Doping

The Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) has recommended a 21-month suspension for 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso for his involvement in the Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal, the ANSA news agency reported on Friday. Coni's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri has asked the Italian cycling federation to hand out the suspension because of Basso's guilt in "using or attempting to use banned substances," according to the same source. The UCI's ethics rules would keep Basso from signing a contract with ProTour teams for an additional 21 months, but the grand tours do

If Floyd Landis is cleared of charges that he used synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France, Monday could go down as the arbitration-hearing version of stage 17. Bolstered by scientific testimony from a pair of defense side experts, the Landis team appeared to poke significant holes in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s allegation that he cheated his way to victory on the Champs-Elysees. Landis had been scheduled to take the stand on the seventh day of this nine-day hearing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, but his turn didn’t come up until late afternoon, and the

Day five of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing started with a public admission of witness harassment and continued with a heartfelt doping confession by a suspended pro cyclist. In between it was more of the less sensational — but likely more critical — scientific testimony that will likely determine whether Landis is found guilty of using synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France. The hearing continues Saturday with Landis himself scheduled to take the witness stand. If he beats the rap, he’ll hold onto his Tour title. Otherwise he faces a two-year racing ban, plus an

Editor's Note: Denver-based attorney Antonio Gallegos is in Malibu, California, this week to observe the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Gallegos works for the firm of Holland and Hart, concentrating in commercial litigation and government investigation. He is also an avid cyclist and is developing a sports law practice. At the end of each day Gallegos will be providing VeloNews.com with analysis on what happened and why. Here's his take key moments from the fifth day on the Pepperdine University Campus. Today’s evidence was pivotal for both USADA and Landis as testimony from USADA

LeMond testified under oath that Landis implicitly admitted to doping during a phone call. LeMond also testified that he received what he characterized as a threatening phone call from a member of the Landis team on the eve of his testimony.

Day two of the Floyd Landis hearing brought further clarification as to who each side may call to testify before the arbitration panel during the upcoming week. Most of the potential witnesses come from the scientific world, but there are a few names more familiar to cycling fans. Among them is Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France, and a vocal critic of doping in cycling. LeMond won the Tour title in 1986, and then two more times in 1989 and ’90. He was listed on the USADA side of the ledger, one spot above former pro cyclist Joe Papp. On Monday, USADA lead counsel

Floyd Landis moved a step closer to finding out whether his name will go down in Tour de France history or infamy. Landis’s scheduled 10-day arbitration hearing to determine whether he used synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour commenced in the moot-courtroom of the Pepperdine University Law School in Malibu, California, with science — not cycling — taking center stage. If he wins the case he’ll avoid becoming the first Tour champion in 100 years to be stripped of his title. If Landis loses the win is no more, and he faces a two-year racing ban, and an additional two-year exclusion

Defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso’s career is on hold ashe awaits an appearance before an Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) investigatingpanel next Wednesday in Rome. The panel has reopened an investigation into alleged ties between the29-year-old Italian and Eufemiano Fuentes, the infamous sports doctor atthe center of the Operación Puerto scandal in Spain. Basso was among nine riders barred from participation in the 2006 Tourde France when notes seized in the police raids that marked the Puertoinvestigation appeared to link them to an apparent doping ring headedby Fuentes. While

Tom Boonen dares to dream of making it three in a row as he lines up as a five-star favorite for Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. The Quick Step-Innergetic captain talked to the Belgian media Thursday about his chances. “Over these last few days I’ve realized that I really could do something unique – winning the Flanders for the third time in a row, but I’ll also need a bit of luck on my side to do this. It won’t be an easy feat,” Boonen said. “I’m approaching the Ronde in good condition. I’ve done everything possible to be at the Ronde in excellent form.” Boonen has snagged his fair share

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The small town of Zamora in northwest Spain will play host to some of the biggest names in the peloton for Monday’s time trial start of the Vuelta a Castilla y León. Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), Carlos Sastre (CSC), Denis Menchov and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) are some of the bigger names taking part in the five-day race across Spain’s northern meseta and rugged mountains. Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Tom Danielson and Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) are also penciled in for the start. Alberto Contador – fresh off winning

Australian Tour de France hope Cadel Evans isn’t going to become Mr. July. The ex-mountain biker – fresh off finishing a solid seventh at Paris-Nice - is eyeing two form peaks this season, with the first one coming just around the corner, in time for next month’s Ardennes classics. “I’ll race Pais Vasco to get ready for the Ardennes,” Evans told VeloNews. “I want to be good in April this year. Last year, I had some headaches in the races. I am hoping for some good results in the spring classics.” The bumpy Ardennes races obviously best suit Evans’ explosive climbing capabilities and he’s

[nid:37799]The future is now for Alberto Contador after the Spanish climber pulled the double at Paris-Nice on Sunday to win the final stage and claim the overall prize that positions him as Spain’s next great hope. The 24-year-old Discovery Channel rider uncorked a searing attack on the Cat. 1 Col d’Eze to gap overnight leader Davide Rebellin and drove home a stirring victory on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais to turn a six-second deficit into a 26-second winning margin.

[nid:37738]It was expected to be a showdown between Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen in the first stage of Paris-Nice, but it was French sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon who surprised everyone with a long charge to the line in Buzançais on Monday. Nazon, who’s been all but invisible since winning a pair of Tour de France stages in 2003-04, burst down the left side of the peloton after sniffing out a hole with 200 meters to go.

If Alejandro Valverde is the here-and-now in Spanish cycling, Alberto Contador is the big hope for the future. The 24-year-old has been nipping at the edge of major success the past few seasons and since signing a two-year deal with Discovery Channel, the Madrileño seems poised for a breakthrough season. Contador revealed he’ll be a factor this season, winning Friday’s “queen stage” in the Volta a la Comunidad Valenciana ahead of Valverde. Only a crash earlier in the week kept him from taking the overall. A pro since 2003, Contador nearly died in the Vuelta a Asturias in 2004 when he

At its customary pre-season training camp in Solvang, California, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team opened the doors of the Royal Scandinavian Inn to the media on Monday and Tuesday for an opportunity to meet the team’s riders. In lieu of an official team presentation, which will be offered via video on the team’s Web site, thepaceline.com, team representatives arranged one-on-one interviews with print, Web and video journalists in Solvang, a small Danish settlement in central California. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, a part owner of the team, was in attendance at

Spanish riders Jesus Hernandez and Alberto Contador were the first of some 50 cyclists linked to the Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal to appear in court, legal sources in Madrid said Tuesday. Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, suspected of masterminding a vast blood-doping network in cycling, football and other sports, will be among those heard following the police raids in Spain just before the Tour de France in July earlier this year. Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso are among several cyclists suspected of working with

Alexandre Vinokourov’s Astana team could be forced into racing in cycling’s second division in 2007, after the UCI notified the team that it faces an automatic denial of its ProTour application. The UCI sent Astana general manager Marc Biver a fax Thursday, giving the team’s management company a preliminary negative notice that its application didn't fulfill all of the UCI’s required conditions for a ProTour license. The fax said that the team had not submitted evidence of adequate bank guarantees and added that there remains confusion regarding the status of the program’s main

In what Health Net is describing as a “rebirth,” the team announced the addition of ProTour riders Ryder Hesjedal and Rory Sutherland for 2007 following the departures of Gord Fraser, Mike Sayers and Scott Moninger. The moves are part of sweeping changes for the team that includes seven new riders coming onboard for next year. “Both guys have started and finished grand tours, and they have a lot of experience racing at the top level in Europe,” said Jeff Corbett, sport director for Health Net presented by Maxxis. “(Ryder’s) a good time trialist and a strong climber. He and Nathan (O’Neill)

Cycling could be thrown into tumult yet again as the UCI said it’s poised to release more names linked to the ongoing “Operación Puerto” doping investigation in Spain. Reacting from pressure from the top ProTour teams - which met last week in Brussels to demand the UCI release all names linked to inquiry ahead of this weekend’s start of the Vuelta a España - the UCI is expected to reveal even more names connected to controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. The French sports daily L’Equipe reported that the new list could include as many as an additional 50 names from 14 squads, seven

Astana is Vuelta-bound and Alexandre Vinokourov will be team captain. The troubled team filed the necessary paperwork Friday with Vuelta a España organizers to get the green light to start the season’s third grand tour, set to start Aug. 26 in Málaga. While the issue of the team’s ProTour license has yet to be settled, Vuelta organizers will allow the team to race if none of the riders are implicated in the ongoing “Operación Puerto” doping investigation in Spain. Vinokourov, currently racing in the Tour of Germany, said he’s unsure what to expect in the mountainous Vuelta. The Kazakh was

Spanish star Alejandro Valverde will return to competition next weekend for the summer classic Clásica San Sebastián, but isn’t expected to race the weeklong Vuelta a Burgos. Valverde, 26, fractured his clavicle in stage three of the 2006 Tour de France and will use the one-day race on Aug. 12 in northern Spain to prepare for his run at the Vuelta a España title. Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne officials said Valverde isn’t quite in condition to race the Burgos tour, set for Aug. 6-10. “As of today he won’t race the Vuelta a Burgos but he will be at the Clásica,” sport director Eusebio

Comunidad Valenciana – the continental team which has taken more licks than most in the fallout of “Operación Puerto” – received some good news late last week from the Spanish courts. The team was notified that none of 13 riders supposedly implicated in the ongoing police investigation have any pending legal action against them, essentially clearing them of allegations that have dogged the team since mid-May. Thirteen riders were cleared after a court secretary notified the team with an official document dated July 28. The riders cleared include: Vicente Ballesteros, David Bernabéu, David

UCI ready to release ‘Puerto’ documents Amid the Floyd Landis doping scandal, the UCI released a communiqué late Thursday outlining the next steps in the “Operación Puerto” doping investigation in Spain. With Spanish authorities continuing its investigation, the UCI is moving forward with its own process to discipline riders with alleged contacts with the suspected blood doping ring operated out of Spain. “The UCI is preparing to send the files of riders involved in [Operación Puerto] to the national federations concerned and has asked for disciplinary proceedings to be started in

Five Astaná riders who were forced out of the 2006 Tour de France because of alleged links to a blood doping investigation have been formally cleared by Spanish courts. Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Sergio Paulinho, Allan Davis and Alberto Contador have all received a written document officially clearing them of any links to the ongoing “Operación Puerto,” the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported Wednesday. The five riders received a legal document signed by Manuel Sánchez Martín, secretary for the Spanish court heading up the “Operación Puerto” investigation, stating, “there are not

Spain’s ongoing doping investigation turned into an executioner Friday at the Tour de France, essentially decapitating the peloton’s hierarchy just 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s prologue start in Strasbourg. Pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) and Ivan Basso (CSC) were among nine riders from five teams who were ruled out of the 93rd Tour in what brought back bad memories of the 1998 Festina scandal. Others not being allowed to start are Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Francisco Mancebo (Ag2r) and five members of Astana-Wurth: Sergio Paulinho, Isidro Nozal, Allan Davis, Alberto Contador and

30/06/2006: Press release : Puerto Operation : The UCI's StandpointHaving examined the EGB n°116 report which the Guardia Civil sent to the examining magistrate in the file "Operaciòn Puerto" on June 27th, 2006, the UCI considered that it results from this report that the following riders, registered to participate in the 2006 Tour de France, are questioned in this case:Sergio PAULINHOIsidro NOZALAllan DAVISAlberto CONTADORJoseba BELOKIFrancisco MANCEBOIvan BASSOJan ULLRICHOscar SEVILLAThe UCI underlines that the questioning does not mean that it is established that the above

Chris Horner rode out of the Dauphiné Libéré ready for next month’s Tour de France. The Davitamon-Lotto didn’t score a stage victory, but he was active on the hardest climbs in the week-long race to show his form is on the rise ahead of July. Horner’s second Tour will be in marked contrast to his debut last year with Saunier Duval. He’s been assured of a Tour spot all season long, eliminating the stress and doubt of last year of not knowing whether he had spot until he won a stage in the Tour de Suisse to sew up his place. “It’s completely different for me compared to last year,” Horner

It’s been nearly six years since former junior national team rider Greg Strock charged that his coach and other team officials had doped him without his consent in the early 1990s, and it will be at least a few more months before a jury hears arguments in the case. On Tuesday, the matter made its first appearance in a courtroom as a U.S. District Court judge heard arguments on defense motions to dismiss. Strock, now a medical doctor and a member of the faculty at the University of Indiana Medical School, joined former teammate and fellow plaintiff Erich Kaiter in Denver as attorneys argued

Former U.S. Junior national team coach René Wenzel has formally denied charges that he doped his riders 11 years ago in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, in response to a lawsuit filed against him by Greg Strock, a one-time member of the team. Wenzel is also seeking damages from Strock and a U.S. Olympic Committee official for public statements they made in connection with the case. In a lawsuit filed late last year against Wenzel and USA Cycling, Strock outlined a series of charges, including allegations that Wenzel and another coach had on several occasions in 1990 injected

When Greg Strock looks back at what could have been an outstanding pro cycling career, he says he feels more than nostalgia. Along with the good memories is a mix of frustration, disenchantment and even anger. In 1990 Strock hit Europe as a 17-year-old racer and began tearing up the roads in Spain. By April of that year, he traveled to Brittany, France, joined up with the U.S. national junior squad and started down a path that he now says stopped his career in its tracks. Not long after moving into the senior ranks -- with a spot on the U.S. national team's A squad and an amateur deal