May 16, 2007 – Ivan Basso has apparently stopped cooperating with Italian authorities trying to determine his involvement in the Puerto Affair according to AFP. Basso recently showed himself willing to provide names to the Italian Olympic committee (CONI) but has now reneged, according to CONI prosecutor, Ettore Torri. Torri suggested that Basso is now under pressure from lawyers, sponsors, and coaches not to divulge names. Basso, 29, won the 2006 Giro.

Meanwhile Spain’s Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne), the rider who finished second to Floyd Landis at the 2006 Tour de France, sounded bitter as the Landis hearings begin. According to AP, Pereiro was quoted in the daily, Marca, saying, “The best thing that a cyclist can hope for is to climb up on the Champs-Elysees podium and celebrate with his team mates. And I will never have that.”

If the three-person American Arbitration Agency panel judging Landis finds him guilty of doping, the title of 2006 TdF champion would likely be stripped from Landis and awarded to Pereiro.

Pereiro, 29, finished 10th in the TdF in both 2004 and 2005.