Ballan’s Back!

June 3rd, 2009 by Al Fresco View Comments

He spent what seems like the longest time of any rider this year on the disabled list, but Alessandro Ballan makes his return this Saturday at the Memorial Marco Pantani. He’ll be joined by Lampre-NGC teammates Bindi, Bono, Buts, Da Dalto, Grendene, Mori Manuele and Ponzi.

He apparently has been back on the bike for a little while, and will use this race and the upcoming Tour of Switzerland to build his form for the Tour de France.

Ballan was laid low by a cytomegalovirus. Symptoms are said to be similar to mononucleosis, and often include a prolonged fever and mild hepatitis. While symptoms eventually lessen, the virus remains in the body for the rest of the person’s life, and can cause chronic problems in immunosuppressed individuals.

When it was first announced just prior to the start of Milan-San Remo he was only expected to miss 20 days, but it has now been 84 days.