News / 17.08.2015

LIVIGNO, IVAN BASSO BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

After the press conference of this morning in Aquagranda Sports Fitness Centre, the pro rider of Team Tinkoff Saxo returns pedalling, just one month after the surgery to remove a tumor.

Just one month after the fall of the Tour de France and after the surgery to remove a testicular cancer, Ivan Basso is now back on bike and he did it at the end of a press conference in which he met the mass media and the public at Aquagranda Sports Fitness Centre.
Lots of people wanted to be close to the rider of Team Tinkoff Saxo, who spent in Livigno his post-operative recovery, and in particular today close to him there were the Livigno's mayor, Damiano Bormolini, and Antonio Rossi, the Responsible for the department of Sport and Youth Policy of the Lombardy Region.

The decision to return cycling in Livigno is due to the fact that the resort last spring has signed a partnership agreement with Team Saxo Tinkoff for training at altitude for the whole team.

"Being able to return to cycling - said Ivan Basso - a month after surgery, is for me a great victory. Now the next step will be on 1st September, when a CAT scan and the analysis of tumor markers will tell if the problem is solved. I am confident and I want to think that everything will be fine.Today I started making the first ride and I'm not thinking about a competitive training, for that I will have time and opportunity to reflect and evaluate what to do, also based on the results of the analysis. Bike is my life and no matter what happens, it will be always part of me and part of my future. In Livigno I found the ideal place where to recover, and where to spend time with my family, and for me is a very important element. This town, I've known for many years, is an open-air gym that, for us cyclists, is a fundamental key for the high altitude training."

"With great pleasure we welcomed Ivan Basso among us and we accompanied him in his rehabilitation program to return to cycling - said Damiano Bormolini, mayor of Livigno - We are increasingly positioning ourselves as a resort that looks to sports tourism, and having big champions like Ivan who choose Livigno, for us is an honor and a confirmation that the work we are doing is going in the right direction."

"I wanted to be next to Ivan in this important moment - said Antonio Rossi, Department of Sport and Youth Policy of the Lombardy Region - because I'm one of his big fan and because he is a big champion our Region. Even the President Maroni is close to him in this situation and asked me to wish him good luck. What Ivan did today from a sports and human perspective is a gesture of great value. He has been able to tackle the disease with a smile on his face, that has always distinguished him even in his career as cyclist, and I think that this fact can be an example for many people. I found Livigno always ready and carefull to the issues of sport and to the needs of athletes and I really appreciate the work that the CEO of Tourism Board and his staff are doing to promote the sports tourism. "

After Ivan Basso, Livigno is preparing to host the Mettalleghe Sanitars Montichiari of major league in Volleyball women for their pre-season training, from the 13th September to the 24th 2015, and the Italian National Swimming Team, with Federica Pellegrini and Gregorio Paltrinieri, from 30th September to the 18th October 2015.


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