Basso supports decision to shorten stage

Maglia rosa Ivan Basso (CSC) agreed with the organisers decision (which was prompted by a rider protest) to change the route of stage 17 due to the bad weather conditions. "I think the race organizers made the right decision in rerouting the stage, and I also think we were better off with a short version of the last mountain," he commented on team-csc.com. "Of course I'm upset on behalf of our fans that we weren't able to climb all the way to the top of Plan de Corones, but there are two spectacular stages this weekend, so we still get to climb some big mountains."

Basso was also satisfied with the way the day turned out, as he put more time into his rivals and finished second behind Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval). "The team did a great job to set the pace, and I did my job by keeping up with Piepoli when he escaped. He's faster than me on steep climbs like today, and I was focusing on keeping up and keeping a pace, which would increase the gap to our pursuers."