Basso in another surprise dope test

| Thu, 04/16/2009 - 03:40

Italian cyclist Ivan Basso on Wednesday received his second surprise anti-doping visit in less than a month.

Basso, who has come back from a lengthy doping ban to bid for his second Giro d'Italia and first Tour de France, said on his website he was visited by International Cycling Union (UCI) anti-doping inspectors during Canary Island altitude training.

Basso, 31, got his first UCI visit since his comeback on March 20, on the eve of the season-opening classic Milan-Sanremo road race.

Basso's expected main rival in May's Giro d'Italia, Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, also received a surprise French doping test, the 24th in his career, ahead of the Sanremo.

Basso, who was second in the 2005 Tour and won the 2006 Giro, completed a 16-month doping ban in the Spanish drug case Operacion Puerto in October.

Seven-time-straight Tour winner Armstrong, 37, emerged from retirement earlier this year to bid for his first Giro and Tour double.

He broke his collar bone in a Spanish race last month but is expected to recover for the Tour.

This year's centenary Giro starts in Venice on May 9 and ends in Rome on May 31.

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