Two-time Giro d'Italia looks set to pass on the Giro in hopes of Tour de France glory
2010 was unquestionably the best season ever for the Liquigas team. The Italian squad netted two of the year's three Grand Tour's, and in 2011, they're returning with both of those winners.
Ivan Basso, who took his second Giro d'Italia title in May, admitted to pondering the Giro-Tour double in 2011, but before that, he has a solid spring schedule with a lot of opportunities for success in the early part of the year.
The Italian, who confessed recently to La Repubblica that the first race of the year feels like the "thrill of the first day of school."
The native of Varese will get that first day of school feeling soon, as he'll launch his 2011 campaign at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina on January 17. The week-long stage race will get him started, but after that, it will be almost a month before he toes a start line again at the Trofeo Laigueglia on February 19th. He'll follow that a week later with the Swiss opening day weekend of the GP Insubria and the GP Lugano (February 26-27).
The racing will pick up steam in importance with his first big stage race appointment of 2011 at the Volta a Catalunya from March 21-27. According to La Gazzetta, it looks likely that he'll then head to the Basque Country for the Vuelta al Pais Vasco from April 4th to 9th as his final preparation for the Ardennes Classics.
Basso, who has finished on the podium at both La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege earlier in his career, will take part in all three of the hilly classics: the Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne, and La Doyenne.
Such a busy spring season makes it highly likely that Basso will take a pass on the Giro in May.
Liquigas director, Roberto Amadio, confirms that Basso will likely only take part in the Giro if something untoward happens to Vincenzo Nibali in the lead-up to the Giro.
"We can modify the program if Nibali falls victim to an accident or is not doing well in the spring. As a team, Liquigas cannot afford not to be competitive at the Giro."
With such an arduous early season, it looks likely that Basso will make a major effort in the Ardennes to try to secure an elusive win in the hills of Wallonia. Basso came close to wins at both la Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege almost a decade ago, and in 2011, it seems that the 33 year old climber wants to rekindle his lost one day Classic magic. Following the Ardennes, the accepted wisdom would have Basso enjoy a quiet month of training in May, before picking up with a number of different options in June as his final preparation for the Tour de France in July.