Fabio Aru (Astana) finished fourth in the first big mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia and defended his second place behind Alberto Contador. His teammate Mikel Landa won the stage and moved himself into fourth, prompting media to speculate that a change of leadership could be on its way.

Aru refused that suggestion.

“Contador showed he’s in great shape but he’s beatable because today we beat him with Mikel,” he told reporters at the finish. "The Astana team have won another stage and that’s the important thing. I saw that Mikel was riding well, so it was right he tried something. I was being marked and so he won. There was no misunderstanding. The important thing was to drop Alberto and the Katusha rider after all the work that our teammates had done for us.”