Did anyone expect more from Basso this year?

frenchfighter

Basso had a great season by the standards of most riders, placing highly in respected races and entering a decent range of races. He is undoubtably a very good rider, yet I wonder if any of you thought he would perform better? Or maybe you think this year was fantastic for having two years out (Vino has been pretty bad, although they aren't quite comparable)? Is he going to go on to greater things next year?

For reference here are his results this season:
Tour de San Luis (5th) Takes place in Argentina
Tirreno - Adriatico (5th)
Milano - Sanremo (44th)
Giro del Trentino (1st)
Liège - Bastogne - Liège (43rd)
Giro d'Italia (5th)
Tour de Pologne (21st)
Trofeo Melinda (1st)
Vuelta a España (4th)
Worlds (16th)

Two top 5 placings in the Grand Tours is particularly impressive.

He has ridden nearly 14,000 km in 87 days.

rockmount

Over rated IMO.

redddraggon

Top5 in both GTs, not too shabby for the first year back.

blazing_saddles

and he's still riding.....
Doing Lombardy and a couple of the semi's, over the next two weeks.
Certainly better than that other returning GT specialist.

bipedal

Done OK I think, placings at GTs and won some smaller races. He's also conducted himself admirably, quite unassuming and humble. I think he'll be second fiddle to Nibali next year though

Kléber

With hindsight you could say he's done quite well. But he was one of the favourites for the Giro but could not quite make it then.

I think he'll be pleased with his season, he's won races and won around some fans.

Looking forward, the Liquigas team will have some office politics to deal with. Basso, Pellizotti, Nibali and Kreuziger are all riders in the same bracket, capable of winning one week stage races and placing in the top-5 on a Grand Tour.

jim one

I think from a sporting persepective, he has done quite poorly for the man who won the 2006 giro with such ease and just proves what a joke his "confession" was.

He just is not the same rider and although top 5 in giro and vuelta is very good, he does not seem to have any zip to attack. As said in 1 of the vuelta threads; he is a perfect super domestique to set a very hard tempo on the front, but after Smyd had blown the race to pieces for a Basso attack it was just not forthcoming.

From a personal perspective however he has impressed me. He has just got on with the job in hand, with little fuss, as well as posting his data on that website which can add a bit to his credibility.

iainf72

I'm a Basso fan and I think he did quite well. Top 5 in 2 Grand Tours and would've been top 3 if people who shouldn't have been there were left out.

He's badly let down by his TT'ing and descending skills. When he's on song I still think he can ride most people off his wheel in the mountains but needs to work on his zip. Probably needs to adjust to riding with a different level of red cells in his blood.

I expect he'll be better next year.

dave milne

best race face in the peleton, looks truly evil

FJS

He is still one of the best climbers in the current peloton, but his 'loss' of timetrialing skills compared to his pre-ban years is spectacular. In 2006 he won TTs and beat TT specialists consistently. This year he has been nowhere in the TTs.

He's not an explosive kind of climber who does well in the Ardennes classics or Paris-Nice/Tirreno type races, and if he doesn't regain his TTing skills his most likely future is as occasional mountain stage winner and Nibali's mountain domestique...

vision267

He has been out a while it does take time to get back to his best.I thought he would do better but, because he has been out of competition for 2 years i think he did well.Next year he should be much better.

richard wants a baum

I picked him twice in GT PTP picks so im a little disappionted but not really surprised. His not the rider he was but then we know why. I like him because i think his good to watch and his always trying im with Iain i think he will be better next season

shinyhelmut

vision267 wrote:

He has been out a while it does take time to get back to his best.I thought he would do better but, because he has been out of competition for 2 years i think he did well.Next year he should be much better.

I'm inclined to think his drop off in form is more likely linked to the fact that he's stopped thinking about blood doping :?

shinyhelmut

Duplicate post deleted

timoid.

Its a heck of an achievement to finish top five in two GTs clean. Look who beat him (Evans aside) and reassess his perfomances.

pinerellopaul

i thought on the climbs in giro and vuelta you could almost read the thoughts in his head saying bloody slow it down a bit Sylvester (Szmyd)

dave_1

Bassos has got away with a good palmares, he should be grateful...even if he retires he will be respected