With health problems taking him out of two grand tours, Ivan Basso has had a disastrous 2013 season. The veteran now hopes to put his disappointments behind him in 2014 and will once again target the Giro as Cannondale captain.

Prior to the Giro d'Italia, all was set for a return to his best for Ivan Basso who claimed to be riding really well in the build-up to the Italian grand tour. His hopes were dashed just days away from the Grande Partenza when a perennial cyst forced him to out of his main season target.

Basso refocused and built up fantastic condition for the Vuelta a Espana where he was riding well alongside the main favourites and looked like a winner candidate. Once again, disaster struck as he had to abandon the race in the Andorran cold, suffering from hypothermia.

His two missed opportunities in the grand tours means that Basso will end his season with very few results on his scorecard. He bounced back solidly from the Vuelta disappointment with an 11th place in Il Lombardia and 9th in the Tour of Beijing and now hopes to defend his title on Sunday in the Japan Cup but it can't take away the fact that he failed to win a race in a season where he best result so far is a 3rd on the queen stage of the Vuelta a Burgos.

Basso is honest when asked to assess his season.

"It's been a disaster… It was hard from every point of view," he admitted to Cyclingnews at the Tour of Beijing. "I started my training for scratch three times during 2013: first to get ready for the Giro d'Italia, then for the Vuelta and again for Il Lombardia and the end of the season. I only raced two small races after pulling out of the Vuelta but I kept fit. That shows that I've been professional."

Basso is now 35 years old and so time is running out for the 2006 and 2010 Giro winner. However, his strong showing in the Vuelta has convinced him that he can still fight with the best in the grand tours.

"Despite my problems, my approach to the 2014 season won’t be an different to the past, but I also know that I'll be going up against the best riders in the world," he said. "It'll be tough because I know I'm not up there with the very best anymore but perhaps a little bit behind them. But people will expect you to try and win and that's what I'll do."

Basso has been linked with a move to Astana and Saxo-Tinkoff where he would serve as luxury domestique for the likes of Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador. However, he has decided to stay loyal to his Cannondale team which he joined when he returned from suspension at the end of the 2008 season.

"I've got a special relationship with this team," he said. "It's my team in lots of ways, it's where I made my comeback. I'll never leave this team because we have special relationship. I might not always be the team leader at Cannondale in lots of races, but I'm the team captain."

Basso hopes to return to the Giro which he has won twice in the past.

"Our team is going to change a lot," he said. "Things will be announced soon and we'll confirm the structure and the goals of the team. The Giro d'Italia is like a perfectly fitting suit for me and so I'd love to ride it again."

Current Saxo-Tinkoff sponsor Oleg Tinkov has been linked with Cannondale and is expected to significantly bolster its budget. The team hopes to extend Peter Sagan's contract which expires at the end of the 2014 season and needs to strengthen the Slovakian's support squad who is said to be have been promised complete support in the classics and in the Tour de France.