There isn't a top rider who, at some time or other, isn't rumored to be heading to the Discovery Channel team.Only the best, after all, for Our Boy Lance's mantle, right?
Did you really think that Levi Leipheimer was the answer?
So, after the silly rumors about Jan Ullrich, and the non-starters surrounding Bad Boy Floyd, it was inevitable that Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, looking to race again after the Italian Olympic Committee recommended that doping allegations against him be dropped, would be rumored to be courted by Lance Armstrong's former team.
"They made me a concrete proposal but I am open to other solutions," the Italian rider said in an interview published on Monday by French sports newspaper L'Equipe, Lance's favorite newspaper.
Discovery has been looking for a replacement for Armstrong, who retired after winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France in 2005.
Basso could stay with his current team, CSC, or join an Italian team (which would make sense).
"Everything is possible, but at the moment -- and I am being sincere -- I hope that I can continue with CSC," said Basso, who is contracted with the Danish team until 2008.
Basso and Ullrich were excluded from this year's Tour after they and/or teammates were implicated in the Spanish doping investigation. The riders were alleged to have had contact with a Spanish doctor accused of running a blood doping clinic.
Basso denied the allegations. All cyclists deny doping allegations. All cyclists probably dope. That's the nature of the sport and no great discovery.
Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment