following his overall rank of 28th in the 2005 giro, basso returned to the giro in 2006 with the intention to win. following a good performance in the time trial, basso and his csc teammates won the , a team time trial. basso's first solo stage victory came on the , the first mountaintop finish of the giro, where he countered an attack by damiano cunego and rode to the finish by himself. that victory also allowed him to gain enough time on his rivals to put him in the leader's pink jersey for the first time in the 2006 giro, a jersey which he would hold on to for the remaining 13 stages.