If you follow the Giro d'Italia, you know that green is the color of the King of the Mountain.

The KOM leader wears the green jersey, and a green triangular flag marks the spot of the top of every climb where KOM points are awarded.

We call the best climber the KOM, or King of the Mountain. In Italian, it's GPM, or Gran Premi della Montagna.

Our latest freebie is the green GPM flag that marked the top of the Passo di Gavia in the 2010 Giro. No kidding. For all the details, and to register for this new CycleTo freebie, go here.

Click images to zoom...

The view from the top row of the Roman arena in Verona was simply spectacular.

...and looking at the crowd of thousands from smack-dab in the middle of the pink runway gave us a perspective unlike any other.

Complimenti grande to the organizers of the race for assembling this stunning setting for the final day of the 2010 Giro d'Italia. Ivan Basso may have won the race, but the larger victory goes to the people who made this all happen. It's unlike anything we've seen, or may ever see, at the finish of a major sporting event.

Want to experience what it was like to be there? From the walk up the ancient stone steps into the arena, to the crowd going nuts as Michele Scarponi rolled down the pink promenade, to the full-throated singing of the Italian national anthem, the following CycleTo video just might send chills up your spine.

It is possibly the most spectacular venue for the finish of any bike race in the world

In the city of Verona, in an arena built by the Romans in 30 AD, Liquigas cyclist Ivan Basso is crowned the king of all Italy, and awarded the Maglia Rosa as champion of the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

In the final standings, Basso beat David Arroyo Duran of Caisse d'Epargne by 1:51, with Basso's Liquigas teammate Vincenzo Nibali in third and BMC world champ Cadel Evans fourth. The final TT today was won by Gustav Eric Larson of Saxo Bank. Italian favorite Marco Pinotti of HTC-Columbia was second, just two seconds back.

For Basso, this win is both victory and vindication after sitting out two full years because of doping allegations. But all of that was forgotten today in Verona.

It was a truly spectacular day, and if you think we got up-close and personal with the riders of the Giro earlier this week, take a look  the following photos of Basso, Arroyo, Nibali and Evans from the Stage 21 time trial. Both the venue and the victory will be talked about for many years to come. 

Click images to zoom...

Italians, Germans, Dutch, Scots, Brits, Belgians, Australians and a handful of Americans.

All waiting and wondering what would happen when the race passed just a few feet in front of them.

When the TV helicopters came into view, we all knew the race was just around the corner. The exertion and anticipation were about to be rewarded by the sight of the peloton pounding up the legendary Gavia.

It's hard to put into in words what it was like to be there. We'll let the following photos speak for themselves. 

But the story of this stage is the unforgetable route over the Passo di Gavia, and Liquigas team leader Ivan Basso.

Basso has an unbeatable lead of 1:15 over Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo with just one day to go in the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Swiss climber Johann Tschopp, riding for the Bbox team, won an all-out sprint with Lampre's Gilberto Simoni to the top of the Gavia, then held on all the way to the line at Passo Tonale, with BMC's Cadel Evans in second.

After the contenders came over the top of the pass, the rest of the riders in the peloton were just hoping to finish the stage. They pulled on rain capes and jackets, stuffed bits of food into their mouths, and braced themselves for the chilling 12km descent down to the valley floor.

The Gavia is spoken of with almost religious reverence in our sport. It is a place that every cyclist must visit at least once before they die. We will never forget what we saw up there today. We hope the following photos give you a good idea of what it was like to be at the top of the Gavia, in the snow, on the day that the Giro d'Italia rolled through.

Forget what the sign says. It's on!

The organizers of the Giro d'Italia are throwing caution to the wind (and the rain and the snow), and they will race as planned over the top of the Passo di Gavia today.

There was talk that the race route would bypass the Gavia due to the dangerous conditions at the top of the pass.

The snow is said to be more than ten feet high at the sides of the road...but apparently that's not enough to stop the Giro. This could be a helluva day...a day to remember. A day to rival Andy Hampsten's epic ride in 1988.

We'll be there...with any luck...to show you what it was like. It's going to be great.

Click images to zoom...

The top photo shows the calm on the corsa, before the riders would enter from the right, and exit to the left.

But once they started coming, it was chaos. The screaming fans braved a cold, steady rain at the top...some had camped-out all night...and they were bound and determined to get up-close with the heroes of the Giro d'Italia.

We got a bit too close, almost taking out the Maglia Rosa. David Arroyo had to squeeze through a small hole between us and the Astana team car. Can you imagine what would have happened if we'd crashed-out the leader of the race? I shudder to think of the ramifications.

For all who where there, it was worth the wait...and the wet...to see the riders in the Giro crest the top of the climb. Here's a look at some of the memorable faces from Friday atop the Mortirolo, below.

Ivan Basso probably won the 2010 Giro d'Italia today when he crested the top of the Passo del Mortirolo with a grimace on his face, and the rest of the racers in his shadow.

At the top of the climb, in a cold, pissing rain, Basso was pulling Liquigas teammate Vincenzo Nibali and Diquigiovanni's Michele Scarponi.

It's a pretty impressive feat, considering that the Mortirolo gains more than 4,300 feet of elevation in just eight miles, from the bottom to the top. That's an average grade of 10.3%!

Basso did not win the stage finish in Aprica...that honor went to Scarponi...but Basso was clearly better than everyone else today. When the results were tabulated, Ivan moved into the lead...and the Maglia Rosa...with just two days of racing left in this year's Giro. Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo began the day in the jersey, but he ends up in second place, 51 seconds behind Basso. No one else is even close.

Race organizers still haven't made a firm decision on whether or not to include the climb up and over the Gavia in Saturday's penultimate stage of the Giro. There may still be too much snow at the top...they've said they'll make the call at 10:30am (local Italian time) on Saturday morning. If they decide to skip the Gavia, they'll probably come back up the Mortiloro in the opposite direction from the way the race was run today. 

We braved today's weather, and the crush of the huge crowd at the top of the Mortirolo. We hope the images we captured can give you an idea what it was like to be at the Giro this day, a truly epic day on the mountain. Enjoy the photos from the Mortirolo, below.

Click image to zoom...

This is a bird's-eye view of the mobile village gathered at the finish of the Giro d'Italia stage in Brescia. The riders came in from the right side of the frame, and finished toward the left.

It's like a traveling circus. One hour after the stage finish, everything had been packed away and the crew headed down the road to Aprica, for the finish of Stage 19. Day after day, it's the same routine, until the finish of the Giro this Sunday in Verona.