Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Iva ...

, was considered among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the early 21st century, and was considered one of the strongest stage race riders. He is a double winner of the Giro d'Italia, having won the race in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

for and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

for . In 2007 Basso admitted he was planning to use blood doping and was suspended for two years. His suspension ended on 24 October 2008, and he returned to racing two days later in the

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

, where he placed a close third behind Damiano Cunego and Giovanni Visconti. He later returned to racing in his home tour, and in 2010, he won his second Giro d'Italia, winning two stages along the way.

Biography

He was born in

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and '' comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways t ...

, in the

province of Varese The province of Varese ( it, provincia di Varese) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese (population of 80,857 inhabitants), but its largest city is Busto Arsizio. The headquarters of the Agu ...

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

. There he grew up next door to Claudio Chiappucci, a former three-time stage winner in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

who was suspended for two years after being proven guilty of doping several times. As an amateur, he finished second in the road race at the 1995 UCI Juniors Road World Championships and his first big result was winning the under-23 road race at the 1998 UCI Road World Championships. In his youth he fiercely competed with fellow Italian riders

Giuliano Figueras Giuliano Figueras (born 24 January 1976 in Naples) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He turned professional in 1998 with Mapei team and won a stage of the Tour de Langkawi that year. In 1999 and 2000 Figueras had 7 wins inclu ...

and especially

Danilo Di Luca Danilo Di Luca (born 2 January 1976) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sport. D ...

who proclaimed he would have won the under-23 World Championship himself had it not been for the team tactics. Before Basso could turn professional, his parents wanted to see him finish his Technical Geometry studies. He turned professional with Davide Boifava's Riso Scotti-Vinavil team in 1999, where he rode his first Giro d'Italia. He did not finish the three-week race, but he made it a priority to win it some day. In 2000, with the team now called , he won his first professional victories in the

Regio-Tour The Regio-Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held between France, Switzerland and Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Laurent Brochard, Jan Ullric ...

Promising results

In 2001, he moved to under the guidance of sporting director Giancarlo Ferretti. He scored several notable victories in 2001, and he made his Tour de France debut in the 2001 edition. His attack on the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

stage prompted a five-man break-away which rode for the victory, but Basso crashed on a mountain descent and was forced to abandon the race. His next two years were devoid of significant wins, even though he had promising rides in the Tour de France. In the 2002 Tour de France, Basso finished 11th overall and won the young rider classification, the award presented to the best-placed rider in the general classification under the age of 25. Ivan Basso Gaillac

He impressed again in the

2003 Tour de France The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti- ...

, finishing seventh overall in spite of receiving little help from his Fassa Bortolo teammates who, after dedicating their efforts in the first part of the race to help Alessandro Petacchi win four stages, had to pull out due to food poisoning, leaving only two riders to help Basso. Despite his good results as the best placed Italian rider in the Tour de France, he was behind fellow Italian teammate

Dario Frigo Dario Frigo (born 18 September 1973) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. Career Frigo's transition to professional began at the 1995 Giro del Veneto, riding as a stagiaire for . In 1996, he was officially signed to Saeco on ...

in the Fassa Bortolo pecking order for the biggest race in Italy, the Giro. After the promising start to his Fassa Bortolo career, Basso's relationship with Ferretti turned sour. Basso failed to respond well to the management methods of the "iron sergeant" who thought Basso did not win enough races. Apart from the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

stages, Basso had only lost around a single minute to winner Lance Armstrong in the 2003 Tour, and he was not short of new team offers. Despite strong rumors sending him to the team, Basso moved to for the 2004 season, under guidance of team manager Bjarne Riis. At , Basso was to fill the role as team captain, which

Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycli ...

had left vacant at the Danish outfit, with the main aim to be a challenger in the Tour de France. Basso's weakness was the time trial and before the 2004 season he and teammate

Carlos Sastre Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre establ ...

trained in a

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

to improve their

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

and positioning on the bike. The time trial skill of Basso was one of the main points of improvements over the next years.

Heir apparent

Basso looked impressive in the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

, winning stage 12 ahead of eventual winner

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

, his first victory since 2001. His overall time was hurt by relatively poor time trial results: he only finished 8th on the stage 16 time trial up the mountain

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of ...

, where he was caught and passed by Armstrong, and 6th in the stage 19 time trial. In all, he lost a combined 5 minutes and 13 seconds in the two stages. His time loss on the last time trial effectively sent Basso down to third place behind Andreas Klöden, and Basso finished 6:40 behind overall winner Armstrong. He ended the season, participating with the Italian national team in the

2004 UCI Road World Championships The 2004 UCI Road World Championships took place in Verona, Italy, between 27 September and 3 October 2004. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men, women, men under 23, junior men and junior women. Events summary {{ ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, helping fellow Italian Luca Paolini get a bronze medal. In the off-season, Team CSC was in a financial struggle. Even as Bjarne Riis let riders who received superior offers from other teams leave, Basso did not move to the team even though an economically more lucrative contract was proposed. January 2005 saw the death of Basso's mother, who died after battling cancer. Basso went on to focus on the

2005 Giro d'Italia The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Reggio Calabria with a prologue. The race came to a close with a mass-start road stage that stretched from Albese con Cassano to ...

, in her memory, as his main aim for that season. By both focusing on winning the Giro and the Tour, he was going against the trend of only aiming for one big race a season, a tactic most notably employed successfully by Lance Armstrong. Basso wore the pink jersey as leader of the

General classification in the Giro d'Italia The general classification in the Giro d'Italia is the most important classification of the Giro d'Italia, which determines who is the overall winner. It is therefore considered more important than secondary classifications as the points classi ...

until severe stomach problems caused him to lose the lead on stage 13 on the Passo delle Erbe. He lost another 40 minutes during the 14th stage, a mountain stage which included the

Stelvio Pass The Stelvio Pass ( it, Passo dello Stelvio , ''Giogo dello Stelvio'' ; german: Stilfser Joch; ) is a mountain pass in Northern Italy, northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of Height above mean sea level, above sea level. It is the L ...

, and thus effectively ended his bid for overall honors. No longer dangerous to the other main riders, Basso decided to continue in the race with the objective of winning individual stages. He did manage to achieve this goal at stage 17, a mountain stage. He also won the 18th stage, a time trial, ahead of teammate

David Zabriskie David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stag ...

, demonstrating the improvement he had made in this area. Tour de france 2005 20th stage 02

At the 2005 Tour de France, he started out comparatively weakly on stage 10, the first mountain stage of the race, where he trailed the front group by a minute. But for the rest of the race, Basso was once again the only rider to keep up with the race leader Lance Armstrong in the mountains, and on occasion he tried to pressure the eventual winner by going on the attack. Basso was still weaker in the time trials, although he had improved significantly when compared to 2004. He lost a collective 3:47 over two time trial stages, as Basso placed second overall in the Tour, 4:40 behind Lance Armstrong. During the 2005 Tour de France, Basso signed a new three-year contract with Team CSC.

2006 Giro d'Italia

Following his overall rank of 28th in the

, Basso returned to the Giro in 2006 with the intention to win. Following a good performance in the stage 1 time trial, Basso and his CSC teammates won the 5th stage, a team time trial. Basso's first solo stage victory came on the 8th stage, the first mountaintop finish of the Giro, where he countered an attack by Damiano Cunego and rode to the finish by himself. That victory also allowed him to gain enough time on his rivals to put him in the leader's pink jersey for the first time in the race, a jersey which he would hold on to for the remaining 13 stages. Stage 11 was a long and flat individual time trial where Basso finished in second place, losing only to former two-time world time trial champion

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

, beating riders like the Italian national time trial champion

Marco Pinotti Marco Pinotti (born 25 February 1976 in Osio Sotto, Lombardy) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. An individual time trial specialist, Pinotti was a six-time Italian Time Trial Champ ...

. During the last week of the 2006 Giro, Basso beat his main rivals for the general classification, and won stages 16 and 20 along the way. His victory in Stage 20, where he rode to a solo victory on the final ascent into

Aprica Aprica ( lmo, Abriga) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is located on the eponymous pass, the most favourable one connecting Valtellina to Val Camonica. Its main source of income is tourism, using ...

after riding away from rival

Gilberto Simoni Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971 in Palù di Giovo, Trentino) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race (2001 and 2003 editions). Simoni might have wo ...

, was notable when he, already sure of his victory, pulled out a picture of his newly born son Santiago, and held it aloft as he crossed the finish line. Santiago Basso had been born the previous day, and Basso had not yet seen his son in the flesh, having been given the picture only hours before the stage started. When rival Simoni rolled across the line over a minute behind Basso, he was clearly upset at being beaten and made a remark that Basso's dominance at that year's Giro was "extra-terrestrial." Basso eventually finished 9 minutes 18 seconds up on the second placed rider,

José Enrique Gutiérrez José Enrique Gutiérrez Cataluña (born 18 June 1974) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. His career highlights include second place overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia, winning a stage of the Vuelta a España and two stages at ...

, the largest margin of victory in the Giro d'Italia since 1965. After the last stage of the race, Basso declared that he would continue along his pre-season plan to also ride the

Operación Puerto and the 2006 Tour de France

On 30 June 2006, the management of the Tour de France announced at a press conference that a number of riders, including Ivan Basso, would not be riding in the race due to rumours of

blood doping Blood doping is a form of doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the blo ...

stemming from the Operación Puerto doping case in Spain. According to the investigation, Basso was allegedly given blood doping by doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in a Spanish clinic. No formal charges had been raised, but following an agreement between the managers of all the ProTour teams, any rider under suspicion of doping would not be allowed to start in ProTour races. This forced CSC to remove Basso from their squad for the 2006 Tour. Speculation in the Italian press suggested that should Basso not be banned he would be joining the Discovery Channel team. Team CSC described these suggestions as just rumours. Later, CSC manager Bjarne Riis was reported stating that it was unlikely that Basso could return to CSC without proving he had no contact with Fuentes, as Basso's contract specified that he could receive no outside medical assistance. Riis conceded that it might be impossible for Basso to prove beyond doubt. Rumours also talked about Basso moving to or (a non-ProTour team). The

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

(CONI) proceedings commenced in late August 2006.

From CSC to Team Discovery Channel

On 18 October 2006, Team CSC announced that his contract had been terminated by mutual consent. On 27 October 2006, Basso was acquitted of any involvement in the Operation Puerto events by the committee, due to insufficient evidence. On 9 November 2006 Basso announced he was joining

's former team, . The announcement was made in Austin, Texas, and Basso joined the team on 3 December 2006 for the first unofficial training camp. Basso rode for

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...

during the 2007 Tour of California, and also raced

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

, where he crashed.

Puerto case reopened

On 24 April 2007, Basso was suspended by Discovery Channel when the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) reopened his case. On 30 April 2007 Team Discovery Channel announced that Basso would be released from his contract. Basso requested to leave the team citing "personal reasons related to the re-opened investigation by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)." Basso met with the General Manager of Team Discovery Channel, Bill Stapleton, and

Johan Bruyneel Johan Bruyneel (born 23 August 1964) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and a former directeur sportif for UCI ProTour team , and (later known as Discovery Channel), a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team. On 25 October 2018, the W ...

, the Team Director, and the two agreed to allow Basso to leave the team. While still claiming to never have actually engaged in blood doping, Basso admitted contacting Fuentes' clinic with the intention to engage in blood doping. Basso appeared before the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) on 2 May 2007. On 7 May 2007, Basso admitted his involvement with the drug scandal to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). In a later press conference he stated it was "attempted doping", and that while he had not actually undergone doping, he was "fully aware that an attempt at doping is tantamount to doping" and that " e wouldserve issuspension and then return to race." On 15 June 2007, Basso received a two-year ban. The time he had already spent under team suspension whilst riding for CSC and temporary suspension since leaving Discovery were taken into consideration which means he was banned until 25 October 2008.

Return after suspension

After his return Basso signed a two-year contract with , his first race being in the

on 26 October 2008. He proceeded to finish third, behind Damiano Cunego and Giovanni Visconti. In April 2009 he claimed overall victory in the Italian stage race

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino ( en, Tour of Trentino) until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

. He then competed in his main objective for the year, the Giro d'Italia, where he finished fifth behind eventual winner

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general clas ...

, fellow rider

Franco Pellizotti Franco Pellizotti (born 15 January 1978) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the Alessio, , and teams. Pellizotti now works as a directeur sportif for the team. Career Pelliz ...

and

2008 Tour de France The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th running of the race. The event took place from 5 to 27 July. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regu ...

winner

. He also placed 4th in the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

behind

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009, ...

Samuel Sánchez Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González (born 5 February 1978) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the and squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2 ...

, and

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

respectively. In 2010, Basso aimed to win his second Giro d'Italia, leading with his teammate Vincenzo Nibali. Despite having a quiet start to the race, he won the 15th stage of the race atop Monte Zoncolan, after his Liquigas team had set the pace for some in order to chase down a breakaway. After Stage 19, he led the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

as a result of out-climbing previous race leader

David Arroyo David Arroyo Durán (born 7 January 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who currently competes in mountain biking for the Primaflor–Mondraker–XSauce team. He is also a former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and ...

, and held it to the end of the race. This resulted in his second Giro win, after

. Basso then focused on the

where he attempted to win the Giro and the Tour during the same year but he ended up struggling through the last week, finishing 32nd. In 2011, Basso skipped the Giro d'Italia to focus on the

. After having a good start over the first 2 weeks sitting 5th overall, Basso struggled on stages 16 and 17 after being dropped on the final descents, and later finished 7th overall. In 2012, Basso started the season with quiet form focusing on the Giro d'Italia, but only finishing 5th overall. In August 2014, it was announced that Basso would be joining from 2015 on a two-year deal. In July 2015, Basso was diagnosed with testicular cancer and immediately withdrew from the

to seek treatment in Italy. Basso received support from a number of people including

. Basso made the announcement to the media in those terms: "I have a bad announcement to give to you guys," Basso said. "On stage 5, I had a really small crash but in the crash I touched my testicle on the saddle and for a few days, I felt a small pain. Yesterday we spoke with the doctor of the Tour de France and we decided to go to make a special analysis in the hospital and the examination gave me bad news. I have a small cancer in the left testicle." In September 2015 confirmed that Basso had recovered fully after undergoing surgery in Milan and that he would be able to race again. However, after Basso had talks with the team it was announced that he would retire from competition the following month, whilst remaining with in a management role. Basso later followed

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...

to , taking up a support staff position.

Personal life

Basso resides in Cassano Magnago in Gallarate, Italy with his wife and four children. He has now purchased land in his home town to start a blueberry farm where he hopes to employ locals as well as make an investment for his retirement from cycling as the future of the European economy is uncertain. Basso has already begun planting; his farm is called "Il Borgo" or "the village".

Major results

;1995 : 2nd Silver medal blank

Road race, UCI Juniors Road World Championships ;1997 : 1st Trofeo Città di San Vendemiano ;1998 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 1st

Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 8th

Firenze–Pistoia The Firenze–Pistoia was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. It was an individual time trial between Prato and Quarrata, in the Province of Pistoia. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe ...

;1999 : 2nd

Trofeo Matteotti Trofeo Matteotti is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Pescara, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which ...

: 2nd

Giro del Friuli Giro del Friuli is a road bicycle race held annually in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. The first edition took place in 1974. From 2005 to 2008 the race was suspended, but it returned in 2009 as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Contine ...

: 3rd

Gran Premio Palio del Recioto The Gran Premio Palio del Recioto is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Unio ...

: 6th

Gran Premio della Liberazione Gran Premio della Liberazione is an Italian road bicycle race that has been held annually on 25 April since 1946. It marks the anniversary of the 1945 fall of Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic. It is a Single-day race that is rated 1.2 ...

: 6th

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is always around 250 ...

: 6th

Tre Valli Varesine The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which c ...

: 7th

Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato The Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Prato, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicy ...

;2000 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 1 & 3b ( ITT) : 5th

Giro dell'Emilia The Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour, and since 2020 it's part of the UCI ProSeries calendar. The ...

: 6th

: 7th Trofeo Andratx-Mirador d'Es Colomer : 8th

Giro del Lazio The Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. From 2005 to 2008, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing ...

;2001 : 1st Stage 1

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 1st Stage 5

Euskal Bizikleta Euskal Bizikleta (Spanish: ''Bicicleta Vasca'', English: ''Basque Bicycle'') was an annual road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country in June. From 2005 to 2008, the race was organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, it ...

: 1st Stage 5

Tour of Austria The Tour of Austria (german: Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt) is a stage cycling race held in Austria. From 1949 to 1995 it was a race for amateur cyclists, turning into a professional event in 1996. In 2005 and 2006 it was organised as a 2 ...

: 2nd

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

: 4th

Trofeo dell'Etna The Giro dell'Etna was a one-day road cycling race held annually in Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 ...

: 6th

: 7th

Coppa Placci The Coppa Placci is a semi classic European bicycle race held between Imola, Italy and San Marino. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race is named after Antonio Placci, a cyclist born in Imola w ...

: 8th

Trofeo Melinda Trofeo Melinda was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was created after the disappearance of Giro dell'Umbria, held be ...

: 9th

Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi The Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi is a one-day professional cycling race between the towns of San Vincenzo and Donoratico on the Tuscany coast in Italy. The 193 kilometre long race takes place at the beginning of February and has now taken ove ...

;2002 : 1st Jersey white

Young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

: 2nd Overall

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often ...

: 2nd

: 3rd

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five '' Monuments'' of the European professional ...

: 5th

Gran Premio Città di Camaiore The Gran Premio Città di Camaiore was a road bicycle race held in Camaiore, Tuscany, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitio ...

: 6th

: 8th

: 9th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 unt ...

;2003 : 2nd

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 5th Overall

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of th ...

: 6th

Giro del Veneto The Giro del Veneto is a classic cycle races, semi classic European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in the region of Veneto, Italy. The race is a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2012 the race merged with another Italian classic, Coppa ...

: 6th

: 7th Overall

: 7th

GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano The GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano is a road bicycle race held annually in Larciano, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road ...

: 7th

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 1919 the business magnate Antonio Bernocchi founded the Coppa Bernocchi (or Bernocchi Cup) ...

: 8th

Giro di Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will ...

: 10th

;2004 : 1st

: 1st Grand Prix Jyske Bank : 2nd Overall

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 12 : 3rd

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cy ...

: 6th

: 7th Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

: 8th

;2005 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as Po ...

::1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 5 ( ITT) : Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 17 & 18 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey pink

after Stages 11–12 : 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

;2006 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 5 ( TTT), 8, 16 & 20 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 4th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...

::1st Stage 2b ( ITT) : 6th Overall

: 10th

;2008 : 3rd

;2009 : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

: 1st AC Arona : 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia : 4th Overall

: 4th

: 5th Overall

Tour de San Luis The Tour de San Luis was a road cycling race that was held in San Luis Province, Argentina from 2007 to 2016. The race consisted of a competition over an individual time trial, and six stage race, stages. The competition carried a UCI rating of ...

;2010 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 4 ( TTT) & 15 : 1st

Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese The Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Carnago, Italy. From 2005 to 2012, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

: 5th Overall

;2011 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

Giro di Padania The Giro di Padania was a multi-stage cycling race which forms part of the UCI Europe Tour. It was held at the beginning of September in Northern Italy, in the region known as the Po Valley or Padania. The first edition, won by Ivan Basso,

::1st Stage 4 : 1st

Gran Premio di Lugano The Gran Premio di Lugano ( en, Grand Prix of Lugano) is a road bicycle race held annually in Lugano, Switzerland. Prior to 1981 it was held as an individual time trial but in recent years it has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe ...

: 4th Overall

: 4th

: 7th Overall

: 10th

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the G ...

: 10th

;2012 : 1st

: 5th Overall Giro d'Italia ;2013 : 4th Overall

Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Ital ...

: 8th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

: 9th Overall

Tour of Beijing The Tour of Beijing was an annual professional stage bicycle road race held in Beijing, China. History Its first edition took place in October 2011, as the penultimate event in the 2011 UCI World Tour. The tour was a partnership between the UCI a ...

: 10th Overall

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day wo ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* *
Interview with Ivan Basso: "My idol has always been Miguel Indurain"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basso, Ivan 1977 births Danmark Rundt winners Doping cases in cycling Giro d'Italia winners Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners Italian male cyclists Italian sportspeople in doping cases Italian Tour de France stage winners Living people People from Gallarate Cyclists from the Province of Varese

Biography

Promising results

Heir apparent

2006 Giro d'Italia

Operación Puerto and the 2006 Tour de France

From CSC to Team Discovery Channel

Puerto case reopened

Return after suspension

Personal life

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

See also

References

External links