Cadel Evans may be the overall leader but the strongest team at the Giro del Trentino is certainly Astana. Today Mikel Landa, Michele Scarponi and Fabio Aru all finished in the top 10 which bodes well for the Giro d'Italia where the trio will form a three-pronged attack.

With Cadel Evans enjoying a comfortable lead, Astana are unlikely to win the Giro del Trentino overall but when the Giro d'Italia kicks off in less than three weeks, it may be a good idea to keep an eye on the Kazakh team. Its three main climbers for the Italian grand tour, Fabio Aru, Michele Scarponi and Mikel Landa, are all showing solid form in the Italian warm-up race.

Yesterday Landa animated the finale before Aru and Scarponi took over, with the former finishing 6th on the stage and the latter taking 12th. Today both Landa and Scarponi made the 5-rider selection on the brutally steep climb to the finish on the third stage and ultimately ended the stage in 3rd and 4th respectively. Aru followed a little later in 7th.

As Landa was dropped in the team time tral, only Aru and Scarponi feature in the top 10 ln GC, with Aru sitting in 5th and leading the young riders' classification and Scarponi being 9th. Of course the team has a comfortable lead in the teams classification with just the queen stage still remaining.

Earlier in the stage, Andrey Zeits had been part of a strong 12-rider breakaway but when the Kazakh fell off the pace, Valerio Agnoli and Paolo Tiralongo hit the front to bring things back together for their climbers on the final climb.

"The team has worked great to bring the race back together," Scarponi told Tuttobiciweb. "With Aru, Landa and me, we tried to do something. Unfortunately, Evans was stronger than everybody else, but I personally am satisfied. I'm still missing a little bit for the Giro but I'll definitely be ready. 

"And look out for Landa who is still a very young rider. He lacks a bit of experience in the Giro but will definitely be a protagonist: I share a room with him and we split the tasks. He is the leader in the hotel and I am the leader on the road."

“It took an hour for the breakaway to happen," Zeits said. "Attack after attack after attack because all the teams knew how important the stage was today.

“The team tactic today was to free our climbers from hard work until the finale. At 8km to go I was back in the peloton with Agnoli and Tiralongo at the front, and then our guys went up to the finish in perfect position.

Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Aleksandr Shefer said the goal remains to win Friday’s stage, and defend Aru’s Best Young Rider White Jersey at the Giro del Trentino.