…when Eric Zabel beats him over the Stelvio by ten minutes! Not sure why Basso is continuing at this point; seems to be doing more harm than good. Best to pack it in and start preparing for the Tour me thinks.
Now I see the CSC team doctor is blaming his illness on drinking too much cold water on Fri night??? I’ve heard, on and off over the years, that cold water is bad for the digestive system. Any comments as to why?
Now I see the CSC team doctor is blaming his illness on drinking too much cold water on Fri night??? I’ve heard, on and off over the years, that cold water is bad for the digestive system. Any comments as to why?
One has to have an excuse. One that can’t be proven either way is better than one that can.
Looks like Basso chose to hang in and finish the stage which is quite commendable. Hey, it is the Stelvio after all, he likely felt that he wanted to do this climb just for his fans :-). In any event, he will have gained more fans in Italy after this than he previously had (not that he needed more). Now he can cruise the rest of the Giro and just push the odd stage or TT for training. This might actually be better prep for his TdF then fighting it out at the pointy edge of the Giro and getting fried both physically and mentally for the TdF.
i’m not sure how many fans he had in his own team who dragged him up the hill… I reckon it takes a unique mindset to ride a stage like that in service of another man, you sure wouldn’t do it just for the money.
unless a weak giro was somehow part of bassos cunning plan (a la lance in the ventoux TT last year, Jan knowing he’ll have some weak leadup races) I reckon basso (and also cunego) will leave this giro with some mental damage, remember, these are young guys who have to go up against some individuals in le tour who have had some practice at ‘mental toughness’.
I don’t really see how pushing yourself way past your limits while sick will make you any stronger, mentally or physically. Nor will it make your recovery any easier. He had the full support of his team and he still fell way, way back, that is not a good sign at all. He couldn’t even put on his jacket by himself.
And if you think he can just ‘cruise’ the rest of the Giro, the sestriere lies ahead. There is no such thing as cruising in the Giro. There is no rest ahead (except for the rest day), just more hard racing and another day of insanely hard racing.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be suprised at all if Basso doesn’t start tomorrow. In fact for his sake I hope he drops out.
Post: Now I see the CSC team doctor is blaming his illness on drinking too much cold water on Fri night??? I’ve heard, on and off over the years, that cold water is bad for the digestive system. Any comments as to why?
In an event as grueling as the Giro, the riders are constantly treading a razor-edge line of health; Basso is at the very limit of his body’s ability to cope with stress. He has brought his body fat % down to unhealthy levels, his immune system is doing everything it can to cope with the stress of riding, and he is sleeping in a hotel full of other people in the same circumstance, and riding in close quarters with them the rest of the day as well.
Petri dish .
He drank a bunch of really cold water really fast. He got the chills. A day later he’s got a distended stomach, and he’s puking his guts out after the stage.
Is there a link? His doctor thinks so, and it’s based on the same reasoning that keeps the air conditioning off in the most of the Giro rider’s rooms; rapid artificial cooling of the body can lead to opportune infections taking hold, and then things get ugly.
I KNOW I get the chills when I sleep with air conditioning, and I know that I have gotten sick in close proximate time to this…
So I buy the team doc’s reasoning.
Post: I don’t really see how pushing yourself way past your limits while sick will make you any stronger, mentally or physically. Nor will it make your recovery any easier. He had the full support of his team and he still fell way, way back, that is not a good sign at all. He couldn’t even put on his jacket by himself.
It won’t make him any stronger, but it does prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Bassos grit and committment.
Basso has millions of dollars and (literally) the careers of his support riders pinned on his shoulders. He did what he had to, when lesser athletes, some with arguably greater talent, might not have.
You can bet that when the time comes in the future, his teammates will go to the mat for this guy.
This was one of those special days, and when this guy wins the tour in a couple of years… this might have been the day that made that 1% difference.
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Or he could make his sickness worse and possibly get pneumonia taking him out of the TdF for sure. Sometimes you have to know when to fold your cards, that’s part of being a leader. Better to live to fight another day.
I agree it took quite an athlete to finish today, and I’m duly impressed by the effort; however, I also wonder if it really was a smart move digging so deep with the Tour just five or six weeks away. I read that he still wants to go after a stage win, presumably in the mountains. Interestingly, if he is able to recover and feel good enough to not only continue, but to challenge for such a stage, it would likely give Savoldelli a greater chance of winning the overall, as CSC would control and bring back the numerous attacks that will likely come.
And if I may put my wife’s panties on for a moment, wasn’t it cool to see the care Bjarne Riis took with him at the top of the Stelvio? Almost felt a lump in my throat as I saw him gently putting his jacket on him, obviously concerned for his well being - very cool - being a mother to a man who recently lost his. His whole team was great - only two teams in the world like that. Okay, I’ll go back to being a man now.
Pull him out. Pull him out now before he suffers real damage. At least he’s got the tour to fall back on…
You guys did see Basso’s classic quote when asked the question recurring through this thread? From the cyclingnews stage report:
When asked why he didn’t abandon and climb in the team car, a still determined Basso said: “It would be better to climb in the ambulance.”
That is super tough.
Ken
OK, I see the point of those of you who think he should call it a race and pack it in for the Tour. Just a few days ago, Basso was on top of the Giro world and the form was there. He got sick. He might make himself worse. But I’d imagine he will cruise through today, rest the race day and plan to have a few solid “training days” in the Alpes including Sestriere and kick ass on the TT.
I do agree with L’homme Rouge, that he will have suffered some mental damage. A TdF winner cannot have a single bad day over three weeks or the Tour is lost. Unfortunately for Basso, not only did he have a bad day, but it occurred with the energy sapping Stelvio in the middle of the stage. The fact that Bjarne Riiis signalled his troops to rally around Basso and escort him home really tells us where Bjarne is putting all his eggs for the TdF !
…seeing him suffer up the Stelvio was an amazing sight…perhaps he wants to take this feeling with him to the Tour for mental fortitude…on the other hand he may have just been stupid carrying on…still…chapeau to un par de cojones…
Just received this in the CSC newsletter:
Team CSC’s Ivan Basso is still in the race.
”I made it all the way to the finish and I felt much better than yesterday. However, I’m still not at 100%, so it was good for me, the course was changed. Tomorrow’s rest day is highly appreciated, and I hope to recover before we hit the mountains. I still believe I’m capable of making a big result, so that’s why I continue,” said Ivan Basso after the stage, which was shortened due to bad weather at the Forcola di Livigno (2.315m).
I’m hoping he cleans up on Sestriere. As a non GC contender, the other boys will let him go. Kinda like Santiago Botero in the TdF ~3 years ago. He was a GC threat until he had a blowup day, and once he was no longer a threat, Lance and Ullrich let him go nuts.
Why do you say he will have suffered ‘some mental damage’ (by which I assume you mean self doubt)? His words give the lie to that conjecture- not only is Basso tough as roofing nails for breakfast, he’s planning on winning a stage before the race is through. Hardly the plans of a man mentally shattered by unfortunate circumstances. I was indifferent before, but after the last few days of the Giro, I’m an unabashed fan- go Basso!
Ken