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Il Terribile
It's a moniker that makes Ivan Basso sound like a WWF/WWE type or a prize fighter, but on the heels of yet another Armstrong-esque performance in Stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, it certainly looks as if he has applied the "sleeper" or knockout punch to his Giro opponents. "The Smiling Assassin's" dominance has inflicted not only a physical carnage (as seen in the time gaps), but a mental one as well. Whether his opponents have officially conceded or not, it surely is playing out that way, both in words and in pictures.

Damiano Cunego (after Stage 13)

"Well, it didn't go that bad, but the weather ruined all my plans. I just tried to defend my position. I realise that now I can't win Giro."

You know you're done when:
You're riding with a guy who is using this race for PRACTICE!
Jan to Damiano, "Look, one handed."

Gilberto Simoni (after Stage 13)
"As for me, I went up at my own speed, and now, it's getting almost impossible to beat Basso. To stop him...you should perhaps shoot his legs (laugh)! That's the only way to block him! Seriously, it seems difficult...although I went up in the overall ranking, I'm even farther from the Pink Jersey."

My wrestling coach, Bob Stoll, always used to tell us that the mind will give out way before the body ever will, so if you're in a good state of mind, you can push your body to levels beyond your perceived limits. So for the athlete, a physical beat down is more tolerable and workable ("I got beat by the better person today, but I'll work harder and come back") than a mental one. Have you ever wondered why an animal when stuck in a body of water, too far to swim to shore, will tread water until its body just gives out? Whereas a human in the same predicatment will, somewhere along the line, "choose" to give up well before the body does?

All the great ones, the Ali's, the Jordan's, the Armstrong's, had one thing going for them before they even stepped onto their respective fields or arenas...a mental edge. How many times during his tenure at the TDF did we hear Armstrong's opponent readily admit they were riding for second, before the race actually started? It's definitely too early to place Basso in this pantheon of greats, but you wouldn't know it by the way his Giro opponents are talking (and acting).

At this moment in the Giro, Ivan Basso has gotten so far into the heads of his opponents that if he lined up at the start line tomorrow with his daughter's tricycle, his opponents would still believe he could ride away from them in the mountains.

Although I hate to end on a negative note, but with the seemingly ubiquitous cloud of doping that looms over procycling (and with the recent events with Liberty Seguros-Wurth), how long will it take before Dick Pound starts knocking on the CSC bus? (since he'll never readily admit that a dominating performance, such as Basso's and before him Armstrong's, could actually mean that someone has just worked harder).

Going Backwards?
There are many who have pointed to Tom Danielson as the next great American rider (Armstrong even kidding him by nicknaming him "The Great White Hope," recently shortened to just "Great White"), and he still may be. Some felt that this Giro was a proving ground as much for Danielson as its shown to be for Basso. For a climbing specialist like Danielson, these last few stages have to be a humbling experience as he's either not been able to keep up with the race leaders (including his own in Paolo Salvodelli, not noted to be a great climber) or he is being held back by Assistant Director, Sean Yates, to help Salvodelli. There has been some speculation that his lack of results have stemmed from the latter, but Johan Bruyneel has stated that is not the case.

"As for what happens, it's really a matter of communication between the two riders and their directors. I think there's a bit of a misconception in that Tom has not waited for Paolo yet. On Stage 7 both men stayed together and then on Stage 13 Tom came back up to Paolo to work with him."

And according to Salvodelli, Danielson has had his blessing to play his hand. "Danielson is a guy who came here to help me, but he's very good. Although he's so light, he can climb fast and can do good time trials too. My team believe a lot in him, and his weak point is just that he doesn't have a lot of experience, as he's been racing for only a few years. He isn't at his maximum yet, and if he wants to try something in any escape, he will have carta bianca."

With the podium seemingly lost for Salvodelli and Discovery, as it seems highly improbable that Il Falco will be able to climb with Gibo Simoni, it only seems sensible to send Danielson up the road. If he's to be a Grand Tour rider for the future, a Grand Tour stage win or perhaps an overall in the Best Young Rider Classification (not kept for the Giro) should be his first order of business, especially with the way Bruyneel is talking (before Stage 16) about him for the future.

"I'm really satisfied with Tom Danielson's way of riding. Where he is right now is a big step forward and he's definitely a Top 10 contender for the Giro final result. His progression is like we hoped and there's more to come. He's consistent and reading the race very well, and his endurance has also improved. Assuming he finishes the Giro like he's doing now, he will be our team leader this year at the Vuelta Espana and will be on the Tour de France team next year. "

Team leader? In a Grand Tour? Is this where I'm supposed to say the line, "some men are born into greatness, while others have greatness thrust (bestowed) upon them?"