Swiss rider Johann Tschopp won the 20th and penultimate stage of the Tour of Italy from Bormio to Passo del Tonale yesterday as Italian Ivan Basso held on to the leader's pink jersey.

Australian world road race champion Cadel Evans took second on the mountain top finish after 178km of racing with Basso third as he extended his lead in the overall standings over Spaniard David Arroyo.

While Basso's hold on the pink jersey never looked in doubt, the real race seemed to be on for the minor placings.

Tschopp had made a break with Italian veteran Gilberto Simone from a dangerous-looking lead group on the penultimate climb, the Gavia. He dropped Simone on the descent and then made the solo bid on the Passo del Tonale.

The day had started with a remarkable break on the first of five climbs that included former Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov, sixth and eighth respectively in the standings.

It was a long and brave bid to make an impact on the standings and Basso's Liquigas team was alive to the threat and never let their lead creep over the two-minute mark.

Basso now leads Arroyo by 1:15 with the Italian's team-mate Vincenzo Nibali third at 2:56, just a second ahead of Scarponi.

Evans is still fifth but with a 51-second deficit to Nibali he could realistically hope to pull that back in today's 15km time-trial around Verona and earn a place on the podium.

Basso, normally a better time-trial rider than Arroyo, looks set for his second Giro title, four years after his first and two years after making his comeback from a two-year doping suspension.