Basso comes of age.
In 2002 Ivan Basso caught our eyes by winning the white jersey. I remember joking at the time that he must be young and naïve—Italian riders just don’t take the Tour seriously. In 2003 he had another very good ride. In our TdF 2004 preview I said that being on CSC would probably help him, but I considered him an outside shot at best, not among the best of the contenders. Why? Basso completed his good finishes in the last two years not by being spectacular, but by being consistently among the last men dropped in the mountains. He had never won a stage; he had never even put in a good attack.
Well, Basso has come of age. It wasn’t a vicious attack, but he did turn up the pace to spring off the lead group. And yeah, Lance eased up and didn’t bother challenging Basso for the stage, but Basso did stay with him as he pounded the pedals in the last kilometer to put time on Ullrich and Hamilton, and you should never knock the significance of a win at the top of a category 1 climb.
Not only did he ride a strong race, but he has a great understanding of the Tour as well (it helps having Bjarne Riis as a mentor). He’s definitely keen on getting a high finish, but in his post-race interviews he said he knows Lance is the strongest man, and that Ullrich and Hamilton still aren’t finished. And he’s right. They each had a bad day, but there is a long way to go. They’ll be back. A lot will change in the last week.
Basso is only 26, so his best days are still ahead. The young guys have been having a great Tour so far, no one better than Thomas Voeckler. Voeckler has been so resilient with his yellow jersey. The writing is on the wall—we know he’s going to crack—but he’s obviously strong and tenacious. If he loses his yellow and white jerseys, I wouldn’t be surprised if he abandons because of the torture he has put himself through. But the thing is, 3-5 years from now we may very well see Voeckler and Basso being the men fighting for the Tour once Armstrong and Ullrich are gone. Perhaps Michele Scarpioni will be in the mix too—he rode very well today.
OK, Gilberto Simoni, Francisco Mancebo, Levi Leipheimer, and Andreas Kloden all did well in stage 12. Mayo had a good time too, but he wasn’t the attacker we expected to see. Zubledia and Botero fell off the map. Surprisingly, Manuel Beltran popped off the pace early, and Jose Ruberia seemed to make an early exit too. I wonder if USPS decided to have these guys check out early to save their legs for tomorrow. I tend to think so, because it’s a bit odd for a climber like Beltran to ride home behind George Hincapie and Floyd Landis. Well, Azevedo certainly didn’t relax. He was awesome on the final climb.
In 2002 Ivan Basso caught our eyes by winning the white jersey. I remember joking at the time that he must be young and naïve—Italian riders just don’t take the Tour seriously. In 2003 he had another very good ride. In our TdF 2004 preview I said that being on CSC would probably help him, but I considered him an outside shot at best, not among the best of the contenders. Why? Basso completed his good finishes in the last two years not by being spectacular, but by being consistently among the last men dropped in the mountains. He had never won a stage; he had never even put in a good attack.
Well, Basso has come of age. It wasn’t a vicious attack, but he did turn up the pace to spring off the lead group. And yeah, Lance eased up and didn’t bother challenging Basso for the stage, but Basso did stay with him as he pounded the pedals in the last kilometer to put time on Ullrich and Hamilton, and you should never knock the significance of a win at the top of a category 1 climb.
Not only did he ride a strong race, but he has a great understanding of the Tour as well (it helps having Bjarne Riis as a mentor). He’s definitely keen on getting a high finish, but in his post-race interviews he said he knows Lance is the strongest man, and that Ullrich and Hamilton still aren’t finished. And he’s right. They each had a bad day, but there is a long way to go. They’ll be back. A lot will change in the last week.
Basso is only 26, so his best days are still ahead. The young guys have been having a great Tour so far, no one better than Thomas Voeckler. Voeckler has been so resilient with his yellow jersey. The writing is on the wall—we know he’s going to crack—but he’s obviously strong and tenacious. If he loses his yellow and white jerseys, I wouldn’t be surprised if he abandons because of the torture he has put himself through. But the thing is, 3-5 years from now we may very well see Voeckler and Basso being the men fighting for the Tour once Armstrong and Ullrich are gone. Perhaps Michele Scarpioni will be in the mix too—he rode very well today.
OK, Gilberto Simoni, Francisco Mancebo, Levi Leipheimer, and Andreas Kloden all did well in stage 12. Mayo had a good time too, but he wasn’t the attacker we expected to see. Zubledia and Botero fell off the map. Surprisingly, Manuel Beltran popped off the pace early, and Jose Ruberia seemed to make an early exit too. I wonder if USPS decided to have these guys check out early to save their legs for tomorrow. I tend to think so, because it’s a bit odd for a climber like Beltran to ride home behind George Hincapie and Floyd Landis. Well, Azevedo certainly didn’t relax. He was awesome on the final climb.
posted by uberschuck at 9:40 PM
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