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.
47 thoughts on “Video: Ivan Basso leaves Tour de France due to testicular cancer”
Blimey. Finding this could
Blimey. Finding this could prove to be a very silver lining to the cloud of the crash. Fingers crossed they can sort it.
I’m not a fan of Basso, but
I’m not a fan of Basso, but wish him all the best in these circumstances.
teaboy wrote:I’m not a fan of
+1
Hopefully that accident was fate, in a positive way
I wouldn’t wish ‘C’ on my
I wouldn’t wish ‘C’ on my worst enemy. Hope he makes a full recovery. This’ll be the only time he’s thankfull he crashed.
Testicular cancer turned out
Testicular cancer turned out to be a good career move for a certain Texan.
felixcat wrote:Testicular
What a stupid fucking comment.
I know, I have an evil sense
I know, I have an evil sense of humour. But at least I can express myself without swearing.
felixcat wrote:I know, I have
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
gareth2510 wrote:
I find the
Luckily we are all different.
I have not had cancer but I have had several serious operations, the latest a triple heart bypass. I assure you I joked about them, and my fellow patients understood the humour.
felixcat wrote:gareth2510
Luckily we are all different.
I have not had cancer but I have had several serious operations, the latest a triple heart bypass. I assure you I joked about them, and my fellow patients understood the humour.— gareth2510
Keep explaining, maybe someone else will eventually get the humor. Or not.
I’ve not been explaining.
I’ve not been explaining. Either you get it or you don’t.
When did the British become so po-faced? We used to like a bit of robust, blach humour.
“If you can’t take a joke you shouldn’t have joined up.”
I could give you some jokes from mountain rescues, but they would upset you too much.
felixcat wrote:I’ve not been
Keep going, your making yourself look a total arse
felixcat wrote:I’ve not been
There’s a time and a place for black humour, and the announcement that someone has cancer is not it.
YorkshireMike wrote:
There’s
The only time for black humour is when things are black. How can it work when everything is nice and rosy?
Do you remember when the rocket blew up?
Need
Another
Seven
Astronauts
The nearer the knuckle, the sweeter the flesh.
I guessif you can’t see it I won’t be having a drink with you. No fun at all.
Toodle Pip.
felixcat wrote:I know, I have
So can I. But in this case I’ll choose not to – your comment can fuck off. And if it’s a representation of your character, then you can too.
YorkshireMike wrote:felixcat
Agree
YorkshireMike wrote:felixcat
Really? Actually, I thought it was rather funny. IMHO there’s nothing in life so big & important we can’t laugh at it. After my mother died the thing that helped me most was when all of us – her 3 children & 4 grandchildren – sat around after the funeral telling stories that started “& what about the time she…” & ended with us all laughing.
I suspect (or anyway, hope) that if someone said to Ivan Basso “hey, look on the bright side, think what it did for Lance Armstrong’s career” it would crack a smile. Pro cyclists are tough kids, & Basso has always been one of the toughest.
oceandweller
The “relieving” aspect of dark humor (gallows humor) depends on the context of the joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else. Both you and felixcats analogies are to jokes about your own personal situation, that’s where it is most appropriate. Not towards an unfortunate victims. And I don’t recall anyone joking about LA until after he had been cured.
Its kind of like when I slap my wife on the Arse, I can get a laugh out of her. I doubt I would get the same reaction if I slapped your wife on the Arse in public.
oceandweller wrote:
Really?
There’s a time and a place for everything.
I would suggest it isn’t now, you idiot.
felixcat wrote:Testicular
Dear oh dear.
felixcat wrote:Testicular
Jesus, hope he’s caught it
Jesus, hope he’s caught it early on. best of luck to him and his recovery.
Poor taste that. Remember
Poor taste that. Remember Basso lost his mother to cancer.
Brave man, giving a press
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.
God that’s awful – quite a
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.
I’m not going to lie, my
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.
In all seriousness, with all
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)
balmybaldwin wrote:In all
The doping agencies wouldn’t be looking for cancer markers, though.
balmybaldwin wrote:In all
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.
MNgraveur wrote:You wouldn’t
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).
Poor guy, but at least they
Poor guy, but at least they have picked up on it.
Hard for his wife and children
He and LA now have much in
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.
I wish Basso a speedy
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…
Tripod16 wrote:I wish Basso a
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?
Tripod16 wrote:I wish Basso a
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-caused-cancer-article-1.1247266
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.
ianrobo wrote:Tripod16
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-caused-cancer-article-1.1247266
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.— Tripod16
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.
Colin Peyresourde
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-caused-cancer-article-1.1247266
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.— ianrobo
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.— Tripod16
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).
pwake wrote:
There was an
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.
Black humour is all very well
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.
LinusLarrabee wrote:Black
+1
I’m with Felix.
Far too many
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
Thanks crikey. I take it back about the GSOH. Unlike these wowsers.
felixcat wrote:Thanks
Get a room you two…
“I find this interesting
“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.
Ive been through this and can
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!
Basso lost his mother to
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.
Offence or not aside, isn’t a
Offence or not aside, isn’t a joke meant to be funny???