Basso to defend Giro del Trentino title

Ivan Basso will return defend his victory in the Giro del Trentino in 2010. Race organisers announced this week that the Liquigas rider will again compete in the four-day race, April 20 to 23, through the mountains of north-eastern Italy.

In addition, BMC Racing Team - home to Alessandro Ballan and World Champion Cadel Evans - has also been confirmed for the 2010 edition of the race.

Organisers of the race made the announcements as they released details of the race's second stage, which will be the event's Queen Stage. The Tour opens with a time trial on April 20, with the peloton to face up to a mountainous stage the following day.

The riders will begin stage two with the Garde Trentino and then heads up the Category 1 Passo del Brocon (1615 metres) and the Passo Gobera (Category Two, 998 metres). The final climb of the day leads to a mountaintop finish on the 1466-metre high San Martino di Castrozza. Category 1, the climb is 13.7 km long and ascends 753 metres for an average gradient of 5.5 per cent, with a maximum of 10 per cent.

The third stage will start at Fiera di Primiero, Trentino and will give the peloton some respite before the race closes with a difficult fourth stage. The fourth and final stage will finish atop the Alpe di Pampeago - Val di Fiemme (1757 metres), which averages 9.8 percent gradient over its 7.65 kilometres.

This year, Basso finished 0:22 ahead of Astana's Janez Brajkovic in the Giro del Trentino's overall classification.

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