Ivan Basso will take a break to access his health siltation and may skip the Ardennes Classics. Yesterday, the Giro d'Italia champion pulled out of the third stage of the País Vasco.
"Just to put on a bandage would be the worst thing," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I had to stop, it requires some common sense, to continue would have been a massacre."
Team Liquigas-Cannondale's Italian held on to a lead group of 20 in the Spanish País Vasco stage race on Tuesday. He finished 22nd behind stage winner Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar), but hadn't looked like himself on the climbs.
"I was feeling very bad and Tuesday, I made an inhuman effort. It's not possible that in one stage with so many climbs that you have to wreck yourself to stay at the end of a line in a group of 20 riders," added Basso.
"The effort was exaggerated on Tuesday. I burned my legs and I always had pain in his arms. If I kept racing, I would have worsened the situation.
"The others were killing me, but 20 days ago I was flying. It's impossible to fall so fast. It is clear I have a health problem. I need to stop for a few days, I'll have a complete check up Friday to find the cause and start again."
Basso had a similar problem last year in the time trial in the Tour de Romandie stage race. He recovered in time to win the Giro d'Italia a month later.
He had aimed to contend for the win in Flèche Wallonne, April 20, and in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, April 24, but it now seems impossible. However, recovering will be the best fix if he wants to achieve his main goal, winning the Tour de France in July.
"I have a good base, it might be sufficient to return within a few days at most, but first I must find that what I've got."