Trek-Segafredo has confirmed that Ivan Basso will join the staff of the US team. The former Giro d'Italia winner told Cyclingnews that he is enjoying his new way of life since his retirement.

The Italian rider had to leave the peloton during the 2015 Tour de France after was diagnosed with testicular cancer during the race in July and has since made a full recovery. After talks with his Tinkoff Saxo team he has decided to call time on his career.

"First I want to say thanks to Oleg Tinkov for giving me the possibility to go in this part of the job because he was really close to me after my cancer so it is nice for me to start with this team. This year, I have tried a lot of things, being first sports director, second sports director, a lot of things," he told Cyclingnews.

"For me, it was a big change because I was a leader for many years so I had to decide to take away my privileges and work really hard. I want to say thanks also to the head of sports directors Steven de Jongh because he has been very good with me, and he has taught me a lot of small details. That is nice because it is one part the work that I have never seen. When you're a leader in a team you only think about riding your bike and that is it. So, for me, it has been very nice and a very good year."

He will take care of the development of young riders in the US team. But he will also help his friend Alberto Contador.

"Next year I will make one step, and I will have one area where I will be in charge. The area is the young riders, and Trek has a big connection with a lot of other small teams,"

"The relationship with Alberto is more than being colleagues, we are really close to each other," Basso added. "The friendship with Alberto is really strong, and when Tinkov decided to stop, we thought about how we can build something nice together. First of all, we tried to do the best season possible. Alberto did the best to win the Tour, and only the bad luck stopped him and in the Vuelta it was the same."

In 2017, Alberto Contador will take aim at the Tour de France.

"We can't promise to win, you can't promise that, but we promise that we will give our best 24/7. When you do this work then you have to give all your life for this", Basso concluded.