NEW KIT

NEW KIT

Check out Basso in his new Team Discovery Kit. That didn’t take long! I am sure the Disco crew was eager to reap the benefits of the Basso signing (publicity, publicity, publicity.) So here he is, in Disco Blue but much to the chagrin of other pro tour team managers. The managers were hoping to collectively force (full story) all the riders implicated in Operación Puerto to submit blood samples for DNA testing. The plan was to cross reference the results to those from the bags of blood that were discovered in Operación Puerto. Team Discovery signing Basso as soon as the charges were dropped erased thier hopes of forced submission to DNA testing.


Former T-Mobile team manager Olaf Ludwig comments:
"Discovery regards dropping the legal proceedings as the same thing as being cleared," Ludwig told the Berlin Kurier daily. "What's left of a code of honor among team managers is questionable - the dumb one here is CSC (Basso’s Former Team) boss Bjarne Riis, who dissolved his contract with Basso."

Discovery Team Manager Bill Stapleton’s remarks: "I think he's been exonerated," Bill Stapleton said. "The ProTour required we wait until there was a decision. Now it's time to move on."

Quick Facts:

Operación Puerto - Spanish police uncovered a major doping network run by Madrid-based sports doctor Eufemio Fuentes at the end of May, allegedly implicating a host of top names in the sport, including former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and Italy's Ivan Basso, as well as team managers.
Blood doping - The practice of illicitly boosting the number of red blood cells (RBCs) in the circulation in order to enhance athletic performance. RBCs from a compatible donor (or the athlete themselves) are harvested, concentrated and then transfused into the athlete’s circulation prior to competition.