Italian cyclist Ivan Basso has captured his first stage of this year's Tour of Italy by attacking seven kilometers from the 17th stage's mountaintop finish in Limone Piemonte.
Basso showed no sign of the stomach problems that knocked him out of the overall lead when he broke away on the final climb to win the 194-kilometer stage in 5:15:46 hours.
Jose Rujano Guillen of Venezuela was second Thursday, 1:06 minutes back, with Gilberto Simoni third with the same time as Guillen.
Overall leader Paolo Savoldelli finished nearly two minutes behind the winner but retained the pink leader's jersey, 58 seconds ahead of fellow Italian Gilberto Simoni. Guillen is third while Italian Danilo Di Luca slipped from second to fourth.
Friday's 18th stage is an individual time trial from Turin to Chieri, which includes a climb up the Colle Superga, where 2006 Winter Olympic skiing events will be held. The Tour ends in Milan on Sunday.