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Riis: Basso's future with CSC cloudy

By The Associated Press
Published: Aug. 22, 2006

Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis doesn't believe Ivan Basso can race again for his squad unless he is acquitted in the doping scandal that barred the Italian cyclist from the Tour de France.

CSC suspended Basso after he was among nine riders pulled from the Tour on the eve of the race. The cyclists had been implicated in an alleged blood-doping program in Madrid.

"I have difficulties seeing a future for Basso with CSC unless he is totally cleared," Riis told the Politiken on Tuesday. "I feel really bad about this case. Basso is the worst that could happen to me – it has ruined my image. I need to fix that, and right now it's a tough job."

Five people in Spain – including doctors Eufemiano Fuentes and Jose Merino Batres – were arrested and charged in May when police seized drugs and frozen blood at a clinic.

The samples were thought to have been prepared for performance-enhancing transfusions. Both doctors denied any wrongdoing.