BOLOGNA, Italy (AFP) - Italy's Ivan Basso of the CSC team proved his race fitness just before the world championships by winning the 197km Tour of Emilia cycling race in the Bologna region.
Basso, who finished third in this year's Tour de France, beat out compatriot Francesco Casagrande in the final kilometre to take the win. Casagrande had been the only one who stayed with him on the tough climb at San Luca.
Germany's Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner who won the Sabatini Cup at Peccioli on Thursday, took an impressive fifth spot to confirm his fitness just a week before the Verona world championships.