Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso

Basso at the 2015 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name	Ivan Basso
Nickname	Ivan the Terrible, The Smiling Assassin
Born	(1977-11-26) 26 November 1977 (age 46) Gallarate, Province of Varese, Italy
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1]
Weight	70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb)[1]
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider Directeur sportif
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Amateur team
1996–1999	Zalf–Euromobil–Fior
Professional teams
1998	→ Asics–CGA (stagiaire)
1999	Riso Scotti
2000	Amica Chips–Tacconi Sport
2001–2003	Fassa Bortolo
2004–2006	Team CSC
2007	Discovery Channel
2008–2014	Liquigas[2]
2015	Tinkoff–Saxo
Managerial teams
2016	Tinkoff
2017	Trek–Segafredo
2018	Polartec–Kometa
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France Young rider classification (2002) 1 individual stage (2004) Giro d'Italia General classification (2006, 2010) 6 individual stages (2005, 2006, 2010) 2 TTT (2006, 2010) Stage races Danmark Rundt (2005) Critérium International (2006) Giro del Trentino (2009) Giro di Padania (2011) One-day races and Classics Giro dell'Emilia (2004) Japan Cup (2012)

Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible,^[3] was considered among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the early 21st century, and was considered one of the strongest stage race riders. He is a double winner of the Giro d'Italia, having won the race in 2006 for Team CSC and 2010 for Liquigas–Doimo.

In 2007, Basso admitted to planning the use of blood doping and was suspended for two years. His suspension ended on 24 October 2008, and he returned to racing two days later in the Japan Cup, where he placed a close third behind Damiano Cunego and Giovanni Visconti.^[4] He later returned to racing in his home tour, and in 2010, he won his second Giro d'Italia, winning two stages along the way.^[5][6]