Basso busts Giro wide open on first mountain stage and takes maglia rosa

Savoldelli is back big time with stage win in Dolomiti Stars

As a young rider, they called him Ivan The Terrible, and today on the first mountain stage of the 88th Giro d'Italia, Ivan Basso (CSC) showed that he was terribly strong and terribly smart on the road to Zoldo Alto (Dolomiti Stars). Basso exploded the Giro with his brilliant riding and demolished his competition, donning the first maglia rosa of his career. Earlier this season, Basso lost his mother after her long fight with cancer, but didn't lose his focus on preparing for the Giro d'Italia. Today all of Basso's work with CSC's team director Bjarne Riis paid off as the 27 year old rider from Cassano Magnano took charge of the Giro. "I had this stage on my mind for a long time; I did two days of training in the Dolomiti six weeks ago and rode the final part of the stage twice. Today I really wanted to test myself, to ride my own race and not see what my adversaries were doing."

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Latest on Cyclingnews