Twelve months ago, Ivan Basso made his return to racing after a long doping suspension when he lined out in the Japan Cup. Then, the Italian finished third behind Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Giovanni Visconti, getting his career back on track.
Basso has flown back to the Asian country and will compete in the race again on Sunday. He’s feeling the effects of a long season and two Grand Tours, but feels he owes something to the race and will therefore take part.
“I’m tired, I don’t hide it” the Liquigas rider said. “But it was an obligation for me to return to the roads that twelve months ago gave me back the happiness on being in the peloton.”
He will be joined by team-mates Valerio Agnoli, Kjell Carlström, Ivan Santaromita and Brian Bach Vandborg.
As far as ambitions go, he said that he will wait and see. “It will depend on the mental and physical energy that I have left,” he explained, declining to name a specific target.
Basso’s return to the sport has been a solid one, although he hasn’t shown the same form that he displayed prior to his suspension. He won the Giro del Trentino, was fourth in the Giro d’Italia [subject to Danilo Di Luca’s expected diqualification] and fourth in the Vuelta a España.