Basso focuses on Tour de France

Basso has finished as runner-up and third in the Tour de France

Italian Ivan Basso will not contest the 2006 Giro d'Italia to focus on claiming his first Tour de France crown.

Basso finished as runner-up to Lance Armstrong last year but now the seven-time winner has retired the CSC rider has set his sights on the title.

"Not racing the Giro is a sacrifice, but I want to invest everything in the Tour," Basso told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I know there is only one acceptable result and it will not be easy."

Basso sees his main Tour rivals as Jan Ullrich, Alexandre Vinokourov, Andreas Kloden, Alejandro Valverde and fellow Italian Damiano Cunego.

The last Italian to win the Tour was Marco Pantani in 1998, who also won the Giro that year.

"In the future I will return to racing the Giro and the Tour in the same year," said Basso, who was attending the unveiling of the 2006 Tour route in Paris.

"It's a well-balanced Tour. On paper it doesn't appear to favour climbers or time-trialers.

"I prefer the climbs but I've gotten a lot better at time trials and I expect to improve some more."