He was one of the main sprinters of the 1970s, often duelling with Belgians Patrick Sercu, Guido Reybroeck and Roger de Vlaeminck, and fellow Italian Dino Zandegù.
Basso won a total of 15 stages at the Giro d'Italia, 6 at the Tour de France and 6 at the Vuelta a España.
He was Giro d'Italia's points classification winner in 1971 and the Italian national champion in 1972.
After his professional career, Basso became a manager at a number of teams including Preti Mangimi.
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