Italian cyclist Ivan Basso has won the 18th stage of the Tour of Italy, but countryman Paolo Savoldelli increased his overall lead headed into the final two days of the race.
Basso took the 34-kilometer individual time trial (from Cheiri to Turin) in 45 minutes, five seconds. Russian Vladimir Karpets was second, nine seconds back, while American rider David Zabriskie was third, 20 seconds behind.
Savoldelli finished fourth, 23 seconds behind Basso, and increased his overall lead to 2:09 ahead of countryman Gilberto Simoni. José Ruano Guillen of Venezuela is third overall, 3:00 behind Savoldelli.
Saturday's penultimate stage covers 190 km in the mountains from Savigliano to Sestriere. The riders have a long gradual climb before facing the Colle della Finestre, an 18.5km ascent with an average gradient of 9.2%. The stage ends in the Alpine resort of Sestriere. The race ends Sunday in Milan.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
