CYCLING/Giro d'Italia: Paddy Agnewon the circumstances surrounding Ivan Basso's role in the doping investigation 'Operacion Puerto'
Today ought to have been a day when cycling fans focus their attention on the beautiful, rugged coastline of the island of Caprera, north of Sardinia. Instead, however, that attention may wander, perhaps in the direction of Madrid, bags of blood, a family dog and a gynaecologist.
As the 198 riders in this year's Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) get down to the tough business of today's opening stage, a 24-kilometre team-time trial, the start of Italy's premier bike race has once again been overshadowed by the black cloud of doping controversy.
Missing from the line-up for this year's race is none other than Ivan Basso, last year's Giro winner (in his absence, the coveted number one jersey goes to the World and Olympic champion, Paolo Bettini).
Last Monday, it seemed Basso was about to break the infamous "omerta" (silence) respected by the riders' guild when it comes to allegations of doping. In a four-hour session with Ettore Torri, head of the Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) Anti-Doping investigative body, Basso finally admitted his involvement in "Operación Puerto", the Spanish investigation launched in May of last year after police raids in Madrid and Zaragoza had discovered large quantities of anabolic steroids, 200 bags of blood and blood-transfusion equipment in surgeries run by the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Along with the steroids and blood, the Spanish police, as we now know, also discovered a tell-tale list of Dr Fuentes's "clients", including many professional athletes. Among the 56 cyclists on the list were men like the German Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, and Basso, winner last May of the Giro. Both men were, accordingly, forced out of last year's Tour de France.
Last November, the Spanish daily El Mundoclaimed an anti-doping laboratory in Barcelona had analysed 99 bags of blood found in "Operación Puerto" and had found them to contain "high levels of erythropoietin (EPO)", the notorious, banned hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells and, accordingly, the body's ability to burn up oxygen. This suggested athletes working with Dr Fuentes had used more than just blood doping to improve performances.
According to El Mundo, the Fuentes scam worked like this. A rider would visit him a few weeks before a big race and have his blood removed. The blood would then be run through a centrifuge, separating blood plasma from red blood cells, the latter being reinjected into the rider shortly before his race. If the rider's haemocrit level was too high, plasma (possibly laced with EPO) would be reinjected too so as to avoid detection in the haemocrit tests to which riders are subjected pre-race.
To some extent, after a winter of intense speculation, "Operación Puerto" had not appeared to make much progress. After questioning Basso, CONI's anti-doping body eventually dropped the case against him last October. Likewise, last October, Ullrich was similarly cleared by a court in Madrid, which ruled he (and Basso) had been put under investigation without any real proof of their involvement.
All of that changed last Monday when Basso, perhaps compromised by new evidence in the hands of anti-doping investigator Torri, admitted his involvement. Seven of the blood bags found in Dr Fuentes's surgery contained his blood, he said, and yes, it was true the name "Birillo" (the name of the Basso family dog) was a codename for him.
As he explained to a crowded press conference the next day in Milan, "I was one of the most monitored riders in recent years. Sometimes, you have a weakness and all these controls can seem like a handicap. You think that maybe certain things will make you rest easy. This was a moment of weakness on my part that will remain with me for the rest of my life and for which I will pay."
Yet, at the very moment when he seemed ready to make a full mea culpa and admit his guilt, Basso seemed to step back, qualifying his alleged guilt: "I have never been accused of doping but only of attempted doping. In all my career, I have never taken any doping substance nor undergone any (illegal) blood transfusions. I have explained all about my relationship with Dr Fuentes to the anti-doping (body). I tell you I rode the Giro on my own strengths last year. You can win races without cheating."
So, is this credible? Can it really be that Basso never actually resorted to any doping practice? In that case, for what were the seven bags of his blood intended? Why were those bags stored under his dog's name? Throughout his news conference in Milan on Tuesday, Basso was careful to repeat he had not named names: "My back was not against the wall. My interrogation was cordial and polite. I admitted only my own responsibility. I was not asked, nor do I know the names of other riders or people involved."
Basso's caution, not to say fear, is understandable. If the "peloton" or "gruppo" perceives him to be a "traitor", someone who has broken the unwritten rules of "gruppo" loyalty, he could find life very difficult when he returns to cycling after the one- or two-year ban for which he now seems an almost certain candidate.
Switch the clock back to July 23rd, 2004, and there is a precedent. It involves the boss himself, seven-times Tour winner Lance Armstrong, and Italian cyclist Filippo Simeoni. The stage was the 18th or third-last of the Tour, Annemasse to Lons Le Saunier, 166 kilometres long.
Right from the start of that stage, Simeoni and a handful of other riders went on the attack. Most unusually, the yellow jersey himself, Armstrong, organised the chase and made sure Simeoni's group got nowhere.
"Lance hated me because I had given evidence against Dr Ferrari (a controversial sports doctor who had been consulted by Armstrong). When he got to us, he said to the others, 'you lot can make a break if you like, but he (Simeoni) can't'. He then started singing 'stupid, stupid' at me," Simeoni claimed this week.
For his pains and his confession in the Ferrari case (subsequently dropped because of the statute of limitations), Simeoni had received a six-month ban. He lost an estimated €100,000 in earnings. Worse still, he found himself ostracised by the other riders as well as "hated" by the boss, Armstrong.
Does Basso fear the same fate? Is he worried he might get shoved off the road during a 70kph downhill descent as a way of being "taught a lesson"?
At least one cycling commentator this week would not dismiss such a notion, telling The Irish Times that, in cycling, "there are guys, there is a mafia, who wouldn't think twice about putting you into the ditch".
For all that, perhaps this has been a key week in cycling's long-drawn-out battle with doping. The admission, or partial admission, of guilt by as talented a rider as Basso is "an important signal", according to CONI president Gianni Petrucci.
Over now to Los Angeles, where on Monday Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, appears before an arbitration hearing of the US Anti-Doping Agency as he strives to hold on to his title, despite a positive drug test. Landis, who like Basso has been effectively banned from defending his title, continues to profess his innocence, despite testing positive for elevated testosterone after winning the 17th stage on the 2006 Tour. His hearing could last for up to 10 days.
With the winners of the two biggest stage races on the world calendar last season in apparent disgrace, can you blame sports fans in Sardinia this afternoon if they are a little sceptical?
Giro d'Italia 2007
Today(24km) Caprera to La Maddalena. Tomorrow(203km) Tempio Pausania to Bosa Marina. May 14th(195km) Nuraghe di Barumini to Cagliari. May 16th(158km) Salerno to Montevergine di Mercogliano. May 17th(172km) Teano to Frascati. May 18th(181km) Tivoli to Spoleto. May 19th(239km) Spoleto to Scarperia del Mugello. May 20th(194km) Barberino di Mugello to Fiorano Modenese. May 21st(182km) Reggio Emilia to Lido di Camaiore. May 22nd(230km) Lido di Camaiore to Genova. May 23rd(192km) Serravalle Scrivia to Pinerolo. May 24th(163km) Scalenghe to Briancon, FR. May 25th(13km) Biella to Oropa. May 26th(181km) Cantu' to Bergamo. May 27th(190km) Trento to Auronzo. May 29th(196km) Agordo to Lienz Tirol, Austria. May 30th(146km) Lienz to Monte Zoncolan. May 31st(182km) Udine to Riese Pio X. June 1st(178km) Treviso to Terme di Comano. June 2nd(42km) Castelnuovo del Garda to Verona. June 3rd(181km) Vestone to Milano. Total Distance:3,442km.
Landis asked to give evidence about Armstrong
American cyclist Floyd Landis - battling to maintain his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive doping test -has he was offered a reduced sentence by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) if he gave "incriminating evidence" about Lance Armstrong.
"It was characterised for me if I gave information that would incriminate Lance then I would be given a shorter sentence," Landis told a teleconference before a public hearing into his case - due to start on May 14th.
Landis said the offer concerning Armstrong, the record seven-times Tour de France winner, had been made to his lawyer by USADA general counsel Travis Tygart.
Tygart said rules stopped him from discussing matters relating to a case.
