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Redemption for Basso?
Cycling has got to be the best sport for second chances and drama and there is no better
drama than a tale of redemption - the fallen hero liberated from
past indiscretions and finding their true selves.
Yet, so
many of our modern day heroes seem impervious to a redemptive moment,
preferring instead to fall back on PR speak or a jargon that hides
their true feelings.
In a sporting world where supercharged masculinity is the norm, to show a glimpse of the man within is often deemed a weakness.
However one man recently gave us a small glimpse into who he is, Ivan Basso.
Reading through a routine race report from the Giro del Trentino, a race Basso had just won, I came across this great quote from him about his time away from the sport.
I'm sure it reads even better in Italian.
I have been through three difficult years. And I dedicate this success to my family for all the things they have had to suffer and also to the team who have placed their confidence in me. However, these bad experiences have only served to strengthen my resolve.
This thing (his involvement in the Puerto scandal) should never have happened. It will remain an indelible stain on my career, and on my reputation, but I believe that people who are winners, who have character and charisma, succeed in turning over a leaf.
I have restarted from zero, with my feet firmly on the ground. I knew well that I could not return at the same level which I was at when I stopped.
I have returned a humble man and worked in silence. Now I am thinking of the Giro: it will be my first major stage race for three years and I know that it could be difficult, but the team is motivated and competitive to put on a good show.
To me that reads more like a soliloquy from a man who has looked at who he is and found himself wanting, something that should make his return to the Girod'Italia all the more poignant and quite possibly a race of redemption.
On Sunday, Basso goes into the Giro as one of the heavy favourites along with riders Like Danilo Di Luca, Denis Menchov and Levi Leipheimer - no doubt amongst the Italian "Tifosi" he will be the favourite to take out the race.
Doped or clean, Basso has always had a beautiful quality on the bike, the way he sits on the saddle the smoothness of his pedalling technique and his seemingly effortless climbing ability.
But it's also his quiet gentle demeanor off it has always engaged fans.
This introspection following his time away from racing makes him my favourite, more-so because I'm a sucker for a good second chance story.
Your Say
randwick botany
the agree/disagree feedback on this discussion proves it about half of cycling fans would eat a mars bar made from shit- as long as it looked, smelt and tasted the same. . wake up to yourselves until we declare all drugs legal there must be some 'line in the sand'. . cycling won't lack winners if we get rid of cheats- they will just be different- More honest, earnest and braver- perhaps less showy since cheats are often more media savvy . perhaps that's Cadels problem
victoria
Basso - I'm so sure he is a terrific bloke at the pub, with a good sense of humour and a great parent of the future too, but . . ...... he is under massive pressure, like all the key guys, and has not come out like Millar and others and really condemned it (at least not that I have read). If you talk to the Aussie B level pros in the off season, their cynicism is palpable, which is so disappointing for the sport. It's so hard to think that Mick or Cadel or Mark or Heinrich for that matter, or any of the Aussies might be on the gear, but is the reality that you can't compete unless you are? Gee I hope not! Go Mick for ther Giro, he has been so unlucky and it would be great to see that potential realised!
Warrimoo
Second chances are a very important way of helping children learn right from wrong, and is a practise - which as a parent - I involve myself in often. As for adults, I have a different take on it. If they haven't learned right from wrong by now, they're never going to. So, in regards to second chances for adults who should know better, I say - f%(# 'em! Drink drivers - f%(# 'em, don't let them drive cars again. Footballers who have done something sleazy to a woman - f%(# 'em! Kick them out of the pro game and get them off the tele. And bike riders on salaries big or small - f%(# 'em! Send them back to work like the rest of us, where we have to fit in as much training as we can in the cold and the dark, so as not to impact too much on our jobs OR our families, leaving us generally under-trained and over-tired, with our butt's hanging out in the club races that we love and the open's that we aspire to do OK in. I've dreamed about being a pro rider AND a pro footballer, and with the right direction and coaching as a kid, well...who knows. But if it took pumping myself full of junk, or slapping and gang-banging chicks with my pumped up mates, well...I reckon i'd know something wasn't quite right.
Brisbane
Ivan Basso has achieved allot of success in cycling to date. He admitted his attempts to dope and involvement in the Puerto affair. All his past achievements were then in put into question. He has a second chance now to start again, and show his strength and endurance. I wish him well. Everyone deserves to be forgiven and given a second chance.
randwick botany
we don't need him- definitely can't trust him... I am not sure anyone is 'deserved' of a living in sport- it's just a game and if it serves any moral or useful purpose it is modeling effort and courage- cheats forfeit the ability to do this by participating in deception Should he or some other drug cheat win a race- it's not as if there wouldn't be a clean rider there to take the win. Life is tough- cycling fans and journo's too soft
Lithgow
There was an article in issue #44 of Ride Cycling Review. The author paints a different picture of Basso. Two year ban, not that I can confirm it, but apparently not according to the author. He stated that Basso raced in 2007 until April and again in 2008. So much for a 2 year ban. Seems to be one rule for the "favourites" and another for less inclined and unfortunate individuals. Intelligent reasoning allows people to see it for what it is and it certainly isn't humble. Anyway good luck to him anyway, he's going to need it to beat Levi.
Sydney
Rob, it is funny that you mention Bjarne Riis, he still has a job that puts him intouch with current riders and he is a self confessed cheat, that is totally wrong in my book when he has also been on the gear and has influence over a teams riders, no wonder the sport is struggling to move into a new era regarding doping when some of the cheats end up in team management, what a joke!
Adelaide
Basso was busted because he was linked with Riis at CSC. I agree with John, the guy has turned things around and is a better man for the experience of mixing with the wrong people.
St. Louis, USA
I have a lot of respect for Basso, and the way he's turned things around. I've read his online diaries, and his Mapei Sports SRM data, and his twitter. For more than a year, he's been focused on training for the Giro d'Italia, and time with his family whenever he can get it. He's been humble and done his work. He's done wind tunnels, and formal and informal team training camps, and knows the Giro d'Italia course better than anyone. I wish him all the best.
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