to rumours of blood doping stemming from the Operación Puerto doping case in Spain. According to the investigation, Basso was allegedly given blood doping by doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in a Spanish clinic. No formal charges had been raised, but following an agreement between the managers of all the ProTour teams, any rider under suspicion of doping would not be allowed to start in ProTour races. This forced CSC to remove Basso from their squad for the 2006 Tour. Speculation in the Italian press suggested that should Basso not be banned he would be joining the Discovery Channel team. Team CSC described these suggestions as just rumours. Later, CSC manager Bjarne Riis was reported stating that it was unlikely that Basso could return to CSC without proving he had no contact with Fuentes, as Basso's contract specified that he could receive no outside medical assistance. Riis conceded that it might be impossible for Basso to prove beyond doubt. Rumours also talked about Basso moving to or (a non-ProTour team). The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) proceedings commenced in late August 2006. From CSC to Team Discovery Channel On 18 October 2006, Team CSC announced that his contract had been terminated by mutual consent. On 27 October 2006, Basso was acquitted of any involvement in the Operation Puerto events by the committee, due to insufficient evidence. On 9 November 2006 Basso announced he was joining Lance Armstrong's former team, . The announcement was made in Austin, Texas, and Basso joined the team on 3 December 2006 for the first unofficial training camp. Basso rode for Levi Leipheimer during the 2007 Tour of California, and also raced Tirreno–Adriatico, where he crashed. Puerto case reopened On 24 April 2007, Basso was suspended by Discovery Channel when the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) reopened his case. On 30 April 2007 Team Discovery Channel announced that Basso would be released from his contract. Basso requested to leave the team citing "personal reasons related to the re-opened investigation by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)." Basso met with the General Manager of Team Discovery Channel, Bill Stapleton, and Johan Bruyneel, the Team Director, and the two agreed to allow Basso to leave the team. While still claiming to never have actually engaged in blood doping, Basso admitted contacting Fuentes' clinic with the intention to engage in blood doping. Basso appeared before the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)