Quotes by Ivan Basso

“Im ready to take over, ... When Lance was in there it was a little bit different -- you follow Lance, the big leader. ... Now I feel now its my moment.”

“I am very happy that we are continuing our brilliant collaboration with Cervlo. It has been a pleasure being part of the developent of their bikes. Ive been constantly impressed with their technology and it means a lot to me that we have best material available. Cervlos bikes give us a competitive edge and I know that I can win the biggest races on these bikes.”

“Armstrong is the strongest man on this Tour. I think hes still got gas in his tank.”

“Armstrong was too strong.”

“[And Lance is still The Man.] To be honest, ... I saw no signs of weakness in Lance. Hes very strong and its so hard to get away from him.”

“Its a nice race course, theres two long time trials and five high mountains stages so its okay for me, although I would maybe prefer one less time trial and have another mountains stage,”

“I expect to feel good for the race tomorrow, but its not going to be easy for me, ... Its been a long season with the Giro and the Tour de France.”