he impressed again in the 2003 tour, finishing seventh overall in spite of receiving little help from his fassa bortolo teammates who, after dedicating their efforts in the first part of the race to help alessandro petacchi win four stages, had to pull out due to food poisoning, leaving only two riders to help basso. despite his good results as the best placed italian rider in the tour de france, he was behind fellow italian teammate dario frigo in the fassa bortolo pecking order for the biggest race in italy, the giro. after the promising start to his fassa bortolo career, basso's relationship with ferretti turned sour. basso failed to respond well to the management methods of the "iron sergeant" who thought basso did not win enough races.