VERONA, Italy, May 31, 2009 (AFP) – While American cycling legend Lance Armstrong fends off yet more accusations over whether he is clean or not, Italian rider Ivan Basso can smile contentedly and revel in his second Tour of Italy title and say he did it without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

The 32-year-old is viewed in the arch-Roman Catholic viewpoint espoused in Italian cycling as the penitent sinner, who has served his time after receiving an 18 month suspension for his being implicated in the Puerto scandal that swept up some of the biggest names in the sport.

And after being expelled from the sport on the eve of the 2006 Tour de France, for which he was the favorite, following those doping allegations he found solace in the other great Italian institution – the family.

Basso, who has always denied he resorted to doping when he won the 2006 Tour of Italy, spent his enforced absence with his wife Micaela, whose first letter of her first named is tattooed on one of his finger’s, and playing football with his young children Domitilla and Santiago.

He has been discreet since his return to the cycling flock, having kept in trim during his absence by training with Aldo Sassi, who also advises Australia’s road race world champion Cadel Evans.

For him there is nothing more important to his well being now he is back than to have been able to return to the sport he adores.

“The most important thing is that I have rediscovered my serenity,” is his oft-repeated mantra.

His return and his supposed new clean image though has not provoked universal approval from his compatriots in the peloton.

“Basso is a fake, with his priestly air who preaches good but does evil,”
said veteran rider Gilberto Simoni.

However, for those who believe in redemption Basso’s return to the top of his profession is nothing but good news, which prompted Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) to eulogise about him earlier this week.

“The duel between Basso and Evans is 100 percent clean,” purred the Irishman, who will sincerely hope those words don’t come back to haunt him.

Basso, for the moment can revel in his new entity as a ‘role model’ but even in the country fond of saints, sainthood remains a far fetched idea.