Heading into a tough final five stages of the Giro d’Italia, Movistar duo Benat Intxausti and Andrey Amador are focussed on defending their positions, with Amador looking to take a top five in GC and Intxausti looking to win the Mountains Jersey.

“I am motivated, willing and I will try to maintain and defend my position where I can. I have never been in this situation fighting for the general classification, pushing on all the climbs, and I am very happy and proud of what I achieved and pleased with the effort so far,” Amador told the Spanish newspaper AS during the rest day.

Intxausti came to the Giro to win stages and he did so on stage eight, but now he is only one point behind Steven Kruikswijk in the mountain’s jersey and he wants to take back the lead.

“The truth is that I have completed the first objective, winning a stage. Now I have another with the mountains jersey. I'm happy to keep going day to day. The podium every day is a joy, I'm really enjoying it. And now it is a goal from here to Milan,” he told Biciciclismo.

He says it is hard to judge how to score points, as he can gain points in the breakaway or wait to the finish climbs, where there are double points available.

“It’s complicated because in the summit finishes the points are double,” he explained. “I have to dip into the calculator. I am scoring points every day in almost every climb, which is not easy.”