Damiano Cunego defended his third place in today's final stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco when he finished with the main favourites and even sprinted to fifth place on the stage. Despite not being known for his time trial skills, the Italian is ready to fight for his podium spot in tomorrow's final time trial.

Damiano Cunego continued his return to form by putting in another great performance in today's final road stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Despite not being able to follow Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde on the final climb, the Italian could see things come back together and there were no changes to the overall top 10.

Hence, he still finds himself in third overall, 36 seconds off the lead and after sprinting to a solid fifth place, he will do his utmost to defend his position in the discipline he fears the most: the time trial.

"Today we were always attentive and we stayed near the front of the peloton," he said. "The course was treacherous and I could not afford to lose previous seconds. In the end there were several attacks that have produced a nice selection , but no one has ever given the impression of being able to get a big advantage.

"I took advantage of teams that were able to make it back together for a sprint finish where we had a lot of different opponents. I think fifth place must be considered as a major achievement that gives me even more confidence for tomorrow's TT, in which I know I have to do my best to save my overall position, and for the next races that I'm going to face after this event."