It’s hard to believe that on a day when Ivan Basso nearly doubled his hold on the overall standings at the 2006 Giro d’Italia, the big story was another rider. But that’s just what happened when German Jan Ullrich stole the show — and the stage 11 win — in the 50km time trial from Pontedera to Pisa and back.

Starting long before the Giro’s top GC hopefuls on a sunny, warm Thursday afternoon near Italy’s Ligurian Sea, Ullrich blistered the flat, oval shaped course that passed by Pisa’s famed leaning tower, posting a day’s best 58:48. From there, the waiting game began. It was more than three and a half hours before Basso, the last rider to start, crossed the finish line 28 seconds behind the T-Mobile star. That was good enough to give Basso second place, and sizable time gains on all his GC rivals. Fellow Italian Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval-Prodir) was third at 1:01.

“It’s unbelievable,” said an exultant Rudy Pevenage, Ullrich’s longtime coach and advisor. “When you saw where Jan was a month ago at Romandie, and now to see him winning a 50km time trial. It’s incredible.”

It was an incredible day for Basso as well, as he bumped his GC lead over second-placed Jose Gutierrez (Phonak) from 1:35 to 2:48. Ukraine’s Serhiy Honchar (T-Mobile) was fourth in the TT, and jumped from sixth to third in the overall standings, at 3:24. Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) lost 58 seconds to Basso and is now fourth overall at 3:26.

The damage was far worse for Basso’s other Italian rivals. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) had a disastrous day, getting passed by his four-minute man Basso on the long straightaway to the finish, and losing 5:06 to the overall leader. The 2004 Giro champ is now a distant eighth overall at 6:54.

Danilo Di Luca also had a rough go, losing 4:45 in the TT. The Liquigas leader now sits 10th overall at 7:33. Neither Di Luca nor Cunego even made the first page of the time trial results sheet that went 46 deep. The results also provided a more direct look at the finish, laying out the actual distance behind Ullrich at the finish. Cunego was a woeful 4.7 kilometers off the pace.

“It was a perfect day,” said Team CSC director Bjarne Riis about Basso’s performance. “I think he demonstrated today that he’s a big time time trial rider. He did the best time trial that I’ve ever seen him do. He was strong, very strong.”

Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir) also dropped a healthy chunk of time, finishing in 1:03:09, 3:53 behind Basso. He’s now ninth overall, 7:13 back of the race leader.

“I haven’t seen the gaps yet, but I think it is normal that the climbers lost some time on a time trial like that,” said Basso at the post race press conference that was held inside Pontedera’s Museo Piaggio, home to an amazing Vespa motor scooter collection. “It was very windy, so it’s very difficult when you are a [130-135 pound] climber. It’s difficult for them. You have to have some special characteristics for a time trial like this.”

For Ullrich the win marked the end of a winless spell that dated back to the 2005 Tour of Germany, more than nine months ago.

“This win is very good for me,” he said. “I’m not in 100 percent shape and this was a hard race, so I’m very proud of this win. It shows that I am on a good way for the Tour.”

Der Kaiser was repeatedly asked if this was vindication for all the criticism he’s gotten lately, including some from CSC’s Riis, who called the German’s form “catastrophic” earlier in the spring.

But Ullrich wasn’t taking the bait.

“Bjarne and I have talked,” said the 32-year-old. “I have put that all in the past. There’s nothing more to talk about. I have no problems with anyone in the peloton. Today just shows that I am on the right track. Today was a spontaneous decision that I made after I heard my first time split. I was very close and I decided to give 100 percent afterwards. On the other hand the Giro is for training. There are some stages where I will give 100 percent, and I have some stages in mind. Then there are other stages where I will stay in the group to prepare for the Tour.”

After the first 14.5km, Ullrich trailed early race leader Marc Wauters (Rabobank) by six seconds. But the 1997 Tour de France champion gave the throttle a healthy twist and was faster by 38 seconds at the 41.3km time check, before surrendering 10 seconds to Basso over the final 8.7km.

Basso also took a measured approach, stopping the clock at the opening time split in just 12th place. He was 10th just past the halfway mark, and settled into second by the third split.

“It’s very important to finish a time trial strong at the finish,” Basso said. “It’s a good sign for things to come.”

Next up at the Giro is stage 12’s 171km run from Livorno to Sestri Levante, a northerly route that will offer plenty of spectacular views of the Ligurian Sea from the cliffs of the famed Cinque Terra coastline.

It will not, however, offer much rest for the peloton, as rated climbs at the beginning and end will keep things interesting. Expect the pure sprinters to pop off during the Valico Guaitarola ascent that begins 138km into the day. Here the peloton will climb 2000 feet in 9.5km at an average of 6.4 percent and top out with 24km to go, more than half of that downhill, into the finish on the coast at Sestri Levante.

Could this finally be Paolo Bettini’s day?

Race Notes
Danielson moves up
Following a solid 11th-place performance in the stage 11 time trial, American Tom Danielson jumped five places in the general classification, and is now sitting fifth at 5:38.

“I felt good,” said the Discovery rider who dropped out of last year’s Giro after six days because of knee problems. “It was totally flat and I’m a tiny guy, so it was really hard for me. The beginning was head wind, but they had said to me it was tailwind, so I thought I was going really slow. Then I caught my 1.5-minute man in the first 12km, and I caught my 3-minute man after 5k.”

Danielson is here strictly to ride in support of team leader and defending champion Savoldelli, but should Il Falco falter the steep climbs of the Giro’s final week will surely suit the Colorado climbing specialist.

Rogers bummed
Reigning world time trial champion Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) could only muster a 21st place on Thursday, finishing 3:20 behind victorious teammate. Afterwards Rogers placed at least some of the blame on the stiff winds that were shifting around the entire day.

“I had a heap of wind in my face,” he said. “Maybe it was just me but I had wind in the face the whole way. I was in the 54x11 most of the time. On the way home I used it the whole way and I thought I did all right but the time says different. I’m disappointed. I really wanted to win today.”

The Big 7
With 11 of 21 stages in the books, here’s a look at how the top seven contenders rank in the General Classification in the chase for this year’s overall Giro d’Italia title. Last year Paolo Savoldelli topped Gilberto Simoni by just 28 seconds in the final overall standings.

1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC
2. Jose Gutierrez (Phonak), at 2:48
3. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery, at 3:26
8. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 6:54
9. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 7:13
10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, at 7:33
14. Jose Rujano (Ven), Selle Italia, at 9:19

The North Americans
With 11 of 21 stages in the books, here’s a look at the overall rankings for the seven North Americansracing in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

5. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery, at 5:38
98. Julio Perez (Mex), Panaria, at 49:31
107. Patrick McCarty (USA), Phonak, 52:57
139. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, 1:03:49
143. Moises Chavez (Mex), Panaria, at 1:06:55
148. Peter Mazur* (Pol), Saunier Duval, at 1:09:36
169. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery, at 1:18:15
177. Aaron Olson (USA), Saunier Duval-Prodir, at 1:21:28

*A reader recently reminded us that Mazur is a Canadian racing with a Polish license, so what the heck, we'll include him, too.

Results - Stage 11
1. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 58:48
2. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 59:16
3. Marco Pinotti (I), Saunier Duval, 59:49
4. Sergei Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 59:57
5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 1:00:07
6. José E. Gutierrez (Sp), Phonak, 1:00:30
7. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 1:01:00
8. Erik Gustav Larrson (Swe), FdJ, 1:01:10
9. David Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas, 1:01:12
10. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery, 1:01:15
Overall
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 40:28:56
2. José E. Gutierrez (Sp), Phonak, at 2:48
3. Sergei Honchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, at 3:24
4. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 3:26
5. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 5:38
6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 6:37
7. Victor Hugo Pena (Col), Phonak, at 6:54
8. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 6:54
9. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 7:13
10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, at 7:33FULLRESULTS

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