Giro d'Italia Stage 21: Ivan Basso takes it home

He may have only finished 15th in this 15km final time trail stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia but it was enough to seal the overall victory for Ivan Basso of the Liquigas team.

It was the end of the most entertaining edition of the Giro d'Italia for years with the weather conditions and sheer tortuousness of the course, especially in the last week, all adding up to a gripping race.

The final time trail in Verona with possibly the most spectacular finish ever in the centre of the Roman amphitheatre was taken by Swede Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) in 20:19 just two seconds ahead of Marco Pinotti (HTC-Columbia) and 17 before Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana). The former as Italian National Time Trial Champion determined to make a good show in front of a home crowd and the latter still fighting doggedly as he had done on every single stage from beginning to end.

But if we have to look for stellar performances apart from the obvious overall winner, we would be spoilt for choice. David Arroyo of Caisse d'Epargne wore the maglia rosa for five days and then defended until the last, still in second place and a new hero to many. Cadel Evans (BMC), as persistant but at least a bit more cheerful than Vino came in 4th on the stage, 5th overall and top on points.

Best of all, young Australian Richie Porte also had his moment in the pink jersey, valiantly defended to finish 7th admittedly with superb support from his Saxo Bank team and looking like a big prospect for the future; he had the consolation of winning Best Young Rider.

And there was even a high spot for Team GB where Bradley Wiggins won the first time trial stage and even though his hope of a win in the finale faded to 7th place, no doubt his Sky team will feel satisfied that some useful preparation for the Tour de France in five weeks has been achieved, which was their stated objective. Training rides don't get any better than this.

Giro d'Italia Stage 21 Top 20 result

 1  Gustav Larsson      (SWE) Saxo Bank         20:19
 2  Marco Pinotti       (ITA) HTC-Columbia      20:21 at 0:02
 3  Alexandre Vinokourov(KAZ) Astana            20:36 at 0:17
 4  Cadel Evans         (AUS) BMC               20:41 at 0:22
 5  Vincenzo Nibali     (ITA) Liquigas-Doimo    20:42 at 0:23
 6  Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU) Cervélo TestTeam  20:42 at 0:23
 7  Bradley Wiggins     (GBR) Sky               20:48 at 0:29
 8  Cameron Meyer       (AUS) Garmin-Transitions20:51 at 0:32
 9  Michele Scarponi    (ITA) Androni Giocattoli20:54 at 0:35
10  Tom Stamsnijder     (NED) Rabobank          20:56 at 0:37
11  Richie Porte        (AUS) Saxo Bank         20:58 at 0:39
12  Vasil Kiryienka     (BLR) Caisse D’Epargne  20:58 at 0:39
13  Evgeni Petrov       (RUS) Katusha           20:58 at 0:39
14  Jos Van Emden       (NED) Rabobank          21:00 at 0:41
15  Ivan Basso          (ITA) Liquigas-Doimo    21:01 at 0:42
16  Gregory Henderson   (NZL) Sky               21:04 at 0:45
17  Matthias Russ       (GER) Milram            21:04 at 0:45
18  Mauricio Cano       (COL) Rabobank          21:07 at 0:48
19  Matthias Brandle    (AUT) Footon–Servetto   21:13 at 0:54
20  Vladimir Karpets    (RUS) Katusha           21:13 at 0:54

Giro d'Italia 2010 Top 20 final overall

 1  Ivan Basso          (ITA) Liquigas-Doimo         87:44:01
 2  David Arroyo        (ESP) Caisse D’Epargne           1:51
 3  Vincenzo Nibali     (ITA) Liquigas-Doimo             2:37
 4  Michele Scarponi    (ITA) Androni Gicattoli          2:50
 5  Cadel Evans         (AUS) BMC                        3:27
 6  Alexandre Vinokourov(KAZ) Astana                     7:06
 7  Richie Porte        (AUS) Saxo Bank                  7:22
 8  Carlos Sastre       (ESP) Cervélo TestTeam           9:39
 9  Marco Pinotti       (ITA) HTC-Columbia              14:20
10  Robert Kiserlovski  (CRO) Liquigas-Doimo            14:51
11  Damiano Cunego      (ITA) Lampre-Farnese Vini       17:10
12  Bauke Mollema       (NED) Rabobank                  19:41
13  John Gadret         (FRA) Ag2r                      23:03
14  Vladimir Karpets    (RUS) Katusha                   25:21
15  Mauricio Cano       (COL) Rabobank                  32:29
16  Linus Gerdemann     (GER) Milram                    34:49
17  David Cioni         (ITA) Sky                       36:44
18  Steven Kruijswijk   (NED) Rabobank                  37:27
19  Alexander Efimkin   (RUS) Ag2r                      39:43
20  Hubert Dupont       (FRA) Ag2r                      45:17