Basso pays the price; CSC satisfied with three

After the previous two stages of the Giro, it appeared Team CSC's Ivan Basso was headed towards a hat-trick of wins, but after the conclusion of yesterday's stage to Sestriere, the 27 year-old admitted he simply ran out of strength.

"I actually had quite a good feeling in my legs for a long time, but when the attacks started to get serious on Finestre, I could feel that today I had to pay the price for the two previous victories," said Basso. "But OK, we tried, and the team made a brilliant effort along the way. It would've been perfect with a hat-trick, but today, I just didn't have enough strength left."

"It developed into a beautiful stage, and it was a shame we didn't get to play a bigger part," added team manager Bjarne Riis. "Ivan wasn't 100 percent today. It would've been great to take four stage wins home with us, but given the circumstances, we should be satisfied with the three."