Basso in 2010 Tour

[Ullrich]

Any opinions about what Basso is gonna be able to do at next year´s Tour ? Based on his fourth place at this year Giro, i believe that with one more year of racing in his legs he might be able to get a top five. Or even have a fight with Lance, Wiggins, Frank an co. for the third place. ( considering that first and second are Conta and Andy).

 

[michaeld05]

Any opinions about what Basso is gonna be able to do at next year´s Tour ? Based on his fourth place at this year Giro, i believe that with one more year of racing in his legs he might be able to get a top five. Or even have a fight with Lance, Wiggins, Frank an co. for the third place. ( considering that first and second are Conta and Andy).

ah you are forgetting vino, he will ride for benifit of glorious nation of kazakhstan

anyways, i think its a possibility he could do well

sigh, armstrong vs basso, anyone else feel the last 5 years havent happened

 

[Ullrich]

Sorry, he was fifth ate the 09 Giro.

Sorry, he was fifth instead of fourth at the 09 Giro.

 

[Nick C.]

You think they'll let him ride? Based on the Giro he looked anywhere between how LA and Nibali looked in the Tour on the mountain stages. Though I don't remember his TTs in the Giro being anything special, so he might be back with Nibali @ 7-8.

 

[BroDeal]

I think Basso will improve some. He was strong in the last week of the Giro. He faded a bit in the middle. It would not surprise me to see him going very well at the Vuelta.

I will also guess the ASO will allow him to ride the Tour. They have decided to sweep doping under the rug, so I think maybe they will give Basso a pass on the past. They did not have a problem with Armstrong competing, so the new management just does not care as much about doping as the previous management did. They also have to be thinking about what a disaster the race was this year. The GC contest was a bore. Having another contender would make the race more interesting than a simple contest between A. Schleck and Contador.

 

[richwagmn]

I think he'll contend. He looked pretty good at the Giro. Not super, but put in some nice efforts and finished pretty well.

Liquigas looks pretty strong. An excellent stable of climbers. Wonder if they'll go into the TDF with multiple leaders?

 

[mr. tibbs]

I think he'll contend. He looked pretty good at the Giro. Not super, but put in some nice efforts and finished pretty well.

Liquigas looks pretty strong. An excellent stable of climbers. Wonder if they'll go into the TDF with multiple leaders?

They've become one of the teams with too much talent, imo. I hope to see some of these guys go to different teams that could use a top ten finisher.

 

[Zoncolan]

They've become one of the teams with too much talent, imo. I hope to see some of these guys go to different teams that could use a top ten finisher.

I agree. 4 potential top 5 guys is pushing it. Already we heard some calls for leadership from Pellizotti and Kreuziger. God knows what next year will be like.

I think Basso will be allowed to compete at the Tour next year. If he decides to focus on the Tour, rather than the Giro, or doing the double, I think he'll be able to match the Schlecklet at least. After all, Basso almost completed the double in '06. I doubt he'll be able to beat Contador though.
That being said, who knows if Contador will be as strong with a new team?

 

[richwagmn]

They've become one of the teams with too much talent, imo. I hope to see some of these guys go to different teams that could use a top ten finisher.

I agree. Can't imagine one big happy family with all that talent and possibly conflicting ambitions.

 

[Boeing]

pellizotti v Basso? you talk about Astana bad vibes with AC and The Lance...

Although I like the way Pellizotti rode this past tour, like a friggn animal till the end even though he had the polka dots in the bag, he is a *** of misery off the bike and a bit selfish and self promoting in all the wrong ways.

Franco has been *****ing about team leadership since the first stage of the Giro

Strong team but chemistry is a bit suspect.

He might have a point however. He is riding stronger than Basso in the mountains but he forgets he cant TT.

Anyone catch him take his jersey off to show all his Tattoo on his back every time the peloton goes light tempo to recover? Dude uses more personal pronouns than Tiger woods and The Lance combined

Question is; Did he do Elisa?

 

[Anonymous]

Any opinions about what Basso is gonna be able to do at next year´s Tour ? Based on his fourth place at this year Giro, i believe that with one more year of racing in his legs he might be able to get a top five. Or even have a fight with Lance, Wiggins, Frank an co. for the third place. ( considering that first and second are Conta and Andy).

He didn't look a strong 4th to me. He looked like a "barely hanging on" kind of fourth in the Giro. (Of course DiLuca was always stringing things out, and now we know he is a junkie freak, so maybe things will change?) However, in the Tour, it looked like Contador would have dropped any of the guys who were vying for the Giro win even in their best shape. I have to say that if we see the return of Basso as a dominating rider, I will start a new thread in The Clinic.

 

[auscyclefan94]

pellizotti v Basso? you talk about Astana bad vibes with AC and The Lance...

Although I like the way Pellizotti rode this past tour, like a friggn animal till the end even though he had the polka dots in the bag, he is a *** of misery off the bike and a bit selfish and self promoting in all the wrong ways.

Franco has been *****ing about team leadership since the first stage of the Giro

Strong team but chemistry is a bit suspect.

He might have a point however. He is riding stronger than Basso in the mountains but he forgets he cant TT.

Anyone catch him take his jersey off to show all his Tattoo on his back every time the peloton goes light tempo to recover? Dude uses more personal pronouns than Tiger woods and The Lance combined

Question is; Did he do Elisa?

Add Kreuziger into the leadership fight as well. There was a big feud with Kreuziger saying that he would never ride for Basso at the tour. I personally found Basso a little dissapointing at the Giro as he did have very good form. Same with Kreuziger, i was hoping for a higher finish for him but i think he peaked to early at Romandie and TDs and so struggled in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.

 

[Gregory]

He might have a point however. He is riding stronger than Basso in the mountains but he forgets he cant TT.

In fact, Pellizotti had better results in both time trials in this year's Giro:

Stage 12: Sestri Levante - Riomaggiore 60.6km

1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 01:34:29
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas +0:01:27
11 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas +0:02:17



May 31, Stage 21: Rome 15.5km

1 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team 00:18:42
16 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas +0:00:40
18 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas +0:00:46


Basso has gained a fame for being a superb TT specialist in 2005 and 2006, but let's not forget that this was 'extraterrestrial' Basso. This year, it was the real Basso. I think that he was very unhappy with the fact that he was weaker than Pellizotti. There is a great tension between them, Basso is not used to such situation. In the stage to Alpe di Siusi he attacked the group and this acceleration dropped Franco, but Basso didn't slow down at all. Compared to that move, Contador's attack which dropped Kloden is nothing since he didn't take any pulls upfront.

 

[TrudyTas]

Anyone catch him take his jersey off to show all his Tattoo on his back every time the peloton goes light tempo to recover?

I thought that was Pippo Pozzato - but maybe they were both doing it ...?

If all four Liquigas strongmen stay with the team, surely they would share the tours between them ... ??? (even though there are only 3!)

 

[Boeing]

I thought that was Pippo Pozzato - but maybe they were both doing it ...?

If all four Liquigas strongmen stay with the team, surely they would share the tours between them ... ??? (even though there are only 3!)

maybe it was. I know it wasn't mike piazza


anyway of the topic a little; is it ghay to do that?

 

[TrudyTas]

maybe it was. I know it wasn't mike piazza


anyway of the topic a little; is it ghay to do that?

The cameras caught a few guys doing it at different times (I sort of sat up and took notice ), so I think it was the cameras honing in on the guys, not the guys showing off in front of the cameras ...

 

[Boeing]

The cameras caught a few guys doing it at different times (I sort of sat up and took notice ), so I think it was the cameras honing in on the guys, not the guys showing off in front of the cameras ...

damn now I wonder why it is so important to me thanks

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I remember reading Pellizotti would ride for basso at the tour if basso rode for him at the giro. seems fair imo. Ivan could use the giro to ride himself into form and help pellizotti claim the maglia rosa.

Add Kreuziger into the leadership fight as well. There was a big feud with Kreuziger saying that he would never ride for Basso at the tour.

GT perofrmances in 09:
(Tour) Kruziger - 9th (and on a whole looked a lot better then kruziger)
(Giro) Basso - 4th

Kruziger needs to get off his high horse, winning ToS/ToR is no way near winning a GT. Those climbs are more short, and not so steep type of climbs. GTs and some other races (Dauphne etc) have steep mountains, Kruzi in my opinion still needs to prove himself a bit in that field, before i consider him a real GT leader. (And yes I know his progression has been healthy at this point)

on the liquigas topic as a whole, they are very strong indeed. But I agree there might be on too many GT riders in this team. Personally i think Nibali might be the one to find a team where he can lead. (IMO Italy's Best youngster.. real potential)

As for Basso I think with ayear and ahalf of solid racing behind him he can really do well. Expect a stronger Giro 09' Basso at the very least.

 

[Armstrongfan789]

Don't

I do not beleive that you should set a ranking for anyone. The race is an open race, anyone can win it.

 

[Zen Master]

I do not beleive that you should set a ranking for anyone. The race is an open race, anyone can win it.

Ohhhh we're so lucky to have another one " Lance is my hero " cycling expert on this board

 

[BeachBum]

How Basso would do in the Tour depends on how his team shakes out. People are saying that there are too many leaders on Liquigas, but I'm not so sure. Do you really want to only have one arrow to fire at Contador? Look back at he '08 Tour-- CSC had the Schleck boys AND Sastre to tag team Cadel. Did they have a designated 'one and only' leader that year? I think they took turns throwing punches until one of them came out on top.

Liquigas could do that next year, instead of the 'Astana train' on hills, they let their 4 boys take turns attacking vs Bertie, with the other 3 sitting in and counterattacking if their guy gets caught. From the team management point of view, they don't care WHO wins, as long as it is one of theirs.

The problem is, can you get Basso, Pelizotti, Nibali and Kreuzinger to agree on that? It won't work if 2 or more of them insist on being el Jefe.

To bring this back to Basso, I think that if he is the sole leader and the team loses one or more of the 'big 4,' he would have fewer chances to win than if all 4 stick around and take turns vs Contador. I don't think he is strong enough to win mano-a-mano vs AC.

 

[ilillillli]

although he seems likable enough, ivan basso is a CONVICTED CHEATER. it seems like everyone gets hung out to dry for this, but basso always seems to get a pass. those years when he was duking it out with lance on the climbs... that was likely drug-fueled. i don't doubt that he has a considerable amount of natural ability, but i'm also not going to assume that he has the same celing that he used to. depending on whether or not he gets demoralized early on (like sastre and evans this year) i could easily see basso getting a top-10 finish, but i really wouldn't expect much more than that.

plus, if there's one spot for a great climber who can't time trial to save his life... andy schleck's filling it.

 

[VeloFidelis]

Basso is never coming back. He is absolutely washed up. His measly 4th place in the Giro is the beginning of his swan song. He is proof positive that you can never come back from an extended absence and get back to the top in professional cycling.

He and Armstrong have both shown us that. A fourth and tenth in the Giro... pathetic! And that desperate scramble by Armstrong to merely save a TDF podium? I expect these guys to completely embarrass themselves again next year, and then slip ignominiously into cycling obscurity.

Put a fork in them... they're done!!

 

[Nick C.]

plus, if there's one spot for a great climber who can't time trial to save his life... andy schleck's filling it.

not Frank?

 

[ilillillli]

not Frank?

nope, andy. he's the relevant gc rider/ team leader, no?