As expected, the Giro d’Italia changed yesterday. The 179km (111.2mi) stage from Foligno to Montecopiolo brought the first big mountains of the race, which was bound to shake up the overall standings. It also brought sunny weather, and the first dry day on the Giro this year.

Cannondale Pro Cycling’s task was simple. Keep Ivan Basso fed and hydrated and in as good a position as possible for as long as possible. With the first big climb, the Cippo di Carpegna, staring 118km (73.3mi) into the stage, he needed to be ready to go from that point on, and the team needed to be with him as long as possible.

An early breakaway took the better part of 30km (18.6) to form. And in it were ten riders, several of whom were certainly shooting for King of the Mountain points, and a few for a stage win. Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen was there for intermediate sprint points and a possible shot at a stage win. Bardiani’s Stefano Pirazzi was there for KoM points, as was Trek’s Julian Arredondo.

When the group hit the first big climb, Pirazzi went to the front to shed the weak. Arredondo and Europcar’s Pierrick Quemeneur went with him. As the road went up, it both steepened and narrowed, and Arredondo attacked the two with three kilometers (1.9mi) left to climb on what had become a one-lane road through the woods.

Behind, the Pink Jersey, Michael Matthews dropped anchor as the BMC team, working for virtual race leader Cadel Evans upped the pace. Then the AG2R team took over, working for Domenico Pozzovivo. All the Cannondale riders, save Basso, were dropped. Basso, ever the savvy veteran, carefully positioned himself behind Evans most of the way up.

On the descent, Europcar’s Pierre Rolland attacked the Evans group. Up front, his teammate Quemeneur sat up to wait for his captain. When the two joined forces, Quemeneur hammered to bring Rolland up to Arredondo.

As they started the penultimate climb, the Villagio Del Lago, Quemeneur and Rolland caught Pirazzi. Pirazzi took a breather and attacked. Rolland went with as Quemeneur was spent.

Behind, AG2R was still leading the Evans group, with Basso still shadowing the virtual Pink Jersey.

Rolland quickly dropped Pirazzi and went after Arredondo. It took him almost 10km, but he caught up with the tiring Colombian less than three kilometers (1.9mi) from the finish. Only now the BMC-led group was closing in. The gap was down to 33 seconds.

Going into the final uphill kilometer (.62mi), a tired Rolland had seventeen seconds. But the Evans group was ready to attack for the stage win. One attack brought them even with Rolland, and then Trek’s Robert Kiserlovski attacked with Lampre’s Diego Ulissi on his wheel. Ulissi sprinted by for the win, with Evans eight seconds down, and taking over the pink jersey. The final punches dislodged Basso. He finished 13th, 24 seconds down on the winner. His placing dropped him to eleventh overall, 2:01 down on Evans, and eleven seconds out of tenth place.

If the seconds lost bothers Basso, he’s keeping the frustration to himself.

“I felt pretty decent today, even I know I’m not brilliant like the best right know. We have to race two more weeks with all the mountains. I know my condition can improve – the sensations I felt during past stages make me confident. These were hard days due to weather and I’m happy for what I achieved. The road to Trieste is long and hard and the winner will be the most regular. I think there will be surprises.”

Today is another day in the mountains, and the final stage before a rest day. The 172km  (106.9mi) Stage Nine starts in Lugo and finishes in Sestola, with three categorized climbs stacked at the end. The climb to Sestola is the longest and hardest, and presents another opportunity for Ivan Basso and his Cannondale Pro Cycling team to make up time.