This is a tough story.
Italian rider Ivan Basso has been forced to drop out of this year’s Tour de France after being diagnosed with testicular cancer mid-race. Basso, who is a team-mate of Alberto Contador with Tinkoff-Saxo, felt a pain after a crash during stage five and underwent a scan thereafter.
He announced his departure from the race today, just hours after finding out about his cancer.
Breaking: Ivan Basso has revealed he has testicular cancer and has withdrawn from the #TDF2015 (via @EdwardPickering) pic.twitter.com/csI45BCPR5
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 13, 2015
Basso was a big rival of Lance Armstrong during the 00’s and also won the Giro d’Italia in 2006 and 2010. However, like Armstrong, the Italian served a ban for doping, losing two years between 2006 and 2008.
