The 2013 Tour de Pologne will be an important test race for Cannondale Pro Cycling, especially for one of its leaders, Ivan Basso. The following five riders will cover the eight stages of the race together with the Italian rider: home rider Maciej Paterski, Daniele Ratto, Cristiano Salerno, Josè Sarmiento and Cameron Wurf.

"The riders return to race after a hard training session on Passo San Pellegrino" explained DS Dario Mariuzzo, who will lead the team with Paolo Slongo. "We can't expect a top result, but the wish to compete is strong. Our main goal will be to find our racing legs, first of all for Basso. We're looking for signals of improvement in view of the Vuelta a España".

The determination is shared by Ivan Basso who had to forfeit the Giro d’Italia in May due to illness: "Tour de Pologne is a hard race: two mountain stages in Trentino at the start, then long and stressful stages in Poland. This is the right race to take another step to prepare the Vuelta. Since my return in Austria, almost one month ago, I feel better. The form is good and during the camp in the mountains I trained as I wanted. I'm happy for what I did. I know it will be hard to win the race, but I can be competitive among the bests. Many important riders will be at the start, some of them in top form. It will be a push for me."

After the Tour de Pologne (won by Cannondale riders Peter Sagan and Moreno Moser in 2011 and 2012 respectively) Ivan Basso will race the Vuelta a Burgos, from August 7 to August 11, while on August 24 he will be at the start of Vuelta a España.