“I was away from the sport for two years, and I didn’t think it was right that I made the decision,” said Basso, the winner of the 2006 Giro and a favorite at this year’s race. “But I think we need to apologize to the fans. I’m coming off a very tough time, and I’m trying to do something good for cycling.”

Basso is in his first season after a two-year doping ban, and he is treading carefully in his first Grand Tour race in three years. He was implicated in a doping ring in Spain, using the name of his dog, Birillo, as his code name at a blood-doping clinic. He admitted not to doping, but to thinking about doping.

But his redemption among his fans, competitors and countrymen started long before this race. Basso, 31, once thought to be the next coming of Lance Armstrong, spent two years thinking about it, creating it and acting on it.

“It is important that I try to get the fans to believe in me again,” he said. “But I know I have three types of fans. Those who were with me all the time. Those who had big delusions about me but decided to follow me again. But some fans want to kill me for what I’ve done.

“There will always be a group who are unhappy, and I’ve learned to understand that.”

Di Luca added 1 minute 7 seconds seconds to his overall lead, and is 1:20 ahead of the second-place rider, Denis Menchov. Michael Rogers is in third, 1:33 back. Levi Leipheimer is in fourth, 1:40 behind Di Luca. Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, rose to 18th in the overall standings but is 5:28 out of first.