Ivan Basso had a disappointing 2013 season when health issues left him with no success in both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. However, the 36-year-old is still not contemplating retirement and is eager to show the world that he can still be a Giro contender.

After a couple of lacklustre and injury-plagued seasons, Ivan Basso had set his sights on a strong return to the Giro d'Italia in 2013. The Cannondale captain appeared to be well-prepared for the race but had to cancel his participation just a few days before the start of the event due to a perennial cyst.

The lost opportunity was a huge blow for Basso who has been hit by much bad luck since winning the 2010 Giro d'Italia. A training crash meant that he arrived at the 2011 Tour de France a notch below his best and in 2012, more crashes destroyed his preparation for the Giro d'Italia.

Due to his bad luck, many have written off 36-year-old Basso but he showed that he is still a genuine grand tour contender when he lined up  at the Vuelta a Espana in August. In the first part of the race, he appeared to be a real podium candidate but he was again hit by bad luck when he abandoned the race due to hypothermia in the Andorran cold.

He ended his season by putting in solid performances in Il Lombardia and the Tour of Beijing but the lack of grand tour success means that people have started to question whether the 2006 and 2010 Giro champion can again be a genuine grand tour contender. However, Basso is adamant that he can still battle with the best in the three-week races and wants to prove so in the next edition of the Giro d'Italia.

"I'm not just saying that, I accept that people maybe be skeptical but that only motivates me more and inspires me even more," he told Cyclingnews. "However I want to build my season step by step, race by race, as I did in 2009 after my ban.

"I want to approach the season in certain way in 2014," he added. "You can't perform at a certain level in the spring, you can't claim you're going to try and in the Giro d'Italia. Targeting a Grand Tour is like climbing Everest. You can't just head to the summit from base camp, you've got to prepare for it and work gradually towards it. It's virtually mathematical that if a rider does well, they can build on it and go on to do even better. Winning and putting your arms up lifts your moral and level of performance."

This gradual approach to his main target means that Basso wants to taste success before he lines up at the Giro start in Belfast in May. He has designed a race schedule that will both allow him to reach peak condition for the Italian grand tour and give him the chance to get some success in the first part of the season.

He will start his season on home soil at the GP Costa degli Etruschi and the more hilly Trofeo Laigueglia. He will make a surprise appearance in the Tour of Taiwan where Cannondale has a number of sponsorship interests before lining up at his first major race at the Volta a Catalunya. As usual, his final preparation will take place at the Giro del Trentino and the Tour de Romandie.

"I want to be going well at the Volta a Catalunya," he said. "That's the first race with a circle around it for me. From there I hope to build up step by step and have the summit in sight.

"I need a result so that I'm confident I can open the gas in a major race when I need to. It's not easy to explain but when you have the form to attack and go away alone is very special an only happens after months of training. I need to feel I can achieve that. It's not about your watts, your watt/kg, your threshold. The results of a race, the general classification, is the ultimate result of a race." 

Basso is likely to skip the Tour de France where Cannondale is set to focus most of its attention on Peter Sagan's attempt to win a third consecutive green jersey.