Ivan Basso said Tuesday that he is "at peace" with himself ahead of his Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) hearing on doping allegations that may well decide his future as a cyclist.

Basso, last year's Giro d’Italia winner and a pre-race favorite for the 2007 Tour de France, quit Discovery Channel on Monday noting that ongoing suspicions on him were damaging the team and its hunt for a new title sponsor.

The decision has ruled him out of defending his Giro title in less than two weeks time, and has likely ruled him out of the Tour de France for the second year running.

The 29-year-old Basso was one of dozens of riders implicated in the Operación Puerto doping affair last year, which has re-emerged in recent weeks.

Basso has always protested his innocence and says he is feeling relaxed ahead of the hearing, where he could be asked to provide a DNA sample.

"I left Discovery Channel because I didn't want my team or my teammates to pay for something which really only concerns me," Basso told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Whether I'm going to a hearing or not, I'm at peace with my conscience."

Basso's recent suspension by Discovery, the former team of Lance Armstrong and in which the seven-time Tour de France winner still has a stake, had already placed his Giro d'Italia participation in doubt.

The Giro begins May 12, and Basso confirmed Tuesday that he won’t be there

"No matter what happens, I won't be riding the Giro,” he said. “The moment I left Discovery, I decided I would not be racing there. It's been five days since I last trained. The idea of going there to defend the maglia rosa is not something I'm preoccupied with at the moment."

Basso and Discovery's decision has left a huge question mark over the Italian's future. He missed the Tour de France last year after being implicated in the affair, which also led to the suspension and sacking of Jan Ullrich by T-Mobile. Germany's 1997 Tour winner also protested his innocence and has since retired from the sport.

A DNA sample from Basso is expected to be compared to blood found among the hundreds of frozen bags discovered by police when they raided the premises of a Madrid sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in May 2006.

A recent DNA sample from Ullrich reportedly linked him to blood found in Fuentes' laboratory.

On Monday Gazzetta claimed that another, as yet unidentified, 49 cyclists are implicated in the doping affair, bringing the total to 107 and threatening to cast an even darker cloud over the sport ahead of the first two major stage races of the season.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said he’s unwilling to risk allowing anyone implicated in the investigation to ride in the world’s most prestigious bicycle race.

"The sport just cannot allow cyclists who are still implicated in this affair to start the Tour de France if suspicion still hangs over them," he said.