seizures, raids and tests. So for Basso to question the timing of the latest episode of Operation Puerto is not out of the question.

This is why signing Basso was such a huge risk. All of the investigations seem to have some sort of associated agenda Whether is is an Italian prosecutor trying to time raids with some of the biggest stages of the Giro, or a French lab releasing drug test results to L’Equipe before actually notifying the offending cyclist. The system is tragically broken.

This is what Basso had to say about the current situation.

“I’m not going to give up, I’m going to carry on. I’m strong-minded,” he was quoted as saying in Thursday’s edition of the Milan-based newspaper Il Giornale.

“However, I feel really frustrated. If these latest events had emerged in December or January, everything would have been clarified and closed now, for good or bad.

“Instead, new documents have suddenly arrived two weeks before the start of the race (the Giro d’Italia). First they let me train like a donkey and then say ‘Sorry, please stop and explain’. That’s a time-bomb form of justice.”

Basso was suspended by his Discovery Channel team on Tuesday after the reopening of the investigation into his implication in Operacion Puerto, a Spanish police probe into blood doping by a group of doctors in Madrid.

Basso, who has been summoned to appear before investigators in Rome next month, also said he would accept a DNA test.

“I’ll be there on May 2 to understand what new things I’m facing. My DNA? I’ve already given my permission to everybody, my team and even to the anti-doping investigators,” Basso told Il Giornale.

Quotes from Yahoo! News

The Operation Puerto case against Ivan Basso was suspended back in October due to a lack of evidence. The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) did not have substantial evidence to prosecute Ivan Basso, so they suspended the case with the caveat that it could be reopened if new evidence arises in the future. It is not immediately clear if any new evidence has turned up, but CONI has decided to summon Basso to appear before officials on May 2nd.

The committee said on its Web site (www.coni.it) that the rider had been summoned to appear before officials in Rome at 1500 local time (1300 GMT) on May 2 and had been notified personally of the summons.

After news of Jan Ullrich’s positive match this new revelation is not a big surprise. Basso will have to submit his DNA for comparison which he had somewhat agreed to do in the future if so needed.

Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported on Tuesday that anti-doping investigators had discovered further evidence and had also obtained bags suspected to contain Basso’s blood from Spain and wanted to compare them with Basso’s DNA.

Eurosport |

Cyclingnews has more info:

Tuesday morning, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that there is interest from a Procura italiana (Italian public prosecutor, likely Bergamo anti-doping lawyer Cristina Rota) to have the bags of blood labelled ‘Birillo’ (allegedly Basso’s dog’s name) and with the number 2 brought from Madrid to Italy. It states that this transfer, like what was done in Jan Ullrich’s case, could happen sometime in the coming week, where the prosecutor could then ask for a DNA sample from Basso

As a result, Basso is now suspended by Discovery Channel and wil not compete at this week;s Fleche Wallone and his Giro participation is in serious doubt.

“We continue to stand behind Ivan and intend to cooperate with all parties involved until there is closure. It is unfortunate that this is now occurring, however, I have spoke to Ivan and although frustrated he agrees and understands with the decision we have taken,” said director Johan Bruyneel.

Angelo Zomegnan, Giro d’Italia director confirmed to La Gazzetta dello Sport that this will affect Basso’s participation in the Giro d’Italia. “It’s a complicated situation… Put in that situation, his participation in the Giro d’Italia will be difficult.

“To live under suspicion is frightening and I say that without any rhetoric. I hope that the truth comes out as soon as possible because cycling can’t stand stress like this.”

Bad news for Discovery Channel after Janez Brajkovic won the Tour de Georgia and Levi Leipheimer showed great form by winning the time trial and Brasstown Bald climb stages.

Bruyneel took a risk signing Basso, and it may look like that risk is not going to pay off. Hopefully this situation will be resolved quickly.

This also comes two days after news that Floyd landis’ B samples from the Tour de France all sowed traces of synthetic testosterone.

Cue the Michael Corleone line for Basso: “Just when I think I’m out, they push me back in…”

Cyclingnews.com

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.

AP News from Newsvine

“I have never had a particularly close relation with Jef d’Hont and he has no validation for the allegations he is making. There will always be some one out there trying to make money by talking about the past and in my opinion that is probably, what he is trying to do here,” Riis said. “This is probably not the first nor the last time these kinds of stories surface. To me, it’s all in the past and I do not wish to be held accountable every time some one finds it interesting to bring up some ten-year-old story. I truly believe the future is much more important than the past. I want to be judged on the work I’m doing with my team today, and the results we achieve – that is what’s important to me.”

Today Riis is doing the right things with the CSC program. He instituted DNA sampling of his riders to match up against any investigations. His internal team doping program has been certified by WADA and he split with Ivan Basso after the Operation Puerto debacle at the 2006 Tour. Riis is doing the right things to combat doping now and whether he did or did not do things during the 90s misses the point. If he did dope as most of the peloton was suspected of doing during the 90s then he knows what pressure a pro cyclist goes through. He can relate and he has been there. He can help riders avoid the pitfalls that make a rider desperate to dope. A guy like Riis is more valuable in cycling that out of it.

Another issue with Operation Puerto is the lack of clear evidence that implicated any rider and the constant leaks given to the press. This resulted in a sloppy ham-fisted investigation that inflicted more damaged against anti-doping efforts.

On stage 1 of Paris-Nice riders held a moment of silence to protest the archiving of Operation Puerto. This is in a race where the leader is David Millar of Saunier Duval a former doper who paid the price and is on the comeback trail. David Millar is one of the few exceptions in the never ending Global Struggle Against Doping. He admitted to doping, realized it was a mistake and fessed up. He took his punishment and is now coming back proving he can race clean. Most other doping offense do not come out so neat and tidy.

David Millar’s case was neat and tidy since he was found positive. His home was searched and they found an empty EPO vial. He later admitted to using the drug and was given the standard punishment. In between Millar suffered financially and went through some tough situations. He was able to get a ProTour team contract since his suspension came before the “No ProTour for Four Years” rule.

Millar was also young, so his career was not in total jeopardy. He was able to endure two years and is coming back during the prime of his career. Guys like Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis being much older have much to lose so coming clean would not be an option.

So does this mean that the penalties should be more lenient? Maybe. If a rider can come clean about past drug use without suffering huge consequences then we may see more riders come out. The harsh punishments and the almost certain end to ones career are enough to keep those under suspicion running and hiding their use as much as possible.

The lenient penalties can be considered amnesty where pro cyclist can speak frankly and openly about drug use. The world that was secretly hidden in hotel rooms and the back of team busses can now be public for all to see. This public airing would be to help the sport in the future so that young riders coming into the sport can be free from the pressures of using performance enhancing drugs.

This approach would probably be more affective than trying to play cat and mouse with dopers. Dopers will always be ahead of the drug testers. A good doctor can help almost anyone dope without ever being caught. The drug testing process seems almost futile since the testing procedures are almost antiquated by the time they are put into place. Or the testing procedure is rushed out but fails in a high profile case. Then the whole system is put under scrutiny and future dopers can easily challenge the system.

Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Fransico Mancebo were barred from the Tour de France based on thin evidence. Liberty Seguros dropped their sponsorship of their ProTour team. Cycling was cast in the shadow of doping once again during its peak exposure time. This combined with Landis’ testosterone issue and you have a body blow for cycling in general.

It would be justified if the evidence proved that top stars were doping. It would help to bring the shady underworld of doping to light and help spur along reform. Instead we get an investigation that never had any solid evidence with lots of unsubstantiated newspaper reports linking cyclists to doping.

Now that the investigation is archived at least Ivan Basso can rest easy as he most likely will not have to face a follow up investigation or new evidence being found in the case. The Tour de France was threatening to bar riders implicated in Operation Puerto, but it seems highly unlikely at this point.

The on-again off again, confirmed but not confirmed move to T-Mobile is not a dead deal yet. The story keeps being denied, but then fresh reports come back to show that there just may be a link between Alejandro Valverde moving to T-Mobile for a price of $10 million Euros for the next three years. This would make the Green Bullet the highest paid professional cyclist in the Pro Peloton.

Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears has been reported to be in a tight situation regarding sponsorship cash. A nice $2 Million Euro buyout may help keep the team afloat. T-Mobile needs a guaranteed rising star since they put all their effort behind Michael Rogers who may or may not pan out as a stage racer.

Eusebio Unzué, the direcotr sportif of Caisse D’Epargne is in Murcia working with sponsors and Valverde himself regarding the situation. Unzué is trying to get the sponsors to shell out more cash to give Valverde a new contract offer.

The current situation could benefit Unzué in two ways. One, he could get cash from T-Mobile for a buyout of the last year of Valverde’s contract. Unzué would get $2 million more than he would have if he simply let Valverde’s contract run out and see him leave for much higher offers. Many of these deals are usually sealed around Tour time, so this is only a six month jump. Two, Valverde is a rising star, and he is possibly being used as leverage to get Caisse D’Epargne and Illes Balears or a new sponsor to bring in some extra cash. Illes Balears has been on the way out as a sponsor only agreeing to stick around until Tour time. The pressure of losing Valverde could help Unzué land extra cash for his team.

My guess is that the situation is most likely number two. Unzué needs his sponsors to step up to pay the rising star and try to seal a new contract before the 2007 Tour de France which could see Valverde’s stock rise. This could help Unzué bring in more sponsorship and more cash, but right now he is in a tight situation since each sponsor does not want to do anything extra. The various denials from T-Mobile seem standard enough, but I just don’t buy the switch especially with fresh Operation Puerto news linking Valverde to Dr. Fuentes. Not that this actually means there is solid evidence anywhere.

Look for Caisse D’Epargne and Illes-Balears or even the Murcian Tourist area to bring in some more sponsorship cash to keep Valverde in the “black” for 2007.

The Holiday cheer is missing in the cycling world. The Grinch has stolen all of the good cheer from anyone related to pro cycling. Sure Discovery Channel, CSC and Tinkoff among many others have already met for their first training camps for the 2007 season. Discovery Channel played paint ball in Texas while CSC was training to go to fight in Iraq in South Africa. Lampre can be happy that they locked up the services of Il Princippe (Damiano Cunego) until 2009.

A cold wind started blowing way back in the spring time when Spanish Guardia Civil started leaking info on a new investigation that was to bust open the world of doping in cycling. 200 or 59 or 8 cyclist in all were implicated in the press. Now we approach the end of 2006 and no one rider is implicated and pretty much anyone whose name has been associated with Operation Puerto has been cleared.

Their names were cleared in the courts,but not in the world of public opinion which is why the group of ProTour teams minus Frances des Jeux (for whatever reason) decided to put up a no-Discovery Channel Team club sign in front of their tree house. Whether this decision has any bearing at all on the actual ProTour no one knows. But the team directors have spoken. Their code of ethics has been violated because you cannot sign a rider who was implicated in the press and then cleared in the courts. Even though there is no active investigation and no solid evidence against a particular rider, if there was something written about them in the press then they are forever to be known as a doper and should never race again. The teams have decided to take a stance against riders involved in doping and are getting serious.

Meanwhile Paolo Bettini declares that he would rather retire than submit to a DNA test. This is a valid point. To what degree do pro cyclist now have to be automatically treated like criminals? Riders would then be assumed to be guilty even before they enter a race or join a team. Their DNA samples are taken to be on file in case a bag of blood appears in someones office somewhere where it should not be. That bag of blood will be compared to hundreds of DNA samples already on file to catch the culprit. Sounds convenient doesn’t it? Maybe a bit to convenient for most when French laboratories cannot keep their labels straight, and investigations a marked more for their sensational press leaks than by their actual evidence.

Meanwhile Floyd Landis is starting to feel the financial burden and is pondering life without cycling. The disgraced Tour winner (yeah I wrote Tour winner) is getting desperate in the dark days of winter. The legal costs are adding up and Landis may just be thinking of what his next career move should be that will probably not involve wearing cycling shorts to the office.

The UCI under Pat McQuaid has dared to mess with on of the Grand Tours by suggesting that that Tour of Spain be cut down to two weeks. The third Grand Tour would be reduced to the likes of a longer Dauphine Libere to make room for the Tour of Germany and Tour of Poland. You’re a mean one Mr. McQuaid.

But just as the Whos of Whoville gathered around the town center and sang songs on Christmas Day without their presents, cycling will do the same. The bad news of cutting down the Vuelta means that they have to do it to make room for more races. The Tour of California and Tour de Georgia are looking good for 2007. The Giro looks like it will be a close race to the end next year. Saul Raisin is making an awesome recovery and may even race next year.

Despite all of the doping stories cycling is as popular as ever. It sucks that all of the doping stories are like a body blow to the beautiful sport.

2006 was the craziest year for drugs in cycling ever. The craziness of Operation Puerto probably eclipsed anything that happened in 1998 with the Festina Affair. Now that Ivan Basso and several others are cleared of involvement from Operation Puerto for the time being the hot news is who is signing for whom.

Jan Ullrich is talking with sponsors and teams, while Tyler Hamilton has already signed with Tinkoff. “Il Bufalo” (Italian spelling) Gutierrez is signing with a small Italian team to get back to the Giro and similarly Santiago Botero is signing with a smalll Columbian team. Genevieve Jenson is getting ready to comeback. On top of all this the Tour de France will feature a prologue in London that could be won by David Millar the man who made 2006 his comeback year. Manolo Saiz may be back in the ProTour with the Astana team or some variation. The list goes on and on of riders who are making a comeback either from being cleared of involvement in Operation Puerto or having served their suspension and returning to cycling.

I am also going to assume that Floyd Landis will be cleared of the drug charges and return to the pro peloton in 2007. The botched record keeping and security of the French lab seem very questionable. Plus, the conviction Landis is facing has been turned over in the past, so it probably will not stick.

With all of these athletes coming back to the sport and the botched procedures and investigations it seems as though the “war on drugs” is an absolute failure. It certainly is, since very few have actually ever admitted to doping while some such as Jesper Skibby don’t regret their decision. Why should Skibby regret it? If everyone else was doing it and he has no long term ill effects then no harm done right? Attitudes such as those by Skibby are the reason why with all the power in the world WADA, the UCI the IOC and others will always be behind in the war on drugs. The point is not in the punishment and cracking down on the drug use. That is approaching the problem backwards since the culture of drug use is already there and new methods, drugs and procedures will always stay ahead of detection practices.

The only good news in the war on drugs is the work of teams such as T-Mobile and CSC to do their own detection and not allow riders to work with outside doctors. This will help cut down on the temptation for athletes to go for the performance enhancing drugs, but it is not a guarantee that doping will go away.

In the meantime I will be looking forward to an all out battle i the Tour de France between Ivan Basso, Floyd Landis, Jan Ullrich with David Millar holding the Yellow Jersey in the British stages. Hopefully no new Operation Puerto will ruin the fun.

Ivan Basso wasted no time climbing on a new Trek and donning the Discovery Channel kit after word of his signing was released to the world last week. To say that Ivan is motivated for 2007 is an understatement. Basso is already dressed in Discovery Channel blue and has the matching blue SiDis. This move must have been close for a while since the matching blue SiDis are not a standard color in their 2007 lineup. They need to be custom made and the turn-around time on those must be more than a few days.

Basso is probably counting down the days until the December 3rd Discovery Team training camp. No cold nights in the Norwegian tundra this year. Just some warmer nights getting to know a team that is probably just as eager to meet him.

Discovery Channel are taking a calculated risk signing Ivan Basso. None of the Pro Tour teams wanted to keep him since he was involved with the Operation Puerto affair. But, Operation Puerto is a dud, and the investigation is on hold until next summer. The evidence in the case has been flimsy at best and not enough to use in court. Basso has been cleared by the Italian Cycling Federation and is OK to race. The only violation is a gentleman’s agreement between ProTour teams to not sign riders involved in the OP affair. The Gentleman’s agreement is no legally binding, but it immediately set off a round of criticism from T-Mobile and a somber response from Riis who wished he never let Basso go.

T-Mobile is upset since they feel Discovery violated the Pro Tour ethics guidelines. This anger would be totally valid if Operation Puerto actually showed hard evidence against any cyclist. So far everyone no one has been convicted and all cases have been dropped. Even Manolo Saiz has had his license re-instated. With Saiz back in the Team Astana ring why should Basso be kept out of the Pro Tour? Saiz was actually caught with bags of blood and cash money in hand. This is much more incriminating that the innuendo that was used to associate Basso. Discovery Channel is completely justified in signing Basso, and no Pro Tour team should be restrained from signing Jan Ullrich or any other rider as a result.

Meanwhile Jan Ullrich is riding in an all black kit because he has no team and no license. He is waiting to get back into cycling and take out his anger on the roads of various races. Ullrich is going to have a hard time signing on with a ProTour team. Unlike Basso, Jan Ullrich has been run through the proverbial ringer in the Operation Puerto affair. No official charges have been levied against Der Kaiser. He is a hot potato as cycling federations from Germany to Switzerland to Austria are each trying to disassociate themselves from Ullrich.

Tyler Hamilton served his two year ban and is ready to get back to racing. After demolishing the competition at the Mt Washington Hill Climb the last two years, Tyler should be ready for some more challenging competition. The Pro Tour rules will not allow Hamilton to race with a top Pro Tout team, but that is no issue since many teams would probably not risk signing him anyway. Tinkoff Credit Systems is the team that seems likely to sign Hamilton.

Ivan Basso and Bjarne Riis are no longer working together. The fallout from the Operation Puerto scandal has tarnished the relationship between Riis and rising star Basso. The close working relationship took a severe blow when allegations arose over Ivan Basso’s involvement with Dr. Fuentes who is at the picenter of the Operation Puerto situation. Basso was cleared of any involvement in the Operation Puerto case due to lack of evidence. However, the case could still be revisited if new evidence became available.

“After all that has happened, especially this summer, Team CSC and Ivan Basso have agreed to part ways. It has been a very difficult decision, but both parties agree it is time to move on. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ivan for his time with the team and for the great results he and the team have achieved together. At the same time, we wish him all the best for the future,” says Bjarne Riis. — http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1116

Basso also needed to prove to Bjarne Riis that he was not involved with Dr. Fuentes. Riis wanted extra hard evidence which involved Basso taking a DNA test which could be tested against the bags of blood found in Dr. Fuentes lab. Ivan Basso refused to take a DNA test under advice from his lawyer. The reasoning was that the blood bags found as evidence may have not been stored properly and could provide dubious results. This refusal was probably the detail that led to the split between Riis and Basso. For Riis this split is completely understandable since Basso is damaged goods. It would be hard to get new sponsors on board with Ivan Basso having questions and allegations surrounding him over the Operation Puerto scandal. What if new evidence were to arise next June? That seems to be the time of year that cycling related drug investigation get publicity. The team would find itself in the same situation as this year.

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Team CSC also relies on trust between riders which is formed in their winter survival camps. Team cohesion is something that Riis tries to build on the team. With the Basso situation most riders who were committed to helping Basso in the Tour found themselves left high and dry. Riders such as Sastre, Schleck and Voight were able to find personal glory in the Tour to make up for the shakeup the team experienced at the begining of the Tour. By the end of July it seemed that the very talented team was ready to move on as they have plenty of riders that can get results throughout the year. Team CSC doesn’t really need Ivan Basso, and they will probably be better off without him and the Operation Puerto scandal.

Basso seems to have plenty of contract offers seem to be on the table. Discovery Channel and Milram seem to be the front runners for now, but don’t rule out Liquigas or any other team at this point. Signing Basso may be a risk since the ASO (organizing body of the Tour de France) may try to find a way to exclude Basso from competing in the Tour. That is why a team such as Discovery Channel would be the best fit for Ivan.

Discovery Channel would like nothing more than to sign Basso who is a very likeable athlete. Discovery Channel is very familiar with managing Tour de France polemeics they would probably relish having a riders such as Basso on staff. Basso’s Tour pedigree would give them a solid contender that the newly revamped team could easily carry to a win. Bruyneel is on par with Riis in terms of bringing out talent and has a wealth of experience in winning stage races. It seems that Basso should lean to Discovery Channel as his best option for returning to racing.

Milram and Liquigas do not have a well established team that could support Basso in the Giro and Tour. Milram is a sprinters team. They have plenty of big engines that could power Basso in the flat stages, but they would have to split their goals between getting stage victories for Alessandro Petacchi and trying to keep Basso high in the GC. These two were teammates back in the Fassa Bortolo days where Basso simply followed wheels in the Tour. To win the Tour you need a team, and Milram doesn’t have the complete package for Basso.

Tuttobiciweb reports that Discovery Channel has given a contract offer to Jan Ullrich. The contract is to make Jan Ullrich team leader for the next two years. This contract offer so far seems to have no regard for the various legal issues surrounding Der Kaiser. Ullrich may be cleared of his Operation Puerto involvement since the court proceeding need to go through another court before any of the evidence in Operation Puerto can be used to implicate any cyclist. Jan may be in the clear for the time being, but he still needs to get his Swiss racing license renewed for next year. The process may be a bit messy since Ullrich seemed to have the most evidence that showed a link with Efuaminao Fuentes and personal coach Rudy Pevenage.

For any observer it was very clear that Operation Puerto was a fiasco in the making. From the original list of 200 cyclist that turned to 59 then just 9, the reports were very suspect. The investigation was known more for outlandish and ever changing leaks than actual proof. Whenever hard evidence was actually demanded none came. When each cyclist was brought before their own cycling federation there was simply not enough evidence to prosecute.

Ivan Basso ready to be cleared, just after Santiago Botero was cleared last week. Most of the Astana team was denied entry to the Tour de France, but later cleared meaning that Astana’s exclusion from the Tour was for no good reason. Ivan Basso and possibly Jan Ullrich’s careers were dealt a serious blow just as they were poised to make a run for a Tour title in the post-Lance era. Jan Ullrich seems to be the most damaged from this investigation as he has lost his job at T-Mobile an several personal sponsorships. Yet nothing is fully proven. Ullrich has been implicated more in the court of public opinion than in any actual court.

This type of fiasco is a black eye to any investigation that is cracking down on doping in sport. The inquisition like treatment of cyclist has got to stop. These are athletes who may or may not take performance enhancing drugs. They are not terrorist, and they are not risking anyone’s life other than their own. They are simply being lazy and using a chemical enhancement to make them go faster. It is wrong, and it should be punished. The system used to catch the cheaters needs to be reliable, fair and open. Otherwise the credibility of all investigations and dope tests is suspicious and doping will go on.

Operation Puerto will probably do more to undermine the anit-doping effort than to help. The vast investigation has yet to convict anyone on the doping charges. With all of the sound and fury that Operation Puerto drudged up just in time for the Tour de France, the end result signifies nothing.

Santiago Botero is the latest cyclist to be let off the hook. The Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo did not have enough evidence from the Spanish Guardia Civil to convict Santiago Botero of any wrong doing in Operation Puerto affair. This is the latest in the long string of cyclist being cleared of wrong doing in the investigation.

Ivan Basso is getting ready to be cleared as there is not enough evidence to convict. So this investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil has so far failed to provide any evidence that can actually convict riders of doping. The question now has to be why was thre so much credibility put into the preliminary finding when there was no solid evidence that could be seen by everyone? Why did the riders in question have to be suspended for suspicion which turned out to be false? There is a reason why most judicial systems in the world follow the the theory of due process.

The bigger problem is that men like Pat McQuaid, Dick Pound and anyone from the ASO want to convict riders to to give the impression that cycling is clean. Dick Pound in particular seems to have a vendetta against cycling and its doping practices. The fact is that to clean up the sport you have to be dilligent in your efforts. You must follow the policies and procedures that are in place. If there are suspensions by suspicion, then the sport is not helped later when a hasty investigation turns up nothing and a possibly guilty rider walks. It is time for those involved in the doping battle to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves just what is it they are trying to do and how is the best way to do it.

Ivan Basso’s Operation Puerto case took another slow step forward. Today Basso met with CONI for the followup meeting that was originally scheduled for September 12th. The meeting lasted for one hour and no descision was made official as of yet.
The documents are now going to the Judge in Cosenza who will need two or three more days to decide on the case that many are predicting will be dropped. The lack of evidence against Basso in the Operation Puerto case gives CONI not much choice.

After the eventual resolution of the case the only hurdle for Basso’s return to racing is his contract situation with CSC. Bjanrne Riis wants definative proof that Ivan Basso was not involved with Fuentes. Word of Basso and Riis’ relationship has varied, some say they are still friends, while others say the relationship has deteriorated to the point where Basso may have to look for another team. Milram and Discovery Channel are two teams that have been rumored to pick up Basso if he is not a CSC man next year. The likelyhood of Basso riding in a blue jersey is prety much up to where you get your news.

From what Tuttobiciweb reports, the outcome of this situation could see Basso return to racing very soon. Basso has been training on his bike despite no racing and was recently spotted riding with the Italian national team just before the World Championships last weekend. Perhaps with a quick return to action we may see Basso line up for the Giro di Lombardia.

http://ivanbasso.net/

http://www.tuttobiciweb.com/home.htm