Basso Rides Again in California for Liquigas
The 2009 Amgen Tour of California sees Return of Ivan Basso
Mar 1, 2009
2006 was meant to be the year that Italian rider Ivan Basso cemented his place at the top of world cycling.
With Lance Armstrong retired, Basso, then riding for CSC, was widely seen as the heir apparent to Armstrong's Tour de France title, indeed the American had even referred to the possibility in his speech after his final victory in the 2005 Tour.
Puerto Hammer Blow
Sure enough, 2006 started well for the Italian and he took victory in the Giro d'Italia during May, confident he could follow up that impressive victory by winning the Tour in July and claiming a rare Giro / Tour double.
However, rumbling in the background was Operacion Puerto, an investigation by Spanish authorities into alleged doping practices run out of a clinic in Spain.
A raid on the clinic had revealed large numbers of frozen bags of blood, allegedly stored for the purposes of blood doping, each bag cryptically labelled. Among the hundreds of bags found, the bag labelled Brillo was to be of particular interest to fans of cycling.
Brillo, it was claimed, was the name of Basso's dog. Speculation reached fever pitch in the weeks and days leading up to the start of the race. Basso initially denied any wrongdoing but eventually, with just a couple of days to go before the race's prologue, he was withdrawn from the race by his team.
Basso Admission
Later, Basso would confirm that the blood in the bag labelled Brillo was indeed his, although his confession would stop short of an admission of doping, claiming he had only planned to dope.
"I did admit having attempted to use doping for the (2006) Tour de France and I am ready to pay the penalty for that,” Basso said at the time. "All my wins have been achieved in a proper and clean manner and I have every intention of returning to action and continuing with the job I love once I have paid the penalty."
Basso Returns with Liquigas
Two years on and Basso has signed with Italian outfit Liquigas and has returned to top flight racing. High up on his list of targets will again be the Giro d'Italia where he will once again face the freshly returned Lance Armstrong. The warmth of his welcome on the circuit remains to be seen but he is likely to be welcomed with open arms in Italy as he remains the country's best hope for a grand tour champion.
Basso failed to finish the Tour of California, leaving after hurting his knee whilst warming up for the Stage 6 time-trial. The race was won for the third time by American Levi Leipheimer.
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