Basso quizzed by Italian magistrates in doping inquiry

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2006

ROME (AFP) — Ivan Basso, the 2006 Tour of Italy winner who is implicated in an ongoing Spanish doping affair, has been quizzed by Italian magistrates as part of a separate investigation into doping. The 28-year-old Italian ace was one of 13 riders kicked off the Tour de France just before it began after Spanish police raided a laboratory suspected of providing cyclists with tampered blood.

Prosecutor Franco Cosenza said Basso, who was one of the favourites to succeed Lance Armstrong as the Tour de France champion, had been very co-operative. "He responded to all our questions concerning the allegations and I will see him again on September 12," Cosenza was quoted as saying on Gazzetta dello Sport's website. Pending closure of the investigation, Basso, who has denied all...