Basso Giro/Tour Double?

[Polish]

Anyone rooting for Basso to do the "Double"
I would like to see it happen

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/basso-targets-tour-de-france-podium

Up until recently, there has been a "Double" Winner every decade since the 1940's.
But it has been 12 years since Marco did it....we are overdue!

Seven cyclists have won the Tour and the Giro in the same year:

Fausto Coppi (ITA): 1949, 1952
Jacques Anquetil (FRA): 1964
Eddy Merckx (BEL): 1970, 1972, 1974
Bernard Hinault (FRA): 1982, 1985
Stephen Roche (IRL): 1987
Miguel Indurain (ESP): 1992, 1993
Marco Pantani (ITA): 1998

 

[theyoungest]

Not a chance. Would be nice, though.

 

[zapata]

Agree on the "would like". In 2006, I was sure he would do it. But this year, I don't know..I would really like to see basso and contador, both in top form, against each other. The consensus seems to be that contador is unbeatable, and I agree that it's hard to see anyone challenging him, but it would be interesting to see how he would fare against a basso at 100%. I know Contador can accellarate and get twenty meters gap before Basso can think to respond, but on the long climbs, Basso could possibly catch up, slowly and steadily, and might not lose much time.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

It won't happen, and I don't want it to happen.

 

[hector5950]

Because someone has to go down this road, I will.

Lance could do it. Hell, he could have done the triple, but he chose not to.

 

[ttrider]

Even as a contador fan would love it to happen to get rid of the myth that u cant ride both competitively if he has his giro level he will definitely podium

 

[zapata]

Because someone has to go down this road, I will.

Lance could do it. Hell, he could have done the triple, but he chose not to.

Same as me,then. I could have won all three grand tours, but I chose not to.

 

[enrecul]

choices

i guess he chose to avoid another 42 days of in competition testing by not doing the giro or vuelta.

with the right gear a triple is very possible!!!!

 

[Angliru]

Because someone has to go down this road, I will.

Lance could do it. Hell, he could have done the triple, but he chose not to.

Heaven help you.

 

[rhubroma]

Not a chance. Would be nice, though.

Because of AC...

 

[Mellow Velo]

Because someone has to go down this road, I will.

Lance could do it. Hell, he could have done the triple, but he chose not to.

Since your tenses appeared to were in a time warp, I was agreeing.

 

[isayic]

Because of AC...

Alberto will probably try the Double next year and as he "inherited" Pantani's director there could be a chance. Mr. Martinelli has the experience to lead a rider to the Double because another preparation is neccessary.

 

[craig1985]

I think he would of done in 2006 if he didn't get booted out, what with the program he had from Fuentes...

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Because someone has to go down this road, I will.

Lance could do it. Hell, he could have done the triple, but he chose not to.

Hector 5950 is the poor man's Polish.

 

[Zen Master]

Hector 5950 is the poor man's Polish.

Excuse me, but adults are talking here so my dear fanboy will you please go now ?!
Here you have a nice picture of your precious idol...

Shoo ! Be a good boy Moose, go spank your monkey !?

 

[mr. tibbs]

I don't mean to distract the Basso Double thread from Armstrong, but I thought this was a pretty cool pic:

 

[Barrus]

I don't mean to distract the Basso Double thread from Armstrong, but I thought this was a pretty cool pic:

Love that pic

 

[Nearly]

Love that pic

Warning: Scott SoCal will co-opt this pic for Babes on Bikes

 

[Cervelo77]

Will not happen in this era. Giro - Vuelta is possible, but not Giro - Tour.
Also, AC will be in peak form and I think he is unbeatable right now. It would take a crash or illness for another rider to beat him.

 

[Claudiu]

Great picture! But about the double...although his performance in Il Giro was outstanding, i'm afraid he can't win Le Tour in the same year. I don't know, maybe fatigue (not especially for him, but his team mates, who will probably be almost the same as in Giro), and anyway, i don't see him having the same attacking style, or the same success, due to the opponents...now he will not try to let behind Porte, Vino, he must deal with Contador, Schleck, Menchov...not to mention..the...LA...thing (where LA initials clearly come from Leader Awesomeness)...but, if he manages to stay with them to the end and play his card whenever he finds more fit, he can have a chance, never say never.

 

[metaCYCLE]

i think Basso will finish ahead of the guys he defeated in Giro (Cadel, Vino, Sastre, Rod Stewart etc.) but he'll be below AC, AS and maybe the best performing RS rider. my 2c.

 

[BroDeal]

Will not happen in this era. Giro - Vuelta is possible, but not Giro - Tour.

Floyd Landis told us exactly why the Giro-Tour double has not been possible for a decade. Two and half liters of blood takes more time to harvest than the time between the two races. This is why Armstrong not only never won the double but never rode the Giro before 2009. If the passport is working--that is a big if--then we should see a rider able to win both in a season.

Basso's problem is that his time trialing is not as good as it was before his suspension. That leaves the mountains for him to gain time, but he is not capable of attacking like Contador or the Schlecklet. He is a tempo climber. Even though he was wicked strong during the Giro, it still took half the Zoncolan to crack Evans. There are no climbs as hard as the Zoncolan in the Tour. If he were to try a similar tactic on the moderate grades of TdF climbs then Contador or Schleck could simply follow behind him and sprint for a thirty second gain during the last 2K.

I would like to see Basso do it, but I do not see how he can without something happening to Contador, Schlecklet, and perhaps a couple of others.

 

[Climbing]

It would be truly epic.
I don't see Basso losing time at all in the mountains, but as other said, those climbs aren't as steep as Giro so neither I see him gaining time there (at least not on AC and AS).
Considering his deficit in TT it would be very hard to get the double, but you cannot say for sure.
Maybe his team has fully recovered and they will train him with easy in the mountain... well, that is the only scenario I could imagine giving him a good chance at winning.

 

[craig1985]

Bro, it's been reported that Contador will ride the Giro again next year, you would wager money on him being able to win both. Ok, we know about the program side of things, it still takes a lot to win both.

 

[ttrider]

im not sure about the program side but agree about the tour climbs, the gavia stage was like that and evans beat him, Basso i rekkon could take almost anyone on 10% average like Zoncolan even contador but
14km @ 5
14km @ 6
25.5km @ 6.2 + 30km to finish
3.1km @ 10.1 + 2km flat
7.8km @ 8.2
19.3km @ 6.1 + 21km
29km @ 4 + 60km
18.6km @ 7.5

Mende is his best bet to gain time along with Tourmalet and Plateau de Bonascre
but none are in the Zoncolan and Mortirolo range where he excels. The racing at the tour is more tactical than the Giro which is simply strength with negligible drafting advantages up the mountains, 4% - 6% is surely to hard to ride solo for more than 5km when the chasers take turns