Basso: “A Tirreno-Adriatico that makes me proud”

Tirreno Adriático (2.UWT)
Stage 7: San Benedetto del Tronto – San Benedetto del Tronto (159km)

A Tirreno-Adriatico like this: always on the attack, always on the breakaway. A Tirreno-Adriatico as protagonist, the one of EOLO-KOMETA: to be proud of. And Ivan Basso is indeed proud, who at the end of the Corsa dei due Mari (12th Albanese and 15th Lonardi in the last sprint) let himself go to an analysis made of compliments and desire for the future. “When you prepare important races like this one there are two choices: look up, or look down. If you choose to look up, it means that you try to compare yourself with the best and measure yourself against them. We, in this Tirreno-Adriatico, have chosen to look up.”

And what did that bring?
I think everyone has seen it. We always attacked, we conquered goals that allowed us to wear the green jersey for two days with Bais and to try to fight for the climbers’ classification. We put a young guy like Davide in the front but also our veteran Gavazzi, and seeing him attack stimulated everyone else to give something more. We saw Diego Rosa ride well, who chose to come to us because he wants to relaunch himself, and we admired the work of Maestri. We had an Albanese protagonist in a beautiful stage and Lonardi together with the strongest sprinters in the world. And Fortunato…

Fortunato?
He is in an important phase of his career. He wants to be with the champions but he doesn’t dare to try to be with them yet because he’s afraid of running out, and he really only lacks this small step. He’s growing, he’s refining the courage he needs to make the leap: from a great runner to a champion. It’s really just a little bit away.

Was it really too much to think about a win this week?
The great champions have raced in a way that doesn’t reward the brave. When the strongest are fighting every day to win, there is little room for imagination and little room for dreams

What do we take home from this Tirreno-Adriatico?
An important leap in quality, decisive and concrete compared to the same race a year ago. The whole team has grown a lot. The road is marked out.

Francesco Caielli
Maurizio Borserini