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news
Ivan Basso press conference, TdF 2015 rest day one YouTube stillVideo: Ivan Basso leaves Tour de France due to testicular cancer
Ivan Basso has left the Tour de France after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and will undergo surgery tomorrow to have a tumour removed from his left testicle.
The Tinkoff-Saxo rider, twice Giro d'Italia winner, told the Gazzetta dello Sport: "This evening I am in Milan and tomorrow they will operate on me immediately.
"We became aware of it after my fall in Stage 5 [in Amiens]. That day, I fell and bashed my testicle against the saddle, like so many other times.
"However, it started to irritate me so this morning we visited a well-known urologist here in Pau. The CAT scan showed the presence of tumourous cells in my left testicle.
"At this point, I have to go home straight away to be operated on," added Basso, who has been rooming with team leader Alberto Contador during the race, which he is riding for the last time.
Basso, aged 37, joined Tinkoff-Saxo on a two-year deal at the start of this year. As yet there is no indication of when, if at all, he envisages riding again.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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47 comments
Offence or not aside, isn't a joke meant to be funny???
Basso lost his mother to cancer around 10 years ago - even with the excellent survival rates these days it must weighing heavily on his mind.
I wish him the best for his recovery.
As for Felix's comment. Black humour is a great coping mechanism. Felix can now use it to cope with the fact the internet thinks he's an arsepebble.
Ive been through this and can assure you its no joking matter. That aside, the blood tests are notoriously unreliable and would not be part of any 'normal' workup.
Its completely genetic passed down female line and no environmental links (e.g. Doping/drug abuse and many many others investigated) have yet been identified.
You hear about it more in sportsmen as it primarily affects 15-35 year olds e.g. Athletes age.
Also it is on the rise, being most common cancer in 'younger' men - I was diagnosed late at 37.
All i can say Ivan is best of luck, rates have gone from 90% fatal in 1970's to 5% now. Primarily down to our very own Institute of Cancer research & Carboplatin discovery. And because attitudes have changed people dont ignore strange lumps in their nuts like they used to!
Nearly 9 years on I'm still here and in complete remission.
Think goods thoughts and put it behind you as fast as you can. Take the adjuvant chemo: worth it in the end. Good luck!
"I find this interesting 'cause in the end they are just words,
You give them power when you cower, man, it's so absurd."
Scroobius Pip - Introdiction.
I'm with Felix.
Far too many people desperate to be offended, and equally desperate to tell everyone how offended they are.
Cancer is a really common disease, and being all 'Ooooh it's so serious we shouldn't be making a joke about it' simply adds to the terror and myth regarding it.
The survival rate for testicular cancer that hasn't spread is 99%.
Thanks crikey. I take it back about the GSOH. Unlike these wowsers.
Get a room you two...
Black humour is all very well amongst a close knit group of friends when you have some idea how it will be taken, but it's poor form amongst strangers in a public place where some of the audience may not see the funny side - especially those people who know somebody affected by cancer.
Best of luck to Ivan - I hope he makes a swift and complete recovery.
+1
I wish Basso a speedy recovery.
However, I wonder if FelixCat isn't on to something in an awkward way. Does the use of certain performance enhancing drugs make one susceptible to getting a form of cancer?
I wonder if anyone might take a survey of those who have tested positive, the type of drugs used and then any cancers?
It may just be genetics, but who knows until it is tested...
I don't know, but I do know it's too early to speculate. Let's find out if the bloke's going to be ok first, shall we?
Well there are plenty of people out there who have speculated LA's previous doping caused his cancer. It is why many believe he will not apologise about what Betsy Andreau said int he hospital room. the only thing he will not admit.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/teammates-lance-believed-doping...
But a question is how did Basso's tests not show this up earlier ?
The thing with Basso unlike LA is that we know he did dope years ago though his performances since the ban stopped suggest he may have stopped once caught, he was never quite the same.
There was an article, I think it was by Paul Kimmage, which basically explained that while Armstrong's doping may not have caused the cancer (it's a widely repeated comment, which I find hard to believe in a way) it probably helped mask the symptoms and allowed Armstrong's disease to progress further than had he not been doping. I've been trying to find the article to read again to understand the science better, so if anyone else knows which book or chapter it is in I would appreciate knowing it.
Cancer does seem to be more prevalent in athletes these days, but perhaps this is because we are more willing to talk about it.
If I were Basso I would be feeling pretty scared, as would my family, so it is too soon to talk about it as a joke. Basso bore his punishment fairly stoically. He's changed the trajectory of his career as a result (compare him to Berti). I wish him well and a speedy recovery.
Not sure about the theory of LA's drug use masking his symptoms; his ball was supposedly the size of a small orange (quite believable if the cancer had metastasized as far as it did).
Not sure about the theory of LA's drug use masking his symptoms; his ball was supposedly the size of a small orange (quite believable if the cancer had metastasized as far as it did).[/quote]
Actually what another poster above said reminded me: basically a blood test would show something like progesterone or something, but because of the use of steroids those markers were masked so that when it would have shown up it didn't. Hence the fact that he went so long without it being 'picked up' by other tests.
He and LA now have much in common. Both dopers and both have or had TC. I wonder if LA's cancer returned would he be treated sympathetically like Basso? Some how I think not.
Maybe he and Lance will now l talk?
Being told you have the big C is devastating.
Still he's very fit and stands every chance of winning the fighting. He will have the best care no doubt.
Poor guy, but at least they have picked up on it.
Hard for his wife and children
In all seriousness, with all the blood tests they run on pro sportsmen that they would spot the tell tale signs of cancer (afterall, if you or I were to have a check up for it, its one of the first things the docs do to look for abnormal cell counts)
The doping agencies wouldn't be looking for cancer markers, though.
You wouldn't pick up testicular cancer with routine lab tests or with blood cells counts. Some of them produce things you can detect in the blood, like alpha fetoprotein, but those aren't routinely tested. Blood cell counts are useful for detecting hematopoietic cancers, like leukemia.
Pro cyclists just happen to be the right age for testicular cancer.
Assuming Basso has a small, confined tumor, he will almost certainly be entirely cured. Best of luck to him.
Interesting aside - the markers for this are the same ones tested for in home pregnancy kits. Those kits are quite a good indicator, in not-pregnant guys (said newspaper I read).
I'm not going to lie, my first thought was of Lance. It's a sad testament to his impact on pro cycling that his legacy is what comes to mind when you hear of another pro with testicular cancer.
God that's awful - quite a shock. I'm hopeful they caught it early enough given that the symptoms hadn't become overtly noticeable before the crash.
Brave man, giving a press conference 2 hours afterwards. He has a wife and two children.
I very much doubt cancer was has ever been a great career move for anyone, least of all my family and friends who have suffered from it, or any of anyone else's. Its a terrible disease because of the grinding fear and literal/emotional pain for all involved.
So, no, no jokes here thanks Felixcat, whatever you think of Basso or LA. Grow up.
Poor taste that. Remember Basso lost his mother to cancer.
Jesus, hope he's caught it early on. best of luck to him and his recovery.
Testicular cancer turned out to be a good career move for a certain Texan.
What a stupid fucking comment.
I know, I have an evil sense of humour. But at least I can express myself without swearing.
I find the fact that you consider your comment as a form of humour to be quite baffling. Maybe you should visit an Oncology dept and see just how funny you 'sense of humour' really is.
Pathetic
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