Riis hopes to see Basso back on his bike

By Katharina Schulz

Even though Bjarne Riis recently expressed his disappointment with his former Grand Tour star Ivan Basso, he would not opt for the hardest of solutions in this case.

"I sincerely hope that he is at peace with his decision, because it is also important that he can move on. He is too young to end his career as a rider, and now there is a possibility for him to have a comeback after the ban. Which is what I hope for him," he told Jyllands-Posten.

Despite wanting to move on, Riis, under whose instruction Basso became one of the hottest contenders for a Tour de France win, still seems slightly sentimental about the old days. "It's a bit of a pity that we never got to see how good he is. He has a huge talent and I think it's a shame that it should end like this," he said. On the other hand, Riis has no pity for Basso's mistake. "But of course he knows the consequences for that kind of foolishness."