Returning to the fold

Well Lance is back, but not from a doping-related retirement, what about some of the "others"?

• Coming back later this year - The Chicken: Rasmussen told Cyclingnews last week that he was training to make his comeback this summer, but has not yet found a team.
• Returning soon - Landis and Basso: Floyd Landis received his chance to make his comeback to the sport in the USA's biggest race when organisers of the Amgen Tour of California announced that they had included Landis' OUCH Pro Cycling team on the list of invited teams on Thursday. Landis will toe the line alongside fellow returnees Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso at the race's start in Sacramento on February 14.
• Returning later than expected - Nathan "slimming tips" O'Neill: The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) announced Wednesday that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Appeals Board in Switzerland overturned the original decision to lessen the suspension of Australian cyclist Nathan O'Neill from 24 months to 15 months, returning the ban to the maximum of two years and keeping O'Neill out of racing until June of 2010.
  

CSC implicated, police involved, investigation underway

Well it sounds weak, but there's some evidence, if the reports are true... The newspaper further stated that research shows that Schleck is the one identified with the name "Amigo di Birillo". Birillo has been identified as Ivan Basso, Schleck's friend and former teammate, who confessed his involvement with the Spanish doctor last year.

So there's Riis, Frank Schleck and Basso, all caught up in a web. Should be fun seeing this one proved, or not.

Astana spend 460,000 Euros on anti-doping - still get dumped by ASO

Bye-bye Le Tour for Astana. Unless ASO does an almighty backflip there will be no invitation this year to Le Tour de France for the Astana team and their star riders. Riders who last year secured both 1st and 3rd, may I add. With stakes so high on either side - ASO desperately wants a drug-free Tour and Astana just want to race on the biggest stage - it may be that this ban gets contested all the way to July.

CN reports: The Astana team was given a resounding vote of no confidence on Wednesday when the Tour de France organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation, announced that the team would not be invited to any of the ASO's events. This means its star, Alberto Contador, will not be able to defend his titles in either the Tour or the upcoming Paris-Nice.

Just my opinion, but who can blame ASO? Whilst Bruyneel may claim - quite rightly - that this is a new Astana with the right attitude and tough anti-doping rules and testing in place, this is also a team that in 2007 fostered the up and down roller-coaster ride that was Vinokourov (blood doper). And Kashechkin (blood doper). And Kessler (testosterone abuser). And a team that has managed to bring into the fold the remains - both key riders and managers - of a fairly tight-knit, successful and at times questionable Discovery team. I say 'questionable' advisedly, however there are enough books and websites written on the subjects of Armstrong, Landis and Basso for you to gather some answers - or simply more questions - for yourself.

When you reflect on Astana's hasty creation from the charred remains of the bloodied corpse of Liberty Seguros - and its dreadfully tarnished image since - you have to wonder if ASO can afford to risk Le Tour's reputation once more. Obviously not, at this stage anyway.

A roundup of the latest dopage du jour

A roundup of the latest dopage du jour... you don't want to miss out on Eddy's wait for justice, Totschnig's plea for a fair go after being implicated in the as-yet unproved Viennese blood bank 'scandal', Davis's painful search for a team after, again, implication in something he was not involved in, and more.... all the links go to recent articles by Cyclingnews.com. Opinions are mine.

• Guilty as charged, Mazzoleni waits The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) released a statement on Tuesday calling for Eddy Mazzoleni to serve a two-year ban for his involvement in the 'Oil for drugs' scandal. The charges against Mazzoleni relate to SMS messages sent to Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione in 2004, said to contain requests for banned substances and treatments. The Italian cycling federation will now decide whether to accept CONI's recommended sanction for the 34 year-old Italian.
• Implicated but innocent, Totschnig sues Georg Totschnig will sue the German television station ARD for libel and defamation for its broadcast earlier this month claiming he was a blood-doping client at the Viennese blood bank "Humanplasma", even though he knows that "the damage can't be mended.".
• Implicated, innocent and out of a job: Davis struggles after cleared Former Discovery Channel rider Allan Davis is reported to be getting high-ranked support out of the International Cycling Union (UCI) in his search for a new team. Davis, who got caught up in the Operación Puerto scandal in 2006, was cleared of any charges before signing with the American team for the 2007 season. Despite good racing results last year, the Australian sprinter has nevertheless not been able to find a new squad for 2008, as his reputation is heavily tainted since his name was mentioned in the Spanish doping affair.
• Computers pitch in to help make things better With the ProTour season ready to start in Australia at the Tour Down Under this January, the UCI's latest anti-doping tool, the biological passport, is also set to hopefully make 2008 one of the cleanest cycling years ever. One key element to the increased out-of-competition tests (7000 tests in 2008 as compared to 1000 last year) is the introduction of a reliable riders' whereabouts system, the ADAMS computer system (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System).
• Basso actually happy to be suspended, so why did he wait so long? Being suspended "was the best thing that could have happened to me," said Ivan Basso, whose career as a pro cyclist is currently on hold. "It gave me time to reflect and it has turned my life around." The Italian was given a two-year ban for his involvement in Operación Puerto.
• And the source of recent dramas, German TV backs down over Viennese blood bank claims German television station ARD has retracted its charges that four pro cyclists and unnamed German skiers and biathletes were involved in illegal doping at the Viennese blood center, "Human Plasma". Before Thursday afternoon's broadcast of a biathlon race, a moderator said, "It is not justified and not compatible with our professional standards, that such sweeping charges be made without having any evidence to back them up. We regret that accusations and suspicions against athletes arose because of this report."
• Who knows what else may happen in 2008? I suspect there's loads more to come with too many unanswered questions lingering in the air.
  

Old dope - Ivan Basso makes an appearance

To recap, Ivan Basso came clean about his blood in the bag, then recanted somewhat saying that he'd never actually taken part in doping, as such. He made a deposit but not a withdrawal, as it were. He copped a suspension anyway.

Here's the latest on Basso from AFP via Cyclingnews.com:
"Suspension? Basso in Giro delle Valli Cuneesi Basso during CONI visit

Ivan Basso was handed a two-year suspension June 15 by the Italian cycling federation (FCI) for his involvement with the Eufemiano Fuentes doping ring but the former Discovery Channel rider continues to make appearances in racing-related events. Earlier this week, he was at the presentation of the Tre Valli Varesine and he will be on his bike in front of the fans when the Giro delle Valli Cuneesi starts today in Cuneo (Piemonte, Italy).

The 29 year-old Italian has been invited to ride pre-race for the fans in the first stage of the five-day amateur stage race according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. He will use the 145 kilometres from Cuneo to Carrù as training before the riders race the same parcours.

The appearance underlines Basso's love for the sport but it also sends mixed signals from a rider that has never fully admitted his guilt. Basso was faced with evidence contrary to his earlier statements to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) during its investigation and was put in a position where he had to confess. The details of Fuentes' operations were sparse and the next day before the press he watered down his involvement.

"In my career I have never used doping products or resorted to blood transfusions," said Basso May 8. Investigators found blood bags in Madrid marked for the 29 year-old Italian but he claimed that although he had the blood extracted he never had it transfused."