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Ivan Basso Is Innocent An Italian official revealed that the OSC doesn't have enough proof to charge Basso with doping case	By Ovidiu Panzariu, Sports Editor 26th of September 2006, 11:11 GMT Adjust text size:


Ivan Basso is arguably the best cyclist in Italy right now. The fact that he won the Tour of Italy earlier this year with the second biggest time-margin in history proved us that the CSC rider is the future of the sport. Still, he was unable to complete his dream - of winning both Il Giro and Le Tour in the same season - because of the doping charges after the "Operacion Puerto" scandal. More than 3 months after the scandal arose in Spain, Basso is still waiting for the Italian cycling officials to prove his wrongdoings. The Italian repeatedly stated his innocence and it seems that he's right. As far as national federation technical director Silvio Martinello is concerned, Basso will be cleared out for lack of evidence. "The only link is when his name comes up in a phone conversation", said Martinello. The cyclist is to be heard by the Olympic Committee this month - 29th of September - and will then know if he'll face a 2-year ban or not. According to CSC's officials, if proven guilty, Basso will also be sacked from Bjarne Riis' team. Still, the International Cyclist Union condemns Martinello's gesture of leaking information about the case until Basso will face the hearing. According to Pat McQuaid, the president of UCI, Basso will be investigated by an international commission, even if he will be cleared out by the Italian authorities. "If Basso is not sanctioned by the authorities in Italy, then it would be up to us to study the evidence against him and decide whether or not to take the case to the CAS. But the Italian federation official was wrong to comment on this dossier before the hearing has taken place. It is not his responsibility, and should not be done at this time", said McQuaid, as BBC Sport reports. Ivan Basso was not allowed to participate in this year's Tour de France, due to his alleged involvement in "Operacion Puerto". Runner-up in 2005's Tour de France, Basso was considered favorite for the Champs Elysees win, and was to become the first man since Marco Pantani - in 1998 - to win both Tours (Italy & France) in the same year.

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