Simoni and Basso

Simoni retracts Basso charge
By Agence France Presse
This report filed June 5, 2006

Two-time Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni on Monday retracted accusations that new champion Ivan Basso asked him to pay for a win during the 20th stage of this year's race.

Last month, Simoni claimed Basso had asked for money to let him win the 20th stage of the Giro after the pair were left alone on a breakaway to slug it out for victory. Basso went on to win the stage by more than a minute but was stung by his fellow Italian's accusations after the finish.

But after being grilled for more than an hour by an Italian disciplinary commission in Rome, Simoni retracted his previous claims. "I made some erroneous statements but I didn't want to damage Basso's reputation, certain things are part of the race," said Simoni, alluding to the common practice of Tour leaders to elicit help from a breakaway companion in exchange for allowing the companion to take the stage victory unopposed.

Simoni, who could now miss the Tour de France as he faces possible sanctions for bringing the sport into disrepute, was angry that Basso had ridden away from him on a tough mountain finish when he had waited for the CSC rider on a downhill section.

Straight after the race, he accused Basso of ungentlemanly conduct and of being "an extra-terrestrial," often a euphemism to suggest an opponent had doped.

Smioni could receive a fine or even a suspension, which would more than likely rule him out of July's Tour, although he has always had difficulty in the Grand Boucle. "Simoni has denied everything. There was never any question of an agreement, even less so a sum of money," said the rider's lawyer Giuseppe Napoleone. "However, he was interviewed straight after the finish and he was flustered. But there was never any mention of numbers, we now want the affair to be closed, also for the sake of the Saunier-Duval team."




Dang. That's kinda funny in a "WTF were you thinking" sort of way.