Editor introduces Basso diary

Welcome to my first editor's comment. I'm here to unveil Ivan Basso's exclusive online diary. You don't need to point out that there would have been easier, less controversial topics to begin with, but like a plastic wrapper to an adult magazine, this was a necessity – not a legally-binding one, but one born out of respect for our audience.

Over the next year Basso will be giving you an exclusive account of his return to the sport and his search for redemption. He'll document how cycling has changed since his ban; the peloton's reactions towards his return and of course his new transparent aims on training and racing. You can also expect snippets of analysis from his coach, Aldo Sassi.

I hope Basso's diary will deliver an insightful glance into the complex and often far too secretive lair of a cycling superstar. Yes, there are easier, perhaps softer riders we could have worked with but whatever your preconceived opinions of Ivan Basso as a rider and human being, by Sassi's and other accounts, Basso's talent and resolve will soon reposition him right back at the pinnacle of his sport, its biggest races, and hence public consciousness.

As a news-based site it puts our publication in a difficult position. You'll ask, and rightfully so, where does Cyclingnews position itself on matter of banned riders and their quest for redemption? Does this contradict a desire to cleanse cycling? What about the riders Basso beat, do they deserve more?

If anything, I hope our site will always be there to inform, challenge and entertain our readers. I'd see that not as contradiction, but rather that Cyclingnews relays a spectrum of all-encompassing opinions. Where we're not afraid to ask or answer tough questions of our sport and where we try and leave you, the reader, in a position to make up your own minds.

Daniel Benson
Editor Cyclingnews.com