apart from the individual time trial stages, basso had only lost around a single minute to winner lance armstrong in the 2003 tour, and he was not short of new team offers. despite strong rumors sending him to team u.s. postal service, ivan basso moved to team csc for the 2004 season, under guidance of team manager bjarne riis. at team csc, basso was to fill the role as team captain, which tyler hamilton had left vacant at the danish outfit, with the main aim to be a challenger in the tour de france. ivan basso's weakness was the time trial and before the 2004 season he and teammate carlos sastre trained in a wind tunnel at the massachusetts institute of technology to improve their aerodynamic positioning on the bike. the time trial skill of ivan basso was one of the main points of improvements over the next years.