Fabio Aru proved himself worthy of his captaincy role at the Giro d'Italia when he finished 6th in today's tough Giro del Trentino stage. The young Italian took over the lead in the young riders' competition on a day when his teammate Mikel Landa animated the finale.

Michele Scarponi may be carrying most of the responsibility for Astana at the Giro d'Italia but the team will line up with a two-pronged attack as young Fabio Aru will have a joint leadership role. Today the youngster proved that he is up for the challenge when he mixed it up with the best in the first mountain stage of the Giro del Trentino.

Aru was the first to attack from the group of favourites that was in pursuit of eventual stage winner Edoardo Zardini and made it into the decisive 5-rider selection at the end. He lost a few seconds near the end, crossing the line in 6th, but again proved that he is a great climber in the making,

With his performance, he took the white jersey for best young rider and moved himself into 6th on GC. Scarponi also showed rising condition after a recent high-altitude training camp, taking 12th and moving into 9th in the overall standing.

Early on the climb, the team had played the Mikel Landa card as the Basque had been part of the move from which Zardini later escaped. However, he was brought back by the favourites and is now ready to sacrifice himself for Aru in the next mountain stages.

“I saw a group of riders attack on the final climb and went with them to see if they stayed away until the finish," Landa said. "But first BMC and then Sky were controlling the race behind us, so they never let us get too far ahead.

“The next two days are the same – a long course with an uphill finish. We are going to to our best to and win a stage and protect Aru in the General Classification."