According to press releases, the organizers of the Vuelta a España have stated that Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo are not welcome in their event, which begins on August 26. “We are taking this decision for the sake of the sport,” said the organizers, ignoring handily that it hardly does the sport any credit when innocent riders are disbarred from racing (assuming that some of those riders are cleared before the Vuelta).

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.

Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet has spoken to Ivan Basso, and although the Italian rider was taciturn, he did comment on the discussion of Birillo, the supposed dog of Basso.

“No, that is just a story. Incredible how these stories have developed. Birillo is not the name,” Basso says. He also added that he doesn’t just have one dog. “I have five cats, five dogs, and a horse. The stories about me are crazy” (whether the quote was meant to be an accurate reflection on the number of animals in the Basso household is unclear).

He also denied the recent rumors that relations between Bjarne Riis and himself were strained. “Our relations are just as good as they have always been,” Basso says.

Ivan Basso is hoping that it will be possible to soon return to competitive cycling, and that the allegations around his suspension can be cleared out in the near future.

If things work out as Basso and Riis hope, it seems likely that Ivan Basso will debut in the Vuelta a Espana this year. Basso has been training hard all July, and is eager to return to racing. And with Carlos Sastre currently riding all out for the podium at the Tour, the possibility of a fresh Ivan Basso as co-captain at the Vuelta seems attractive.

Of course, this all depends on the charges against Ivan Basso either being dropped, or the case being swiftly resolved. Riis and CSC seem to believe that this will happen, though the reason for the optimism is not apparent. If charges against Basso (or any of the other accused riders) are dropped, the UCI has already threatened to go to CAS, which would cause the case to drag on.

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.

In the past couple of days, the Italian medias have been running a story about how Bjarne Riis and Ivan Basso have broken contact, and are no longer speaking together.

“Yes, Ivan called and told me that yesterday evening,” Riis commented to Danish news on sunday. “He read it in an Italian newspaper, but we can only deny the rumors.

“We don’t speak together every day, but perhaps three or four times a week. And he is not going to Discovery either.”

Ivan Basso’s lawyer has now looked through the papers that he has been able to retrieve from Operation Puerto, and has the following comments:

“There is no evidence that connects the winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia with the key figures in the spanish case, Eufimiano Fuentes.” He also feels the allegations are so vague in character, that they create a lot of misunderstanding. In short, Martelli does not believe there is any material to even start a case against his client. He also states that Basso is ready to submit to a DNA analysis in order to refute all speculation against him, though Martelli has as yet not stated whether he would recommend this.

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…”