Performance at Blockhaus "a good signal" for Mikel Landa who overcomes late crash to attack race

Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao came into the Giro d'Italia as big favourites for the overall classification, and yesterday had their first major challenge as the race was blown wide open on the ascent to Blockhaus. The Bahrain - Victorious duo rode a strong stage despite being affected by crashes.

Mikel Landa, who finished fourth at the end of the day, told after the finish: "In the end, the stage was good for us, despite some crashes, not only for me but also for Pello and Buitrago. But I was in the front with the best of the day, which is a good signal." The Basque crashed on the descent of Passo Lanciano, however he picked himself back up and rode alongside the very best in the final ascent, to climb onto seventh place in the GC.

He responded to the moves of Richard Carapaz and Romain Bardet in the final kilometers, displaying his traditional climbing skills to get himself in a favourable position for the coming weeks. "We are still there, and everything is clearer, and we see which riders are stronger. We’ve got more stages to go through, and we will see day by day," he added.

Despite loosing Santiago Buitrago in the GC battle due to early crashes - where Pello Bilbao also saw himself affected, it was an overall good day for the team as several big contenders suffered heavy losses such as Simon Yates. Bilbao was dropped early in the ascent, however he paced himself to the finish and went onto a solid 12th place on the road which keep his ambitions very much alive.

Bilbao, now in tenth place 1:22 minutes behind on Juan Pedro López, said at the end of the day: "...We can be happy with the day and Mikel arriving in the first group. I wanted to be with him for longer, but I wasn’t that useful and just kept my rhythm. Luckily we can fix everything over the rest day with the support of the best masseurs and osteopaths to bring us back to 100%."