Basso Pulls the Plug
After an aborted Tour and cancer treatment, Ivan Basso (Tinkoff-Saxo) pulls the plug.
“Every athlete knows that his light will not shine bright throughout his career,” said Basso, who won the Giro in 2006 and 2010. “Inevitably, at some stage it will start dimming and it’s the sign of a wise athlete to know when the moment has come to turn it off.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/10/news/ivan-basso-37-retires-from-pro-cycling_387160
Emergencies Mar Levi’s GranFondo
Fun rides can be extremely dangerous. I’ve done a lot and seen quite a bit. Unfortunately Levi’s GranFondo on Saturday saw more accidents than usual… 16 emergency calls, 5 people transported by ground ambulance to local hospitals, 1 by REACH helicopter.
Tragically, one rider never made it.
Edward Lund, a rider in Levi’s GranFondo, was killed on Saturday when he lost control on a descent with some tricky corners. It sounds like the organizers took all reasonable precautions. But no matter the circumstances; it’s always up to each of us to ensure our own safety.
“Muhney [the rider behind Mr Lund] heeded the advice of a course marshal who had warned him to be extra careful on that stretch of the course, and he was “a little harder on the brakes” because of it, he said.
One of the challenges of that stretch is that alternating strong sunlight and dark shade made it difficult at times to see the shady curves, he said. But he added that organizers appeared to have tried to compensate for that with a number of road flares.”
More on Levi’s GranFondo on Saturday: