Can Basso win the 2011 Tour?

[palmerq]

The primary obstacle for Basso is the inevitable alliance that will occur between Team Schleck and Radioshack.

do radio shack get an automatic invite to the tour? I forget how it works these days... maybe they wont get invited like at the vuelta. I don't think they'd do much so I wouldnt invite them... Brajkovic is quite though.


Anyway Basso has a pretty good chance of winning the tour this year, I don't think contador will ride so Schleck will be the number 1 threat. I wonder how well Andy will do on a new team and so on. I would predict Schleck to win though.. It depends on what form the guys can find Basso would need to be on top form( I think he could out time trial andy:S), Menchov could be dangerous to both of them too I would say he has a good chance of finishing ahead of Basso for sure, apart from Schleck I think the other guys are very close together.

 

[erader]

basso can win if contador gets banned.

erader

 

[Passista]

Andy was so close to Contador last time, I can't see Basso taking the Tour from him. Reckon those with a better (generally thought so) TT like Samuel Sanchez may even be more of a threat. And Liquigas are a strong team (no, really? ), but I still can see Leopard controlling the race if anyone.

 

[Parrulo]

he sure can win.

he doesn't have the kick to follow an attack from people like andy or rodriguez or samu but unless they attack a few meters away from the finish he can easy tempo his way back to them. prolly his tactic for next year's tour will be the same as his tactic for this year giro. stay in the front pacing every1 and just waiting for them to crack. (he did it on the zoncolan and could have done it on the mortirolo but that would have cracked nibali too so he went easy there)

on the TT correct me if i am wrong but it looks like he is very slowly getting better in the TT since his return so he will prolly be faster then andy, tho never faster then robo basso was

 

[mombus]

I wonder how well Andy will do on a new team and so on.

It's hardly a new team. Why, because you don't have the maniacal Bjarne kicking him in his heels? He's got Fuglslang, his brother, Jens, and O'Grady. It's game over. I don't think Basso has a shot. But I love this new Team Leopard thing and I'm not much into Italian riders, so I'm biased.

 

[mombus]

I have to say, Basso is one of my favorites of the Italian riders, so it's not like I'd be upset seeing him win. I have nothing but enormous respect for him. (EPO aside)

 

[mombus]

My opinion is biased in that it's my hope that Andy never wins the Tour, such is my dislike for this dude. Just a bit too smug and always floating his brand of goofy/cocky charisma.

If anything Contador is smug and cocky. Just because someone has charisma and confidence, is friendly, and likes to have laugh, does not equal cockiness whatsoever. I think he is the least cocky and most real person we have seen in contention for yellow in a long, long time. And that's why I like him.

 

[The Hitch]

If anything Contador is smug and cocky. Just because someone has charisma and confidence, is friendly, and likes to have laugh, does not equal cockiness whatsoever. I think he is the least cocky and most real person we have seen in contention for yellow in a long, long time. And that's why I like him.

Whose not cocky? Andrew?

Last year he was fetching waterbottles for his team on hills thats how humble he was.

Its one thing to lose a chain and have people gain time because of that. There you can complain. But if Contador attacked when Andrew was fetching waterbottles then there could be no complaints.

Actually thats an interesting tactic for next year. If Andrew starts to fetch his own waterbottles, maybe Basso and co can attack.

 

[theyoungest]

If anything Contador is smug and cocky. Just because someone has charisma and confidence, is friendly, and likes to have laugh, does not equal cockiness whatsoever. I think he is the least cocky and most real person we have seen in contention for yellow in a long, long time. And that's why I like him.

Carlos Sastre?

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I've liked Basso for years and would like to see him win the Tour. Last year I was hoping he'd come through. But now he's at the age when the engine starts to slow down a bit. AC and AS have more youth. And that will make it more difficult for Basso, I think.

 

[Wiggins_fan]

I'm rooting for Basso ! Hopefully the podium will be like this:

1. Cadel 2. Ivan 3. Bradley

 

[skidmark]

Yes he has. While i may be off an again or 2 i remember him making this comment on several occasions.

This is one occasion


source: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/liquigas-cannondale-hit-the-dolomites-for-training-camp

Its also telling when a Italian Giro winner who was treated like a returning hero, skips the Giro presentation. Even Menchov came when he was the reigning champ. Ok so he was racing but it wasnt that big a rac0e.

Sorry, poor phrasing. What I meant was that you presented it as if 'this was the only thing he's been saying for ages, so much so that it's boring to even ask the question', when in fact he said something yesterday that makes his previous statements far from unequivocal. That was my point (even though a new article on cyclingnews has a Liquigas official saying he won't ride it). I have never really thought he'd ride the Giro, but he hasn't only been saying that he absolutely won't.

On topic, no. As others have said, I don't think there's any way he will win the Tour if A. Schleck is on 'form' and doesn't crash. Other than that, he can probably beat anyone else (assuming Contador's not there).

 

[masking_agent]

yes Basso can win the 2011 Tour if he gets a newer masking agent. If so, then I think we'll see epic battles between he and Andy Schleck.

 

[jaylew]

With AC, no. Without him, I still doubt it.

 

[patrick767]

I think AC will be suspended, so if that happens AS has to be the favorite going into the TdF. I haven't seen anything from Basso to indicate that he can keep up with Schleck on the mountain top finishes, let alone put time into him there. I think Basso can be a strong contender for a podium place, but he won't win.

 

[profff]

ivan basso can definitely win the tour 2011
he is a strong climber, the team is strong, he knows how to prepare a win a GT, he has alot of experience in the tour, he is extra motivations.

i hope he will win: he deserves it, he really likes racing his bike and he is a super nice guy.

 

[delbified]

with sassi's passing, i'm tipping that basso will get a new high performance program and win by 8 minutes.

 

[rzombie1988]

If AC is in, No.

If AC isn't in, No, but maybe he can podium. I'm fairly certain that AS will win, but mark my words, the battle for 2nd/3rd is going to be really hot this year. There are so many possibilities like Frank Schleck(He will stay with Andy if he can so if Andy does well, he will too), Menchov, Ricco(if he does it), Evans, Vino, Samu, Jurgen and another surprise or two. I'm really excited for it.

 

[whittashau]

Still makes me laugh when people say that Frank can be a major contender in GTs

 

[rzombie1988]

Still makes me laugh when people say that Frank can be a major contender in GTs

Like I said, it really depends on Andy. If Andy does well, Frank is atleast going to be able to hang onto him. Andy would do just about anything to help him. Frank's 2010 was pretty decent too for him.

 

[flicker]

I think AC will be suspended, so if that happens AS has to be the favorite going into the TdF. I haven't seen anything from Basso to indicate that he can keep up with Schleck on the mountain top finishes, let alone put time into him there. I think Basso can be a strong contender for a podium place, but he won't win.

No way Basso can stay with Andy. It would be fun, but Andy is stronger. Maybe someone else can challange Andy?

 

[skidmark]

Still makes me laugh when people say that Frank can be a major contender in GTs

Well, it depends on what you mean by 'major contender'. If you mean as in winning the Tour, then yeah, he doesn't seem to be in that echelon. If you mean podiuming in the Tour, it doesn't seem like enough of a stretch to be laughable by any means. Like in 2008, he was in yellow, and could have been on the podium if he had done a good TT (for him, even; he not only did a horrible time trial by any standard, he also did worse than he himself could do). In 2009, he was in 3rd and could have been on the podium if he wasn't so bad at the TT. In a Tour like 2011, with less TT than 08-09, it's entirely feasible that if his mountain performances are up to 2008-9 standards, he could be on the podium, is it not?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Well, it depends on what you mean by 'major contender'. If you mean as in winning the Tour, then yeah, he doesn't seem to be in that echelon. If you mean podiuming in the Tour, it doesn't seem like enough of a stretch to be laughable by any means. Like in 2008, he was in yellow, and could have been on the podium if he had done a good TT (for him, even; he not only did a horrible time trial by any standard, he also did worse than he himself could do). In 2009, he was in 3rd and could have been on the podium if he wasn't so bad at the TT. In a Tour like 2011, with less TT than 08-09, it's entirely feasible that if his mountain performances are up to 2008-9 standards, he could be on the podium, is it not?

Think 07-09 might have been a low in standards tho (especially 07 and 08). Youngsters (anton, gesink, nibali etc) have all exceeded frank in the mountains imo and the likes of basso, sanchez etc are easily better imo also.

 

[Angliru]

If anything Contador is smug and cocky. Just because someone has charisma and confidence, is friendly, and likes to have laugh, does not equal cockiness whatsoever. I think he is the least cocky and most real person we have seen in contention for yellow in a long, long time. And that's why I like him.

Anyone that refers to themselves as "the best climber in the world" and is completely serious about it, this after getting dropped by the actual best climber in the world AND refers to his opponents as "weak" is cocky and arrogant in my book. Those are just two examples. As mentioned earlier another is his selfish lack of dedication to his brother's cause in the 2010 Vuelta. While he espouses his dedication to team and his brother, in the end he's extremely talented but selfish and immature character. For some reason I can visualize him in a plaid sportcoat selling defective used cars to unsuspecting consumers. It's obvious we have vast differences in our definitions of actual "charisma", an attribute which IMO is really left to the observer. Apparently Andy has many of the media and fans falling over themselves in love with him-good on him.

If you can give me an example of Contador's cockiness I would love to see it.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

If anything Contador is smug and cocky.

Whut.

Ehhh.

Whut?

You must be talking about some other Contador from parallel world, because the one we're talking about (and the one i've met personally ;p ) is a very humble guy.

I hated that cheeky-feely-kissy stuff during the last TDF, though.