Ivan Basso Reveals He Has Testicular Cancer, Withdraws from 2015 Tour De France

Ivan Basso, the Tinkoff-Saxo rider competing in the 2015 Tour de France, has withdrawn from the event after discovering he has testicular cancer.

The news was confirmed by Edward Pickering of Procycling magazine and journalist Julien Pretot. The former outlined how the condition was discovered:

The Italian made his Tour de France debut back in 2001, since forging a reputation as one of the most tenacious competitors in the peloton and one of the very best climbers of the modern era. 

In 2004, he seized his only individual Tour de France stage win to date, and this year, the veteran rider was hoping to help iconic Spaniard Alberto Contador win the yellow jersey.

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Contador, who was sitting alongside the Italian when the news was announced at the Tinkoff-Saxo rest day press conference, wished Basso a speedy recovery from the illness on Twitter:

Basso has also sampled his fair share of individual glories, having won the iconic Giro d’Italia tour in 2006 and 2010 riding for Team CSC.

Marco Trovati/Associated Press

It’s always a devastating blow to hear news like this, and the sporting world will unite in wishing the 37-year-old well in his recovery.

“We will try to meet Ivan in Paris with the yellow jersey,” said Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Steven de Jongh, per Sky Sports.