Basso is the Latest to Join Discovery

It is a sign of the times in cycling that Italy's Ivan Basso, arguably the world's top stage racer and the runner-up to Lance Armstrong in the 2005 Tour de France, could sign with Our Boy Lance's old team, Discovery Channel, without much of a stir.
This should be huge news. However, Basso, 28, who won the 2006 Giro d'Italia, joins Team Lance after leaving Team CSC a few weeks ago after he had been banned from participating in the Tour de France because his name was linked to the Spanish drug investigation, Operation Puerto.
Basso and Germany's Jan Ullrich, also thrown out of the 2006 Tour because his name surfaced in documents seized during the raid on a sports doctor's office in Madrid last spring, were the co-favorites to win the Tour until they were both sent home before the start of the race in disgrace.
Basso would have been trying to become the first rider since the late Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro and the Tour de France in the same year.
The Italian Olympic Committee and the Italian Cycling Federation have said they will take no action against Basso and have cleared him to return to racing. That prompted Discovery's interest after CSC released released him from his contract.
The Italian paper, Gazetta della Sport, said Basso has agreed to a three-year, $6 million contract to lead one of just two American-sponsored teams on the Pro Tour.
Armstrong and Basso became close when the world's most famous cancer survivor attempted to help Basso's mother in her own fight against cancer. She later passed away.
Basso will become Discovery's new leader after a year in which the team struggled to find its way without Armstrong, whose seven yellow jerseys are the Tour's all-time record. Although George Hincapie wore the yellow briefly and Yaroslav Popovych won a stage, no Discovery rider placed higher than 19th in the 2006 race.
And young American Tom Danielson proved at the Vuelta in September that he wasn't yet ready to step into the leader's role when he struggled in the mountains early and, despite an impressive stage win late, placed just sixth.
Discovery had previously added Levi Leipheimer, 33, to its team. After Basso and Ullrich were banished, the American Leipheimer was considered a threat to claim the yellow jersey, but he never contended, placing 13th, almost 19½ minutes behind Floyd Landis.