Basso Leaves Discovery

[linenoiz]

http://thepaceline.com/members/press_item.aspx?cid=3150



DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM RELEASES IVAN BASSO

On Sunday April 29th Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team member Ivan Basso requested a meeting with General Manager Bill Stapleton and Sports Director Johan Bruyneel. At the meeting Basso asked to be released from his contract, effective immediately, citing personal reasons related to the re-opened investigation by the Italian Olympic Committees (CONI). At the conclusion of the meeting Bruyneel and Stapleton granted the request and have taken the appropriate steps to formally release him from the Team.

“This was a very difficult decision, for me and my family, but I think it is the right thing to do. Johan, Bill and my teammates have always believed in me and shown me great respect. This decision is my way of showing them that same respect,” stated Basso. “The Team is trying to find a new sponsor and win bike races, and my situation is a distraction to both of those goals. It is important that everyone knows this was 100% my decision. Nobody asked me to leave. I am grateful to all of the staff and riders and wish them the best of luck.”

In October 2006, the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) officially shelved the Basso case following a recommendation by CONI. However, early last week CONI re-opened the investigation which dates back to July 2006 when Basso was kept from competing at the Tour de France. Tailwind Sports subsequently asked Basso not to compete until more information was available. Basso is scheduled to appear before the CONI on Wednesday May 2nd.

“Ivan’s request was unexpected and he was very emotional, but adamant, about his decision to be released. We spoke with him at length before granting his request. Although he was only on our Team for a short time he was a great leader and a very well respected and selfless teammate. I, along with the entire Team, wish him the best,” commented Johan Bruyneel.

Team Discovery Channel is without a title sponsor at the end of 2007 and Tailwind Sports General Manager Bill Stapleton is optimistic about the Team’s future even without Basso. “Ivan was a great addition to our Team and I am very sad to see him go. He was one of our leaders and we expected big things from him this season, however, this Team has 15 wins in 2007 and we have great depth and talent on our roster. We will continue to win and be competitive in all of our races, including the Tour De France,” commented General Manager Bill Stapleton. “When we signed Ivan, all the necessary governing authorities had cleared him. He deserved a Team and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence and we have no regrets.”


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Was asked to resign or did he do this himself. This pretty much admits guilt.

 

[Leafer]

http://thepaceline.com/members/press_item.aspx?cid=3150



DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM RELEASES IVAN BASSO


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Was asked to resign or did he do this himself. This pretty much admits guilt.

Can't be. Nobody dopes at Disco.

 

[cPritch67]

I think IB has finally come to his senses and realized that he is going down (with the DNA test). He is showing common courtesy to disassociate himself from Disco and not drag them through this mess with him.

 

[Rolfrae]

I think IB has finally come to his senses and realized that he is going down (with the DNA test). He is showing common courtesy to disassociate himself from Disco and not drag them through this mess with him.

and what is he going to do next? Will he just throw his hands up in faux surprise, quietly take his suspension and wait for a comeback, or continue to deny vocally, or spill the beans?

 

[whiteboytrash]

I think IB has finally come to his senses and realized that he is going down (with the DNA test). He is showing common courtesy to disassociate himself from Disco and not drag them through this mess with him.

Its ********. Basso didn't come up with this himself. They all sat down Bruyneel, Armstrong, the marketing team, the lawyers and worked the best way to get Basso out of the team without hurting their chances of getting a new sponsor. Basso would have agreed under the terms that he is paid out to the end of the year and willing to read out a ******** statement like this..... and what’s Bruyneel taking the higher ground for ? He hired him knowing full well what he was getting himself into.... in the words of Iggy Pop... "When you dance with the devil, the devil don't change"

 

[fbircher]

Its ********. Basso didn't come up with this himself. They all sat down Bruyneel, Armstrong, the marketing team, the lawyers and worked the best way to get Basso out of the team without hurting their chances of getting a new sponsor.

I think he (or his agent) could very well have come up with this idea. If you were in his position, and knew that an imminent DNA test was about to publicly implicate you as a doper - one who would not be allowed to participate in any race this year and one who might face criminal charges for lying under oath - you’d have to know that your employer would inevitably fire you anyway (PR considerations). If his agent is very good, he might have gotten an agreement from Disco to receive some portion of his remaining salary for acting now. Once the results are official, Disco would have legal grounds to not only fire him, but to cancel any further payments to him. It doesn’t matter one bit that they knew he was a doper when they hired him. With over 100 cyclists now linked to just one of the doping doctors out there, all these team directors have to know that a significant portion of their employees are involved in doping. They’d have to be living in Fantasy Land to think otherwise. I’m sure Riis knew it when Basso worked for him. The only thing that matters is whether the public finds out about it. Then, they have to sever their ties and pretend to be surprised.



Basso knows what's coming, and he probably decided to bail out before the ship went under. Maybe he did it to clear up his business with Disco and avoid the ignominy of being publicly fired, or maybe he did it to salvage some financial concession in the process.

 

[cPritch67]

and what is he going to do next? Will he just throw his hands up in faux surprise, quietly take his suspension and wait for a comeback, or continue to deny vocally, or spill the beans?

IMO he wil take the DNA test, fail and then do his "time".

 

[cPritch67]

Its ********. Basso didn't come up with this himself. They all sat down Bruyneel, Armstrong, the marketing team, the lawyers and worked the best way to get Basso out of the team without hurting their chances of getting a new sponsor. Basso would have agreed under the terms that he is paid out to the end of the year and willing to read out a ******** statement like this..... and what’s Bruyneel taking the higher ground for ? He hired him knowing full well what he was getting himself into.... in the words of Iggy Pop... "When you dance with the devil, the devil don't change"

Regardless of whether he "came up" with it or not, it happened. He has been distanced from Disco. I agree with Fbircher. At this point, there are over 100 riders sweating again.

 

[Eldrack]

It's a PR move pure and simple. When they hired him DC made sure that he had been cleared by all the relevant authorities. Now that he's under suspicion again he goes, but if he's cleared again I wouldn't be suprised if they suddenly 're-hire' him. Of course if he does go down then DC won't take too much flak for it. Win win for them. Of course with him gone they won't score the Giro/Tour double but that's just life.

 

[fbircher]

It's a PR move pure and simple. When they hired him DC made sure that he had been cleared by all the relevant authorities. Now that he's under suspicion again he goes, but if he's cleared again I wouldn't be suprised if they suddenly 're-hire' him. Of course if he does go down then DC won't take too much flak for it. Win win for them. Of course with him gone they won't score the Giro/Tour double but that's just life.

If 50-100 riders are banned from the GT's this season, including "some of the biggest names in cycling," it's wide open as to who will win any GT this season. A Giro/TdF double does seem very unlikely for Disco, but who knows how much of the competition will left to oppose them by the time the dust from OP clears. If most of their star riders were simply doping with a different doctor (e.g., Ferrari vs. Fuentes), they might end up in an okay position relative to the competion. Sure, they lost Basso, but who knows which riders the competition will lose before it's all over. The Giro has a recent history of kicking out riders after it's started.

Here's a related question: If you were a serious contender for a Giro win, and you knew that the authorities had retrieved your blood from Fuentes' lab and that a DNA test was probably going to happen at some point in the near future, would you actually WANT to win? Would you want the public indignity of having to hand your prize back to the authorities as you are scorned for taking something that wasn't rightfully yours?

 

[musette]

Bruyneel, LA and their lawyers and management of DC are very smart negotiators. They must have had very strong language re: their ability to remove Basso in the event of a reopening of investigation (only) into past conduct, as well as on future conduct. And Basso would have been confident about giving in to that stronger language, knowing that DC was the best shop available that was willing to take a bet on him and knowing that CONI had then terminated its investigation.

So, Bruyneel probably "encouraged" Basso to consider the "option" of requesting a separation from DC. Basso then becomes, like he should have been, Riis' problem predominantly, as it was under Basso's period at CSC that he is alleged to have doped pursuant to Puerto.

 

[Bro Deal]

I think he (or his agent) could very well have come up with this idea.

I doubt it. It looks like a standard corporate move: A guy leaves and the press release puts the best possible spin on the situation.

 

[whiteboytrash]

ps when you create a thread like this you need a better title like "Basso leaves Disco in drug shame. Pressure on Bruyneel to leave the sport"

http://thepaceline.com/members/press_item.aspx?cid=3150



DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM RELEASES IVAN BASSO

On Sunday April 29th Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team member Ivan Basso requested a meeting with General Manager Bill Stapleton and Spd win bike races, and my situation is a distraction to both of those goals. It is isked Basso not to compete until more information was available. Basso is scheduled to appear before the CONI on Wednesday May 2nd.

“Ivan’s req Manager Bill Stapleton is optimistic about the Team’s future even without Basso. “Ivan wm. He deserved a Team and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence and we have no regrets.”


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Was asked to resign or did he do this himself. This pretty much admits guilt.

 

[Bro Deal]

ps when you create a thread like this you need a better title like "Basso leaves Disco in drug shame. Pressure on Bruyneel to leave the sport"

Riis is looking ever more savvy and Bruyneel is looking ever more stupid with this Basso thing. Taking on Basso for a year when Disco would be looking for a sponsor was a huge risk.

 

[limerickman]

Riis is looking ever more savvy and Bruyneel is looking ever more stupid with this Basso thing. Taking on Basso for a year when Disco would be looking for a sponsor was a huge risk.

It was poor move on DC's part signing Basso.

DC chose to try to capitalise on the OP situation which not only makes DC look inept but they have antangonised the entire peloton as well as their own team members to boot.
Parachuting in a rider implicated in OP was a stupid move.

Riis read the situation far more clearly than Bruyneel.

 

[Bro Deal]

It was poor move on DC's part signing Basso.

DC chose to try to capitalise on the OP situation which not only makes DC look inept but they have antangonised the entire peloton as well as their own team members to boot.
Parachuting in a rider implicated in OP was a stupid move.

Riis read the situation far more clearly than Bruyneel.

It makes me wonder whether it was stupidity or hubris. After getting away with it for so long with Armstrong, did Bruyneel think the team and its lawyers could stonewall and avoid fallout from whatever might leak from OP?

 

[musette]

Taking on Basso for a year when Disco would be looking for a sponsor was a huge risk.

At the time, Bruyneel probably through that DC had a reasonably good chance of wanting to renew its sponsorship. At the time Basso was taken on, DC had not experienced its change in top management that precipitated the non-renewal of the team contact.

Also, note that CONI had cleared Basso had the time.

Riis is the worse one, because if Basso was doping as part of Puerto, it was under Riis' watch at CSC. That is the clear factor which makes Riis' case more precarious than Bruyneel's. At worse, Bruyneel was arguably over-zealous in taking on Basso. At worse, Riis was aiding and abetting, or at least acquiescing to, Basso's doping (if any).

 

[Bro Deal]

Also, note that CONI had cleared Basso had the time.

Riis is the worse one, because if Basso was doping as part of Puerto, it was under Riis' watch at CSC. That is the clear factor which makes Riis' case more precarious than Bruyneel's. At worse, Bruyneel was arguably over-zealous in taking on Basso. At worse, Riis was aiding and abetting, or at least acquiescing to, Basso's doping (if any).

CONI never cleared Basso. They shelved the case. That is a big difference. It was obvious that the information would eventually leak out once the courts had finished with Fuentes or in the process with prosecuting Fuentes.

Riis can make the argument that he did not know, that the riders take care of themselves and he was not aware of what Basso was doing. Weak but since that is how most teams seem to deal with the doping issue not altogether unbelievable. Bruyneel on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on. He showed everyone that he does not care about doping and he gave the everyone who wants to clean up the sport the finger.

 

[musette]

The key is when Basso was doping (if ever) under Puerto and that was under (if ever) Riis. Nobody can get away from that fact that, if Basso doped, he doped under Riis' employment and tutelage.

Bruyneel on the other hand has never had an rider under this watch shown to have doped. He hired Basso at time when CONI no longer thought there was a case at the time against Basso. If anything, Bruyneel was the victim of Riis' causing Basso to dope (if ever).

 

[tcklyde]

The key is when Basso was doping (if ever) under Puerto and that was under (if ever) Riis. Nobody can get away from that fact that, if Basso doped, he doped under Riis' employment and tutelage.

Bruyneel on the other hand has never had an rider under this watch shown to have doped. He hired Basso at time when CONI no longer thought there was a case at the time against Basso. If anything, Bruyneel was the victim of Riis' causing Basso to dope (if ever).

Even if you refuse to believe the LA EPO tests from 1999, it is absolutely comical that anyone could believe that Discovery / USPS

a. Controlled the TDF for seven years
b. While the entire rest of the peloton was doped to the gills
and c. And was completely clean.

Give me a break. At some point you gotta realize the game is up.

They.
All.
Cheat.