On the second and final rest day of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, current race leader Ivan Basso spent most of Wednesday afternoon relaxing at his team’s seaside hotel in the beach town of Lido Di Camaiore.

Basso did sneak in a two-hour training ride to reconnoiter Thursday’s 50km time trial course that does an oval loop from Pontedera to Pisa and back. The 2005 Tour de France runner-up also held a short press conference at the team hotel. Here are some of the highlights along with comments from Team CSC director Bjarne Riis.

Basso on his expectations for the time trial:
“I expect to have a good day. I expect to do a good time trial, but it’s different to have a time trial after 10 hard days. I don’t know what the classification will be tomorrow night. But I have only one focus, go full gas and tomorrow night we will see. I think it will be a really important stage, important like a mountain stage.”

On the time trial course:
“I’ve ridden it before. It’s fairly easy. There’s some twisting and turning in the middle section in Pisa, but the rest is straightforward.”

On how he spent the rest day:
“I woke up at 9 o’clock and did two hours on the bike. I went to Pisa and did one lap of the time trial andcame back. Nothing special. Now I’ll have a massage, eat and get some sleep.”

On the most difficult moments so far at the Giro:
“There are difficult moments everyday. Yesterday Lampre made the race really hard. Even what looks like an easy day can be hard.

On the prospects of T-Mobile’s Jan Ullrich in the stage 11 time trial:
“I think he will be in the top 3. This is a good time trial for Jan. I think Jan is in really good condition. Of course he is not here to win the Giro, but for the Tour de France tomorrow is a good test for him.”

Team CSC director Bjarne Riis on the Giro thus far:
“Up until now things have gone very well. It’s what we have hoped for and maybe a little more. The team time trial was a massive triumph for us. The second win with Ivan in the mountain stage was perfect because it confirmed to all of us that he is where he should be right now. To sit here in the middle of the race with the pink jersey is a big honor, but it also means there is a lot of hard work ahead of us.”