UCI and Basso react to sentence

"We are satisfied with the sentencing of Basso," noted UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani. The Italian commented to tuttobiciweb.com that the Italian cycling federation (FCI) Disciplinary Commission acted appropriately in Friday's decision to suspend Italian Ivan Basso for two years (with a reduction of 236 days) for his involvement with Eufemiano Fuentes.

"We are in agreement with the federation's disciplinary commission. ... The two-year disqualification was for us the only possibility."

Basso was interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport and noted that he is waiting to return in 2009. "I am expecting with eagerness the end of this long period," noted Basso, sitting outside of a cafe. "It will be necessary to maintain my standard of life. It will be important to train and stay with the family. I will try to something extra otherwise, certainly, it will become difficult."

The paper then asked if Birillo, Basso's dog, is there at his side. "Yes, always," he said with a smile. 'Birillo' was the code name used by Fuentes for the handling of blood bags and other doping activities. Basso denied that this was the name of his dog for nearly one year.