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May 08, 2007
Basso's chimera: “Attempted doping”
CyclingNews.com | Basso: "It was only attempted doping"
Ivan Basso spoke to reporters today about his hearing with an Italian anti-doping official yesterday. He admitted that bags of blood found in the refrigerator of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and labeled “Birillo” were his, but he said he had never used a single bag to boost his performance, or used any other illegal substance or process.
Basso said the bags were banked for use in last year's Tour de France, and that he's therefore guilty only of “attempted doping.”
“I have never taken banned substances and I have never employed blood doping … I did admit having attempted to use doping for the (2006) Tour de France and I am ready to pay the penalty for that,” Basso said. “All my wins have been achieved in a proper and clean manner and I have every intention of returning to action and continuing with the job I love once I have paid the penalty.”
It will be interesting to see whether any of the documentation found in Madrid suggests any more: There were reports last year of pages that appeared to be riders' doping schedule, and other reports of billing information for the doctor's services.
Also:
La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian) | Basso: "È tentato doping. Mai usati prodotti illeciti"
La Gazzetta also has video from the press conference.
VeloNews | Basso admits only to 'attempted' doping
Posted by Frank Steele on May 8, 2007 in Doping, Giro d'Italia 2006, Ivan Basso | Permalink
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Comments
"attempted" : So Basso raced clean and mostly came out on top while racing. With Armstrong's retirement, why would Basso even consider doping??
Posted by: Fritz at May 8, 2007 4:31:44 PM
That's sort of what I meant by "Basso's chimera:" Just as Hamilton came up with a possible, but extremely unlikely, explanation for his positive tests, Basso is presenting a possible, but extremely unlikely, defense that conveniently leaves him guilty only of what investigators can already prove.
Posted by: Frank at May 8, 2007 4:48:25 PM
Oh come on! I used to use this same line on my parents when I was a kid and only once I was caught red-handed. I want so badly for this stuff to be a witch hunt but it's so obviously justified. Sigh!
Posted by: Motorcycle Classifieds at May 8, 2007 7:36:46 PM
I always have to defend cycling as a sport, I try to explain the great feeling of reaching a summit or riding really fast downhill through hairpins. That most cyclists are probably the most fit people on the planet and so on... and then this, another stab in the back. From a "fellow" cyclist. Sigh.
Posted by: Fredrik at May 9, 2007 6:13:21 AM
