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Doping scandal overshadows start of Giro d'Italia

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-11 09:36

Ivan Basso's defense of his Giro d'Italia title was over before it began.

His admission of working with a doctor at the center of the Spanish blood doping scandal scuttled his hopes of mounting his bike when the 21-stage event begins Saturday and cast a shadow over the 90th running of the Italian classic.

"It's not nice but it's better that the mess comes out before the Giro," two-time winner Paolo Savoldelli said.

Basso acknowledged to the Italian Olympic Committee on Monday that he had given blood samples to Eufemiano Fuentes, who has been accused of running a blood-doping clinic in Madrid.

Basso said he had intended to cheat but never did.

Five other cyclists, who have also been implicated in the scandal, have since withdrawn from the Giro.

Acqua & Sapone rider Michele Scarponi has admitted contact with Fuentes but denies doping. Tinkoff Credit Systems has suspended American cyclist Tyler Hamilton and Germany's Joerg Jaksche, while Spanish riders Costantino Zaballa and Ruben Plaza have been left out of Caisse d'Epargne's lineup, despite appearing on a preliminary list of racers.

"That was the wish of (race) organizers and the rest (of us)," said Savoldelli, who rides for the Astana team.

Giro president Angelo Zomegnan is pressing to exclude all riders implicated in the so-called Operation Puerto affair and has asked the International Cycling Union to provide a list of suspects ahead of Saturday's start.

"In my opinion, it's not finished," Savoldelli said. "The International Cycling Union wants get to the bottom of this and I believe that the names of all riders involved in Operation Puerto will come out."

More than 50 cyclists have been linked to Fuentes.

"All I hope _ and it's something I fear _ is that a name of a champion doesn't come out every six months, as has happened with Basso. If that happens, we'll never get out of it," Savoldelli said.

All race participants underwent doping tests on Thursday and were negative.

With Basso out of contention, three former winners are favored for the 3,442-kilometer (2,138-mile) race: Savoldelli (2002, 2005), Damiano Cunego (2004), and Gilberto Simoni (2001, 2003).

Fellow Italian Danilo Di Luca also is considered a possibility for the pink jersey after winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic in Belgium two weeks ago.

"I'm in good form," Di Luca said. "I just need to maintain the same condition for the full race."

The Giro has been designed to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who brought about Italy's unification.

It opens with a 24-kilometer (15-mile) team time trial in Sardinia from Caprera _ where Garibaldi is buried _ to La Maddalena. The race finishes in Milan on June 3.

"We're on the right track," Di Luca said. "All Giro fans will be ready to applaud us."