Due to allegations coming out of Operation Puerto, it appears that Ivan Basso will be barred from starting at the Tour de France.
At the moment, it seems that the allegations may have some truth to them. Unfortunately I will not be able to follow up on the details over the weekend, but I shall post more when more details are released.
P.S. Feel free to comment. Note however, that I won’t permit abusive comments to be published; whether or not Basso is guilty, there is no point in kicking a man when he is down.
Riis: A Fantastic Team
At a press conference this morning, Bjarne Riis presented the nine riders who will make up the Tour team. Apart from Ivan Basso, the team will consist of: Carlos Sastre, Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt, Giovanni Lombardi, Stuart O’GraÂdy, Bobby Julich, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde.
Notable by his absence, was this year’s winner of Paris-Roubaix, Fabian Cancellara. “Fabian has always been a part of the team, since I brought him in last year. It was a tough decision [to leave him out], and it hurt,” said Bjarne Riis about the choice. Riis admitted that Cancellara had been dissappointed, when asked how the Swiss rider reacted to the news, but accepted his dispositions. â€As so often before it has been a difficult task to select the remaining riders for this team, because we have so many, who are in great shape and who have the motivation to do well in Tour de France. But it is a luxury for us to have this problem, and I’m proud our team has reached a point, where we have so many strong riders at such a high level.â€
In place of Cancellara, Riis instead selected the American Vande Velde, about whom he had the following comments: “He has experience. I know this. And I can use him all round. Both on the flat stages, but particularly in the mountains.” It is in the mountains that Riis expects the Tour will be decided this year. “I have an idea about how the race will be and how my team will function at this year’s Tour. Naturally. The last week will be very difficult. The Pyrenees, and then on to the Alps. And it will require a strong teams for the mountains.”
Among the many riders who did not make the team were Kurt Asle Arvesen, Nicki Sörensen, Inigo Cuesta, and others. Arvesen was dissappointed to not make the team, though primarily that the press got to him first with the news. Nicki Sörensen was more philosophical, and both commented positively on what they consider a very well-balanced and strong team.
On the team, Riis said: “We are bringing a fantastic team to Tour de France this year. When you look at the names, you cannot help but notice, that this is a team to be reckoned with – a team which has the foundation to be one of the dominating ones in the 2006 edition of the Tour.”
Basso: Enough said about Ullrich
“I have full faith in Bjarne’s work, and I am sure that he will put together the strongest, most competitive, and best suited team for our attempt to win the Tour,” was Basso’s comment on the team. Discussing the composition of the team, he denied suggestions that the team was put together according to his wishes. “I speak with Bjarne of my opinions, of course, but it is him who makes the decisions [about the team], and it is him who is best able to make the right decisions [about the composition of the team].” On the subject of Giovanni Lombardi, who to some journalist surprise will now be riding his fifth Grand Tour in a row, he commented: “He is a very useful rider on the flat and hilly stages where he can protect me on his own, so that the seven other riders can rest. In addition, he is also of help to the other riders when there are problems and uncertainty in the race.”
Speaking about himself, Basso comments: “We have worked a lot after the short rest after the Giro. We are certain that we are ready, and have done everything right. I have worked with Bjarne for three years, now, and the results have always been good. The results will also be good this year.”
Among the main competition, he listed Phonak’s Floyd Landis, Würth’s Alexandre Vinokuorov, Caisse d’Epargne’s Alejandro Valverde, Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer, and of course, T-Mobile’s Jan Ullrich. “These are riders who can all ride in the Top-10 at the Tour; but I don’t know precisely what they can do at the Tour.”
On the subject of what he thinks of Ullrich’s result at the Tour de Suisse, he had this to say: “I don’t need to see what form Jan is in. I know he will be strong when the Tour starts. He is a great Champion, and he knows exactly how to train so as to be strong for the Tour.”
“I don’t spend my energies worrying about the others. When we come to the first mountain, and there are three kilometers to the top, then I will look around. The ones who are left then - that will be the favorites.”
One thing that has caused Basso to expend some energy, is his sudden popularity after his win in the Giro d’Italia. People are increasingly travelling on a pilgrimage to his home, in order to get a glimpse of Italy’s latest sports star, or an autograph.
“It’s crazy. I have had to train in Switzerland in order to get peace and quiet to concentrate on my training. Fortunately, I live only 20 km from the Swiss borders, so this hasn’t been a problem.” The Italian Sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport has created a CD with focus on Basso’s win in the Giro, and the Giro winner has seen it a lot. “I think all the people in the area I live has that CD, and have passed by my home to get it signed. I think we had 200 visitors one of the days.”
“Ivan is one of the favorites, and it is important that we have a strong team to support him,” Riis commented. “Perhaps we won’t win [the Tour], but then again, perhaps we will. There is no doubt that Ivan will be strong. I believe in it, the team believes in it, and it will be three hard weeks, where it will be difficult to control the race.”
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The above is a summary from Danish reports on the press conference (quotes translated from Danish). Additional information can be found in the Cyclingnews Report.
According to reports in Danish newspapers, Ivan Basso will not ride in the Eindhoven TTT event as previously planned. He will also not participate in the Italian national championships. Bjarne Riis and Ivan Basso, together with Bobby Julich, Inigo Cuesta, and Carlos Sastre have just finished their training camp in the alps. And the reason for the change in plans is to be found in the results of those camps.
“Basso has recovered well from the Giro; in fact, he is almost in too good form, so I am trying to hold him back a little,” Riis says. This is the reason why Riis has denied Basso participation in the two events. “I am afraid that if he went to these events, he would come into far too excellent shape, and that might backlash later in the Tour.”
Riis and Basso will now continue their preparations in training camp at Toscana before the revealing of the Tour team line-up on Monday in London.
Ivan Basso won the mountain time trial of Gran Premio SBS, smashing the previous record on the Mottarone by 1:14 minutes. The previous record holder… Gilberto Simoni.
