It looks like Levi Leipheimer is back in the driver's seat for the Discovery Channel pro cycling team after Italian cyclist Ivan Basso, left, asked to be released from his contract to fight doping allegations.
Leipheimer, of Santa Rosa, California, was considered to be the next team boss until Basso came on board last fall. Basso rode in support of Leipheimer during the latter's successful Amgen Tour of California in February, as the Italian cyclist was preparing to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
A reopened doping investigation in Italy, however, has prompted Basso to drop his Discovery contract. The investigation is related to the Spain's Operaction Puerto case, the same one that kept Basso and rival Jan Ullrich out of the 2006 Tour de France.
Doping probe
The Italian doping probe dates back to the case of Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor in Spain accused of storing and doping blood for athletes. As charges were dropped against Fuentes in Spain, the courts released evidence seized in the case that might relate to other cyclists.
Italy had shelved its case until it could get its hands on the blood suspected to have come from Basso. Now Basso says he'll work full time to fight those allegations (no charges have been filed).
Basso says in a press release posted on Paceline (free registration), the Discovery team's fan website:
“It is important that everyone knows this was 100% my decision. Nobody asked me to leave.”
Basso is scheduled to appear before the Italian Olympic Committees on Wednesday.
Tactics
It will be interesting to see how the Discovery Channel pro cycling team handles this latest personnel change. After Lance Armstrong's retirement in 2005, the team was essentially without a leader, despite the popularity of George Hincapie and some other riders.
Going into the 2006 Tour de France, team sports director Johann Bruyneel announced the team would support whoever took the lead. Except for Hincapie's one day in the yellow jersey, no Discovery rider took control of the race.
To remedy that situation, Discovery hired the Gerolsteiner team leader Leipheimer in the fall of 2006. When Basso became available after he disagreed with Team CSC management, hiring the former Giro winner and multiple podium finisher at the Tour de France was just too good of a deal to pass up.
Now, it looks like the ball is back in Leipheimer's court (or whatever is the appropriate cycling metaphor).
See also: Basso sidelined from Discovery, for now
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