45 Facts About Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso was born on 26 November 1977 and is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams.

In 2007 Basso admitted he was planning to use blood doping and was suspended for two years.

Ivan Basso's suspension ended on 24 October 2008, and he returned to racing two days later in the Japan Cup, where he placed a close third behind Damiano Cunego and Giovanni Visconti.

Ivan Basso later returned to racing in his home tour, and in 2010, he won his second Giro d'Italia, winning two stages along the way.

Ivan Basso was born in Gallarate, in the province of Varese in Lombardy.

Ivan Basso did not finish the three-week race, but he made it a priority to win it some day.

Ivan Basso scored several notable victories in 2001, and he made his Tour de France debut in the 2001 edition.

Ivan Basso impressed again in the 2003 Tour de France, 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.

Ivan Basso failed to respond well to the management methods of the "iron sergeant" who thought Ivan Basso did not win enough races.

Apart from the individual time trial stages, Ivan 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.

At Team CSC, Ivan Basso was to fill the role as team captain, which Tyler Hamilton had left vacant at the Danish outfit, with the main aim to be a challenger in the Tour de France.

Ivan Basso's weakness was the time trial and before the 2004 season he and teammate Carlos Sastre trained in a wind tunnel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to improve their aerodynamics and positioning on the bike.

The time trial skill of Ivan Basso was one of the main points of improvements over the next years.

Ivan Basso looked impressive in the 2004 Tour de France, winning stage 12 ahead of eventual winner Lance Armstrong, his first victory since 2001.

Ivan Basso ended the season, participating with the Italian national team in the 2004 UCI Road World Championships in Verona, helping fellow Italian Luca Paolini get a bronze medal.

Ivan Basso went on to focus on the 2005 Giro d'Italia, in her memory, as his main aim for that season.

Ivan Basso wore the pink jersey as leader of the General classification in the Giro d'Italia until severe stomach problems caused him to lose the lead on stage 13 on the Passo delle Erbe.

Ivan Basso lost another 40 minutes during the 14th stage, a mountain stage which included the Stelvio Pass, and thus effectively ended his bid for overall honors.

Ivan Basso did manage to achieve this goal at stage 17, a mountain stage.

Ivan Basso won the 18th stage, a time trial, ahead of teammate David Zabriskie, demonstrating the improvement he had made in this area.

Ivan Basso was still weaker in the time trials, although he had improved significantly when compared to 2004.

Ivan Basso lost a collective 3:47 over two time trial stages, as Basso placed second overall in the Tour, 4:40 behind Lance Armstrong.

Ivan Basso's victory in Stage 20, where he rode to a solo victory on the final ascent into Aprica after riding away from rival Gilberto Simoni, 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 Ivan Basso had been born the previous day, and Ivan Basso had not yet seen his son in the flesh, having been given the picture only hours before the stage started.

Speculation in the Italian press suggested that should Ivan Basso not be banned he would be joining the Discovery Channel team.

Riis conceded that it might be impossible for Ivan Basso to prove beyond doubt.

Rumours talked about Ivan Basso moving to Team Milram or Barloworld.

On 27 October 2006, Ivan Basso was acquitted of any involvement in the Operation Puerto events by the committee, due to insufficient evidence.

On 9 November 2006 Ivan Basso announced he was joining Lance Armstrong's former team, Discovery Channel.

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

On 24 April 2007, Ivan Basso was suspended by Discovery Channel when the Italian National Olympic Committee reopened his case.

On 30 April 2007 Team Discovery Channel announced that Ivan Basso would be released from his contract.

Ivan Basso appeared before the Italian National Olympic Committee on 2 May 2007.

On 7 May 2007, Ivan Basso admitted his involvement with the drug scandal to the Italian National Olympic Committee.

Ivan Basso proceeded to finish third, behind Damiano Cunego and Giovanni Visconti.

Ivan Basso then competed in his main objective for the year, the Giro d'Italia, where he finished fifth behind eventual winner Denis Menchov, Danilo Di Luca, fellow Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti and 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.

Ivan Basso placed 4th in the Vuelta a Espana behind Alejandro Valverde, Samuel Sanchez, and Cadel Evans respectively.

Ivan Basso then focused on the Tour de France 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, Ivan Basso skipped the Giro d'Italia to focus on the Tour de France.

In 2012, Ivan Basso started the season with quiet form focusing on the Giro d'Italia, but only finishing 5th overall.

In July 2015, Ivan Basso was diagnosed with testicular cancer and immediately withdrew from the Tour de France to seek treatment in Italy.

Ivan Basso received support from a number of people including Lance Armstrong.

Ivan Basso made the announcement to the media in those terms: "I have a bad announcement to give to you guys", Ivan Basso said.

Ivan Basso 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.

Ivan Basso has already begun planting; his farm is called "Il Borgo" or "the village".