GEMONA DEL FRIULI, Italy - Stefan Schumacher won his second stage of the Giro d'Italia, taking a sprint finish Thursday ahead of four other riders.
Ivan Basso retained the overall leader's pink jersey after 18 stages, finishing in the main group 2 minutes, 43 seconds behind with all of his main challengers.
The 130-mile stage began in Sillian, Austria, and entered Italy after 50 miles.
Schumacher, a German who rides for the Gerolsteiner team, won in 5:31:33. Marzio Bruseghin finished second and Jose Gutierrez Palacios was third, each with the same time.
"Today was really tough, especially to make the breakaway because it came on a climb. The main group was right behind us for the first 80 kilometers (50 miles)," Schumacher said, adding that the last 22 miles were also very tough due to a series of climbs and high-speed descents.
Schumacher also won the third stage in Namur, Belgium, and wore the pink jersey for two stages.
"My first Giro and it's a dream for me," Schumacher said.
Friday's and Saturday's mountainous stages are considered two of the Giro's toughest, each featuring multiple climbs. The race ends Sunday in Milan.
Basso leads Jose Gutierrez Cataluna of Spain by 5:43 and Gilberto Simoni by 10:34, with Paolo Savoldelli 10:58 back in fourth.
"We're fortunate to have five minutes on second place and eight on third, but if something happens in these two stages, five minutes is nothing," Bjarne Riis, the director of Basso's CSC team, said.
Simoni, a two-time Giro winner, was not predicting that anyone could challenge Basso.
"It's not like we recuperated any energy today. Everyone's force is about the same," he said.