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Rotterdam - Returning to the Tour de France for the first time in four years following a two-year doping ban, Ivan Basso of Italy said on Friday that he will count on his experience to challenge defending champion Alberto Contador.
After winning the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, Basso is aiming to become the first rider to win the Italian race and the Tour de France in the same year since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.
Basso believes two-time Tour de France winner Contador is the overwhelming favorite to defend his title but that good teamwork combined with his experience could help him win the three-week event.
"Contador showed he is the strongest. He won the last four big Tours he entered with great authority. But a rider of my age can count on experience and serenity," Basso said.
The 32-year-old rider is sharing the leadership of his Liquigas team with Roman Kreuziger.
"Roman showed he has got all the qualities required to compete with the best and I never finished outside the top five in the big Tours," Basso said. "With two riders as strong as that, we will be a serious threat to other contenders."
Basso, who finished second to Lance Armstrong in the 2005 Tour, was forced out before the start of the world's premier cycle race the year after because of blood doping suspicions.
The Italian ultimately confirmed his blood was among the frozen blood samples found in Spain as part of the Operation Puerto doping investigation and was subsequently suspended.
He returned to competition with the Liquigas team at the end of the 2008 season and won the Giro for the second time earlier this season. His first win came in 2006.
"Riding the Giro and the Tour the same year is something really hard," Basso said. "But just after my win I took one week off and then I prepared myself in high altitude with the rest of the team. It will be difficult during the first week of racing because I won't be at the top of my form."
Basso, a close friend to Armstrong, added he was impressed by the 38-year-old Texan's comeback last year, in which he finished third. Basso said he is still "a serious contender for the yellow jersey."
"It was amazing for him to return on the Tour podium."
