The coronation of Ivan I

While the flat 140-km trip from Mudeo Del Ghisallo to Milano will likely produce one final sprint winner, the day belongs to Basso as much as the entire three weeks of this year's Giro D'Italia have belonged to the 28-year-old Italian.

Basso topped off what has been a dominant Tour of Italy with an imposing stage-win in the race's penultimate stage on Saturday, dedicating the victory to his new-born son Santiago.

When he crosses the finish line in Milan around 17:00 CET, the Tour de France runner-up and CSC star will have won his first major tour, the first in what could easily become one of the all-time palmares.

One after another Basso's rivals have acknowledged his clear superiority, with Gilberto Simoni going as far as to call Basso "extraterrestrial" after he was left in the dust by the pink jersey with just three-kilometres left to race in Stage 20.

But the legacy of Basso's 2006 Tour of Italy victory will not be his massive margin of victory (nine minutes and 18 seconds over his nearest rival José Enrique Gutierrez) , his enormously improved time-trial skills (second-place only 28 seconds behind Jan Ullrich in the race's longest TT), or even his three commanding stage victories.

When Basso climbs on the final podium of this year's Giro D'Italia on Sunday, he will be taking the first grand step toward fulfilling his gigantic potential.

With the Tour de France waiting in July, the sky is the limit.