MILAN, May 02, 2013 (AFP) - Former two-time winner Ivan Basso has been forced to pull out of the Giro d'Italia two days before the start due to a cyst, the Italian's Cannondale team announced on Thursday. Basso's place in the team will be taken by Damiano Caruso. The 35-year-old Italian, winner of the race's pink jersey in 2006 and 2010, finished the race in fifth place last year … [Read more...]
Ivan Basso To Lead Team Cannondale At Giro d’Italia
April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
PARIS, April 29, 2013 - Twice former winner Ivan Basso will lead Cannondale at the Giro d'Italia, which begins in Naples on Saturday. The Italian team will be putting their efforts behind Slovak Peter Sagan at July's Tour de France, leaving the 35-year-old Basso to have a crack at a home treble. Winner at the Giro in 2006 and 2010, Basso has had few impressive results this season, … [Read more...]
Contador To Be A Witness As ‘Operation Puerto’ Case Re-Opens
January 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
by Christophe Lehousse MADRID, Jan 26, 2013 (AFP) - Former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will be among those who will give testimony to a Spanish court which will open hearings on Monday into the 'Operation Puerto' doping scandal, seven years after it erupted in 2006. The trial in Madrid, will do little to boost the credentials of a sport still reeling from Lance … [Read more...]
Ivan Basso to lead Team Liquigas – Cannondale at The Tour of Britain
July 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Two-time Giro d’Italia winner to start ‘hardest yet’ Tour of Britain this September Team Liquigas – Cannondale will take part in their first Tour of Britain this September, led by Italian rider Ivan Basso, who will also be making his debut in the race, tipped to be the ‘hardest yet’ edition of Britain’s greatest race. The 34-year old, who has twice won Italy’s biggest … [Read more...]
Basso To Lead Team Liguigas At Tour de France
June 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
PARIS, June 26, 2012 (AFP) - Two-time Tour of Italy winner Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali and newcomer Peter Sagan figured in the Liquigas team's line-up for the Tour de France which starts on Saturday. The Italian outfit's sporting director Stefano Zanatta, announcing the team on Tuesday, said: "Nibali will target the general classification, the Slovakian champion Sagan will be aiming at … [Read more...]
Ivan Basso Confirmed For Giro d’Italia
April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
PARIS, April 29, 2012 - Former two-time winner Ivan Basso will spearhead the Liquigas team's bid for glory at the Giro d'Italia which begins in Herning, Denmark next week. Basso won the race in 2006 and 2010 but was not 100 percent certain to compete in the three-week epic until Saturday night when Liquigas named their nine-man team. Basso, a former runner-up at the Tour de France, … [Read more...]
Basso Pleads For Calm After Po Valley Slap
September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
ROME, Sept 7, 2011 (AFP) - Former Tour of Italy winner Ivan Basso has called for calm after he was slapped and insulted by separatists during the Tour of the Po Valley. He and fellow Italian rider Sacha Modolo put their names to a statement from organizers on Wednesday, the second day of the tour, in which they called for respect for the cyclists. "We're cyclists and we've come here to … [Read more...]
Tour de France Top Three Confirmed to Compete in USA Pro Cycling Challenge
August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Fränk Schleck Headline Colorado Race along with Top American Rider Tom Danielson and Italian Ivan Basso DENVER (August 2, 2011) – USA Pro Cycling Challenge today announced that all three Tour de France podium placers are set to be at the starting line for the inaugural race, August 22-28. In a move that is unprecedented in US cycling history, this stellar … [Read more...]
Voeckler Retains The Yellow As Contador Soaks Up attacks
July 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Written by: Justin Davis (AFP) PLATEAU DE BEILLE, France, July 16, 2011 - Frenchman Thomas Voeckler stubbornly held on to the Tour de France yellow jersey on Saturday as reigning champion Alberto Contador survived another onslaught in the mountains. Contador, who has complained of a sore knee, came under constant attack on the grueling 15.8 km climb to Plateau de Beille but soaked up … [Read more...]
The Tour de France Yellow Jersey Favorites in 2011
July 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The favorites for the yellow jersey for the 98th edition of the Tour de France, to be held July 2-24: Alberto Contador (ESP) Saxo Bank-Sungard Possessing a rare mix of climbing and time trialling skills, Spain's three-time winner is widely regarded as the best stage racer in the world and is regarded as the man to beat. It remains to be seen whether the energy Contador used in … [Read more...]