Italy's Ivan Basso won his second Giro d'Italia on Sunday, easily holding his rivals at bay in the final individual time trial in Verona.
David Arroyo, the career domestique for Caisse d'Epargne finished in 2nd place overall, and Basso teammate Vincenzo Nibali finished in 3rd. Michele Scarponi and Cadel Evans rounded out the top 5.
Gustav Larsson, a Swedish member of Team Saxo Bank, won the stage that ended in an ancient coliseum.
Doping suspension
Basso, 32, previously won the Giro in 2006, then finished in 4th place in 2009. In between, his cycling career was interrupted by a two-year doping suspension during 2007 and 2008 because of his connection to the Operacion Puerto blood doping investigation in Spain.
In essence, he explained at the time to having the intention and making an attempt to perform blood doping, but never actually going through with it.
Before 2006, he had shared the Tour de France podium with Lance Armstrong in 2004 and 2005, and was touted by Armstrong as a leading contender to win the race.
Turbulent Giro
Now with the 2010 Giro win behind him, it will be interesting to see if Basso tackles the Tour de France again.
There's been a lot of turmoil in the standings this year, as Basso didn't emerge as the clear leader emerged until Stage 19.
The pre-race leaders included Evans, Alexandre Vinokourov, and Basso, with Scarponi, Damiano Cunego and Christian Vande Velde in the list of hopefuls.
By the end of the race Evans had worn the maglia rosa just one day (during Stage 3), Vinokourov wore it for five days (but not in a row), and Basso finally assumed the lead after the final three days.
Meanwhile, Richie Porte for Team Saxo and Arroyo for Caisse d'Epargne held the overall lead for eight days; Nibali on Ivan Basso's Liquigas team held it for three.
Dominant team
Liquigas appeared to have the dominant team during the 2010 Giro d'Italia. They won the team time trial in Stage 4 and were visible at the front of the peloton in the later stages helping to drive Basso back into contention. Some other teams may have been diluted by splitting their members between the Giro and Tour of California, which was scheduled during the Giro's second week. BMC Racing, Liquigas, HTC Columbia, Cervelo, Garmin-Transitions, Saxo Bank, and Rabobank had teams at both races.
Evans certainly could have used a cyclist like George Hincapie at his side during the Giro, and Carlos Sastre seemed to be missing help from Cervelo during the race as well.
Stage 11
The decisive day of the Giro must have been Stage 11, when a huge breakaway developed on a blustery day and the pre-race leaders in the peloton couldn't pull them back. Porte and Arroyo jumped into 1st and 2nd places. Astana's Vinokourov wore the leader's jersey that day, but finished nearly 13 minutes behind the leaders in 12th place. Other casualties included Evans, dropped to 13th place, Nibali, 14th place, and Basso, 15th place and 11:49 minutes down in the standings.
With the support of their teammates, Basso and Nibali rose back into contention. Arroyo attained his podium finish in the Giro by virtue of his Stage 11 efforts and ability to hang on in the Giro's closing mountain stages.
Overall
1. Ivan Basso, Liquigas
2. David Arroyo, Caisse d'Epargne – 1:51
3. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas – 2:37
4. Michele Scarponi – 2:50
5. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing – 3:27
6. Richie Porte, Saxo Bank – 7:06
7. Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana – 7:22
8. Carlos Sastre, Cervelo – 9:39
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