Last Sunday Ivan Basso did his last race as a Cannondale rider before he joins Tinkoff-Saxo. The Italian looks fondly back at his time at the Italian team.

With Sunday's Japan Cup, the adventure of Cannondale inthe world of professional cycling will come to an end. From next year, the Italian team will merger with Garmin and many riders will change teams. Ivan Basso is one of them as he will start the 2015 season as part of Alberto Contador's Tinkoff-Saxo team.

Basso who finished his year at the GP Beghelli, joined the team when Liquigas was the main sponsor. In fact the team re-launched his career after the disqualification for the involvement in the Operacion Puerto and he has achieved lots of success in the green colours, including his win at the 21010 Giro d'Italia.

"It was a beautiful part of my career," he tells Spaziociclismo. "I'm proud of these years. It has been a time that I will carry with me forever because for a rider, seven years is a long time."