This site will close on January 31.

I would like to note that this decision has nothing to do with any opinion I might have about the guilt or innocence of Ivan Basso. As far as I am concerned, he is innocent until proven otherwise. But the decision is, of course, Operation Puerto related and the hypocrisy of the sports governing organizations on the one hand, and the reactions of a lot of riders on the other.

We do not know whether Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, or any of the others accused in Operation Puerto doped or not. We do, however, know that someone - very likely quite a large number - of riders have doped. Despite this, many riders are pretending as if nothing happened this summer - no doubt hoping that if they lay low, the storm will eventually pass and we can get back to “business as usual” next year. It is incredibly disappointing to find that many riders seem to believe that everything is fine as it is, and seem to have no interest in working for a cleaner and fairer sport. This lack of reaction is particularly selfish and disappointing when it comes from riders who have been implicated in Operation Puerto, and thus have suffered both unjust treatment and ought to have an interest in cleaning up the sport.

At the same time, the sport’s governing authorities are leading the fight against doping in a manner which appears both ineffective and hypocritical. Apparently, riders are to be punished without trial, and rules that apply to one do not apply to others. The initiatives of the few (CSC and T-Mobile) are left unsupported by the sports governing bodies, who prefer to punish rather than prevent.

A while ago, I wrote two articles for DailyPeloton.com:

The Reason Why: A survey of 10 years of doping and innuendo: 1997 to 2006
Cycling’s Winter of Discontent

For me, Cycling lost its attraction the day it became obvious that even today, eight years after the Festina affair, systematic doping is still wide-spread in the peloton. I don’t believe that doping will ever be eradicated, but I do believe in a clean sport. Cycling is not a clean sport, and while I will work (where possible) for a clean sport, I will no longer run this webpage nor support the sport in other ways, until significant reforms are implemented.

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Fans against doping

Doping-Protest.com

Agency for Cycling Ethics

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This blog will no longer be updated, but will be archived on my personal domain for the foreseeable future.

Basso prepares for the Giro-Tour double in 2007, as a row with his former employers at Team CSC looms. The disagreement stems over whether Basso did, or did not, offer Team CSC a DNA test against the blood from Operation Puerto, after Bjarne Riis recently commented that if Basso had offered a DNA profile, he would have been allowed to stay at Team CSC.

Basso claims that he did, commenting: “It was not this difference that ended our agreement; during the investigations of CONI I gave my word to give DNA. There where many things written in the press, but basically my relationship [with Riis] had changed.” (Ivan Basso back on the road - with Discovery Channel [CyclingNews])

But Brian Nygaard (PR boss at Team CSC) is surprised at that comment.. “Earlier, his lawyer has commented that Basso will never do a DNA test as long as he is defending him,” Nygaard said.

But Nygaard hints that for CSC, the situation around the DNA profile was critical. “For us, it is a question of whether you are willing to do everything to prove your innocence, or whether you have to be requested to do so.” According to the interpretation of several media, the supposed situation that Basso was hesitant to do a DNA, is therefore likely the reason for the break from CSC. This is supported by other comments from Nygaard:

“Simply from the fact that this discussion [about whether or not to do a DNA test] could even become relevant, both parties decided that it would be best not to continue our partnership,” Nygaard is quoted as saying.

Basso himself claims that his performance on the road will show whether or not he doped.

“Most people have been behind me in the four months that I was forcefully banned from racing. To all of them I want to say one thing: wait until I return to the major stages races to see what I’m capable of. It is the only possible way of showing that my implication (in Spain) was a total nonsense. My name has never appeared in this Spanish investigation,” Basso is quoted as saying.

Regardless of the situation, it seems the controversy of Operation Puerto will cast its shadows far into the 2007 season.