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Tuesday, 01 November 2005 |
Italian Ivan Basso focused on Tour de France crown
Italian Ivan Basso in order to focus on claiming his first Tour de France crown will not be contesting the 2006 Giro d'Italia.
Ivan Basso finished as runner-up to Lance Armstrong last year but, now
the seven-time winner has retired, the CSC rider has set his sights on
the title.
 "Not
racing the Giro is a sacrifice, but I want to invest everything in the
Tour," Ivan Basso told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I know there is only one acceptable result and it will not be easy."
"I know there is only one acceptable result and it will not be easy."
Ivan Basso sees his main Tour rivals as Jan Ullrich, Alexandre
Vinokourov, Andreas Kloden, Alejandro Valverde and fellow Italian
Damiano Cunego.
The last Italian to win the Tour was Marco Pantani in 1998, and he also won the Giro that year.
"In the future I will return to racing the Giro and the Tour in the
same year," said Ivan Basso, who was attending the unveiling of the
2006 Tour route in Paris.
"It's a well-balanced Tour. On paper it doesn't appear to favour climbers or time-trialers.
"I prefer the climbs but I've gotten a lot better at time trials and I expect to improve some more."
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 November 2005 )
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