Teams divided over hiring cyclists involved in probe

NEW YORK - CYCLING'S biggest doping probe is dividing the sport, as disagreements arise over teams hiring riders linked to the Spanish investigation.

Some race organisers say riders like Ivan Basso and Tyler Hamilton should stay away until their cases are resolved.

Basso now rides for Discovery Channel, co-owned by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

Olympic gold medallist Hamilton has signed with Tinkoff Credit Systems.

Said Victor Cordero, general director of the Tour of Spain: 'Cycling is at a junction. We can either go the way of entertainment-style wrestling in the United States, or the way of a credible sport.

'We can't have anything hanging over the sport.'

Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France champion, retired on Monday because of 'wrong allegations' stemming from the Spanish probe.

Spanish police, who discovered 200 bags of frozen blood in their raid on a Madrid apartment last May, provided international cycling authorities with the names of 58 riders implicated in the probe.

Forty-three of the riders will compete this season, the Spanish sports daily As reported on Feb 7.

As doping is not a crime in Spain, none of the riders will be charged, says Elisa Beni, a spokesman for Madrid's provincial court.

The Italian cycling federation said on Oct 12 that it would not discipline Basso, who has denied any wrong-doing.

Johan Bruyneel, manager of the Discovery team, says race organisers have been influenced by unsubstantiated news reports.

He said: 'If the Italian federation clears Ivan, what reason do I have to doubt that decision?

'Nobody should be the judge, apart from who is able to make the decision.'

However, other teams have steered away from riders embroiled in the scandal.

T-Mobile fired Ullrich, 33, on July 21 last year, after he failed to prove he was not linked to the Spanish case.

Brian Cookson, president of British Cycling, said such purges are necessary.

He added: 'Cycling is a mess and we need to clean it up or it won't have a future.'

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Results

BASKETBALL

NBA: Dallas 80 Houston 77, Cleveland 114 LA Lakers 108.

CRICKET

First Chappell-Hadlee series one-day match in Wellington: Australia 148 all out in 49.3 overs (M. Hussey 42; Bond 5-23, Gillespie 2-27, Vettori 2-26, McMillan 1-3). New Zealand 149-0 in 27 overs (L.Vincent 73 n.o., S.Fleming 70 n.o.). New Zealand won by 10 wkts.

GOLF

Indonesia Open, 2nd rd leaders (suspended owing to poor light): 134 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 68 66 137 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 68 69, Nam Young Woo (Kor) 68 69, Suk Jong Yul (Kor) 69 68, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 68 69 138 Scott Strange (Aus) 69 69, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 69, Gareth Davies (Eng) 71 67 139 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 70 69, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 68, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 72 67, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 65 74, Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas) 70 69, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 71 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 72 67. Singaporeans: 141 Mardan Mamat 74 67. 72 Lam Chih Bing (yet to complete rd 2).

Nissan Open in Los Angeles, 1st rd (USA unless stated): 63 Padraig Harrington 66 Phil Mickelson, Briny Baird, Pat Perez 67 Jim Furyk, Cameron Beckman, Sergio Garcia (Esp), David Howell (Eng) 68 Eric Axley, Rod Pampling (Aus), Vijay Singh (Fij), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 Bo Van Pelt, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Will MacKenzie, David Toms, Rich Beem, Charley Hoffman, Steve Elkington (Aus), Ernie Els (Rsa), Robert Allenby (Aus), Daniel Chopra (Swe), Charles Howell, Heath Slocum, Lucas Glover, Ted Purdy, Ben Curtis, Zach Johnson. Selected: 70 Jose Maria Olazabal (Esp) 71 Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Peter Lonard (Aus), Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 72 Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn), K.J. Choi (Kor).

LPGA SBS Open in Kahuku, Hawaii, 1st rd (USA unless stated): 67 Paula Creamer, Paige Mackenzie, Sherri Steinhauer 68 Julieta Granada (Par), Natalie Gulbis, Wendy Ward, Kim Sung Ah (Kor) 69 Irene Cho, Han Hee Won (Kor), Juli Inkster, Lin Yu-ping (Twn), Janice Moodie (Sco), Stacy Prammanasudh, Morgan Pressel, Alena Sharp (Can) 70 Kim Hall, Kim Mi Hyun (Kor), Lee Seon Hwa (Kor), Lee Jee Young (Kor), Mhairi McKay (Sco), Karrie Webb (Aus), Lindsey Wright (Aus).

ICE HOCKEY

NHL: Buffalo 2 Edmonton 1 (OT), Toronto 4 Philadelphia 2, NY Rangers 4 Carolina 1, Tampa Bay 3 Washington 2 (SO), NY Islanders 4 Boston 1, Anaheim 5 Phoenix 4 (OT), Colorado 7 Calgary 5.

SOCCER

Uefa Cup 1st knock-out rd, 1st leg: Lens 3 Panathinaikos 1, Zulte-Waregem 1 Newcastle 3, Braga 1 Parma 0, Steaua Bucharest 0 Sevilla 2, Spartak Moscow 1 Celta Vigo 1.

TENNIS

ATP Marseille Open, 2nd rd: Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt Cyril Saulnier (Fra) 6-4 6-3, Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Marc Gicquel (Fra) 7-6(2) 6-2, Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-1 3-2 (ret), Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-3, Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 6-1 6-0, Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 6-4 3-6 6-3, Julien Benneteau (Fra) bt David Ferrer (Esp) 4-6 6-0 6-1, Robin Soederling (Swe) bt Thomas Johansson (Swe) 6-4 7-5.

ATP San Jose Open, 2nd rd: Marat Safin (Rus) bt Lu Yen-hsun (Twn) 6-4 5-7 6-4, Ivo Karlovic (Cro) bt James Blake (USA) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (13-11) 6-4, Mardy Fish (USA) bt Sam Warburg (USA) 2-6 6-4 6-2, Vince Spadea (USA) bt Feliciano Lopez (Esp) 4-6 7-5 6-7 (6-8), Lee Hyung Taik (Kor) bt Simon Greul (Ger) 6-2 7-6 (7-3), Benjamin Becker (Ger) bt Bjoern Phau (Ger) 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-3.

WTA Antwerp Diamond Games, 2nd rd: Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2, Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5, Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt Elena Dementieva (Rus) 6-2 1-1 (ret), Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

WTA Bangalore Open, 2nd rd: Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) 3-6 7-5 6-2, Olga Savchuk (Ukr) bt Alicia Molik (Aus) 6-4 4-6 6-4, Mara Santangelo (Ita) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 3-6 7-5 6-2, Melinda Czink (Hun) bt Hsien Su-wei (Twn) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5.

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