The Italian Cycling Federation should today have received the case papers of Operation Puerto from the UCI. According to sources, it is expected that there will be a decision before the end of August about whether to start doping proceedings against Ivan Basso or to dismiss the allegations.

A dismissal of charges against Basso within that time frame, could allow him to compete at the Vuelta a Espana, as he has previously hoped for. With Carlos Sastre contemplating not participating in that race, this would allow Basso to be sole captain for GC on the Team CSC squad. Basso will be meeting with Bjarne Riis in the next couple of weeks to discuss the future of himself on the squad.

Riis has earlier stated that he is putting as much pressure on the relevant authorities as possible, to ensure that the case is resolved as soon as possible. However, if the Italian Cycling Federation should dismiss the allegations however, there is a possibility that the UCI might appeal the decision to CAS. It is unclear as yet how such a development would affect Basso’s eligibility to race.

Jan Ullrich has been sacked by T-Mobile because the former Tour winner was unable to prove his innocence of the allegations raised against him in Operation Puerto.

Riis, however, has no plans to follow suit. “They have apparently done what they found right against Jan. But our situation is still the same [as it has been since July 1], and that is all I can take into account.” The team however noted that if evidence where to be revealed proving that Basso had violated his contract with Team CSC, they of course wouldn’t hesitate.

According to reports in the weekly Interviu, Spanish Police have allegedly identified the person responsible for providing Ivan Basso with blood during the Giro d’Italia. The documents that the weekly has seen are not part of the 38 page documents earlier circulated.

The person in question who is suspected to be Basso’s courier is one Alessandro Kalc. Kalc supposedly went under the codename ‘Manos Pequeñas’ (Small Hands), and he is the director of the small mountain bike team SK Devin. Kalc actually is a small person and thus has small hands, and admits knowing Fuentes whom he consulted with regarding the eye cancer of his son - but otherwise denies the allegations.

The Police also have a document where Kalc’s name is on, and with a calendar of treatments. The document is Italian, and referes to ‘la squadra’ and ‘il due’. The police believe that ‘il due’ - number two - is Ivan Basso. The police continue to believe that Basso’s codename is “Birillo”, who is referred to as number two on various lists of treated blood.

But by all accounts, the net is tightening around Birillo. The police has discovered that Fuentes asked money to be paid into the Hong-Kong Shanghai Banking Coorperation (HSBC’s) division in Zürich - and they have an SMS where Birillo - in Italian - confirms that he will transfer money to that account. This does not prove anything (the other candidates for the codename of Birillo are also Italian), but hopefully it may lead to information (such as phone numbers?) that can resolve the case for good.

The mystery of what Basso’s dog is called is now (maybe) solved.

“I have myself heard Basso’s daughter call for the dog. It is called Tarello. I don’t believe a three-year old girl would use a wrong name for her dog,” Martelli is quoted as saying in L’Equipe. The name is of interest, as the connection of the codename Birillo to Basso has partly been based on the suspicion that this was Basso’s dogs name.

According to L’Equipe, there are however other reasons found by the investigators that puts Basso in connection with the codename “Birillo”.

CSC veteran Giovanni Lombardi was asked if he knew the name of the Giro champ’s dog during a press conference. “Ivan is my friend, but I don’t know the name of the dog of Ivan,” Lombardi answered.

“I speak to him every day, and he is training every day. He wants to come and ride, perhaps the Vuelta a Espana, perhaps another race, but definitely this season,” Lombardi stated calmly. “I am certain that he is innocent. The serenity that he is showing is not just a make-believe, and that serenity makes me serene.”

Lombardi himself (speculated to be “Amigo de Birillo” - friend of Birillo by some media) is not worried about havving been named in connection with the case.

“I have been a professional since 1992, so of course I have heard about him [Fuentes]. I have greeted him, and I have heard about him through the Spanish riders whom I am friends with in Madrid, were I live. Otherwise nothing. My name appeared in the case due to false information, and I am completely unworried for myself and Ivan’s part.”

When Lombardi was asked the name of Basso’s dog, Jens Voigt quipped: “The name of my dog is Jeany, if you want to know. We also have two guinea pigs, Emma and Lily…”

A case against Ivan Basso - if one happens - will be raised by the Italian Cycling Federation, Brian Nygaard of Team CSC reports.

“UCI has told us that they have received the 38-39 pages report that was presented at the Tour, in addition to 100 more pages. The UCI wants to look over the individual files once they receive them all from Spain. Once they’ve done all that, they will send the files to the national federations. Once that has happened, which will happen simultaneously, the national federations will be in charge of pursuing the case. The UCI has promised everyone that they will move as quickly as possible. I don’t think there is anyone involved in this case who has a lot of patience right now.”

The following quotes are from an extensive interview by Rasmus Bech from Politiken from the morning of the 8th of July. I have tried to translate as accurately as possible, but keep in mind that this is a translation, and meanings may not always come across well.

In the interview, Bjarne Riis shows that he is in good spirits, and says that he is not losing sleep over the Basso case.

“I don’t feel good about all of this, I think everyone can see that. I don’t want to pretend either that it does not pain me that we have ended in this situation, for ever since I started working with CSC, I have built up the team to achieve a triumph at the Tour. But it seems that it just cannot happen, at least not right now.

“[One month ago,]I could not have imagined it in my wildest imagination [that the Tour would end like this]. we were in the middle of out best year, the biggest year, and Basso was so strong that I would not hesitate to call him one of the world’s best cyclists - and I still think so, regardless of what he has done,” says Riis.

“We have followed Basso closely throught the season, and all training, all tests, and all bloodtests are fine; nothing indicated that there was anything wrong. Everything was simply right, and this is what makes this entire case so incredibly. I mean - Basso is simply so good [as an athlete] that he has no need to dope [to be competitive].”

The journalist asks whether Riis feels Basso has let him down. Riis strongly disagrees, and feels that it is a bad question. Basso must have his chance to defend himself against all the accusations, and only after that can innocence or guilt be ascertained.

Riis comments that he keeps contact with Basso, but that they do not talk together every day, as the discussions tend to end up going in circles due to paucity of information. The journalist then asks whether Riis has “interrogated” Basso on all the accusations put forward in the media.

Riis answers yes. The journalists asks what the answers are.

“Basso says that he has not had anything to do with Fuentes, and has not visited him. And he answers precisely and clearly. He doesn’t hesitate for a moment, and he appears completely in balance,” comments Riis.

“And I have also asked whether he has a dog named Birillo, and he told me no.”

“What is it called, then?” the journalist asks.

“I don’t know. I don’t recall whether he told me that,” answers Riis.

The journalist asks whether Riis believes as much in Basso today, as he did a month ago.

“There is nothing that I want to do more,” Riis says. “But when I read and hear all the information that is printed in the media, even I cannot avoid a little bit of doubt.”

“When you see Basso with the kind eyes and the winning, charming smile, you really can’t think of him as a ‘criminal’, can you Bjarne, but isn’t this the same story we have seen with many riders?” Bech asks.

“Yes, one must say that,” answers Riis.

“But why did you suspend Basso? He is not charged of anything thing, it is not him, but Fuentes, who is under investigation……. Why did you not just let him continue?”

“Because,” Riis answers, “at the same time as I saw Basso’s name in the spanish report, which I only got the opportunity to read for a few seconds, the sports directors came to the agreement - we all did when the spanish report was made public - that we had to follow the ethical charter we had decided on ourself. Someone read from the rules, and I had no choice; I had to make a quick decision, and therefore I suspended Basso. I simply did not have time to thoroughly investigate the case.”

“If you had more time,” Bech asks, “would you have let Basso start the Tour?”

“I can not say that at this time, but just think about that if I had gone against the decision of the collected sports directors of all the protour teams, the uproar would have been enormeous.

“So here we are, we have to go on with the race, and that is what I am contentrating on now.”

The journalist ask whether Riis thinks it is pure coincidence that the report appears just before the Tour, rather than in march or in three months time. The journalist wonders whether there is a hidden agenda at work.

“That is a very dangerous question to answer, because I do not really know. But of course there are politics involved in the case,” Riis comments. “There are a fantastic amount of rumors flying around, about everything.”

“Can you imagine that there might be someone using this case against you? That since they can not get at you, they try and do it indirectly through Basso?” the journalist asks.

“Do you have a particular person in mind,” Riis asks with a smile? The journalist assures him no. “I don’t think so. I do not feel hunted - even if certain parts of the danish press try hard to discredit me.”

“Can you understand, Bjarne, that people feel involved? The great CSC hero was not allowed to start, and Tour-lovers says ‘the summer is ruined’, and others that you can’t trust cyclists. The curiosity is enormeous,” the journalist explains.

“I understand it - also that emotions are split. And that people want an answer to it all. So do I. Especially why the hell this continues to go on,” Riis answers.

“You said earlier that Basso has no need to dope himself. But let us assume that he has doped, why would he do it? What could make him do that?” the journalist queries.

“What can I say… lack of belief in himself, perhaps, maybe uncertainty. But if he has done it, it would beyond understanding.”

The journalist asks the big question: “A boss, who owns a company with 70 employees and annual revenues of 100-120 million danish crowns, as is the case with Riis Cycling (the company behind Team CSC); would he risk it all by being involved in doping? Would you, Bjarne?”

“Of course I wouldn’t.” Doping is a subject that I bring up with the team every year. I tell them what the conditions are - I have had my career, created a good life for myself, gotten myself a fantastic family; I do not need to be here. But I am here because I want to make the world’s best of most trustworthy cycling team. That is why what has now is a blow to the back of the head for me, I will admit that. But when I told my wife that what I most wanted to do was run away from all this screaming, she told me - ‘no you don’t’. And I won’t, but it will be very hard to turn this around and come back.”

“If it is so hard, why don’t you just let go of the responsibility. You - with your connections - could easily get as job as a sports director at T-Mobile or anywhere else,” the journalist asks.

“Yes, or for that matter do something completely different; I have the possibilities. But no, I am here, and I believe that cycling needs me. I have been surrounded by all kinds [of doping suspicion] in my time, and that is why there is a need for my experience. I have become more and more aware of my responsibility, and I fight for my team - and right now that is more important than at any time before.

“I can not say anything now [about how this will end]. I can’t do anything to help or hinder Basso’s situation, in that I am helpless. Now I am concentrating on my team - they need me now.”

The journalist asks whether Riis confronted his riders with the doping problem, and tried to find out if others might be “in trouble”.

“When I had sent Ivan home, I held an hour-long press conference. It was hard, but necessary - and once I had pulled myself together from that, I collected the team, explained the situation with Ivan, and said that was that - no one else was involved according to the papers - and I did not expect any more surprises. Yes, I cried while I spoke with them, I couldn’t hold back the tears.”

It seems that bad fortune continues to follow Team CSC as Bobby Julich crashed out on stage 7, breaking his wrist. More than ever, the team will have to stay faithful to its values, and prove that the work Riis and B.S. put the team through at the famous training camps each december really do make a difference.

Today though, Riis will have the opportunity to lean back, relax, and purge his thoughts as he takes a day off from the cycling circus to watch the World Cup final in Berlin.

Journalist: “Is Basso’s dog named Birillo?”

Martelli: “I do not know!”

Massimo Martelli, Basso’s lawyer, is unconcerned by whether his client is innocent or guilty, and refuses to comment the detailed allegations against his client published by the media. He is in Spain to begin the process of getting his client back on the road.

“I am very indignant about the way Ivan Basso has been treated. Not even the lowliest of workers would be treated like this. If you turn away someone, you at least have to give them a chance to defend themselves.”

“Basso is suspended on the basis of a big round zero. The decision was taken after a browse through a document that was not even translated from Spanish. The teams talk about ethical principles, but this is Burundi-ethics we are talking about. CSC should not have suspended Basso so fast without knowing the charges against him.”

Martelli is in Madrid, and finally got access to the summary of the report (39 pages) through his private connections. “The document is filled with references to stuff that is not in the summary. So there is no evidence in it,” says Martelli. He is now trying to get access to the full material.

Martelli notes that his client can not be charged criminally. In Spain, a cyclist cannot be charged criminally for doping. Doping is a crime in Italy, but Martelli is not worried by this. “The crime - if it has happened - happened outside of Italy. For that reason, Basso cannot be charged in Italy.”

Martelli’s anger is particularly directed at the French sportsminister, who is - according to his opinion - the man who made a big deal out of the Operation Puerto case, and caused the unjust treatment of the riders. “Don’t ask me why the minister was so eager to spread the report. Maybe to put focus on doping? But one could well ask the sports minister: Why does France only put focus on doping for one month every year, during the Tour the France?”

Several news services have recently reported that Joost de Maeseneer considers Ivan Basso a “cheater”. This is an error.

“I have never said that”, says de Maeseneer. “I leave everything open. It’s up to Basso to prove that he is innocent in the Fuentes-case.

“I have called Basso just this morning, cause this case still has a big impact in our team. We talk about it each day, everyone in the team is unhappy. Basso is a nice kid, who we all like to work with and who we want to work very much with in the future”, says de Maeseneer.

The teamdoctor is “99% sure” that Basso has done nothing wrong, “but 100% sure you never can be…”

Speaking on Spain’s Cadena Ser radio station, Eufemiano Fuentes has struck out at “the list” of doped athletes that was released by the Spanish authorities, and which led to the exclusion of Ivan Basso and others on friday.

“I’m angry about the whole matter. Names have appeared of people that I don’t even know and there are others that haven’t come out and I’ve no idea why, but my professional oath forbids me from revealing their names,” Fuentes declared. “Treatment only for cyclists? I’m also indignant about that. I’ve worked with other sports, like athletics, tennis and football. There are a lot of names that haven’t come out, there have been only selective leaks. I don’t know why… There are still riders in the Tour de France who I have treated.”

With his statements, Fuentes spreads more uncertainty about the case, and raises serious questions about the justice of ASO and AIGCP’s decision to exclude 13 riders from the Tour.