Ivan Basso would like very much to put the troubles of the past year behind him. Signed to a new squad and sporting a new sponsor’s duds, he’s added a goal to his racing season - in addition to going for the Giro-Tour double in 2007, he’d like to add “World Champion” to his resume. He says he’ll be going for the time trial title in Stuttgart, Germany in September. He says this will also “serve as a proving ground for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.”

While this is, indeed, news-worthy, the reason I’m bringing it up is because it gives me yet another chance to go searching for pictures of Mr. Basso. It’s a thankless task, but someone’s got to do it.