Daniel Oss of BMC Racing Team attacked several times but could not make the decisive selection of five riders who made their move on the last of three categorized climbs of the 208-kilometer race.

"It was two hours before the breakaway went, so it was already a pretty hard day," Oss said. "The final was really crazy. A lot of others had two teammates in the break but I did my best."

Runner-up in a breakaway last year on the Giro's 11th stage, Oss said he did not give up hope of chasing down the five.

"I believed until one kilometer because the gap was so close – only a few seconds," he said. "All the way from the last climb, I tried to move and keep the chase going and close the gap."

Stefano Pirazzi earned Bardiani-CSF its third stage win of the three-week race as Oss rolled across the line 28 seconds later in 12th. Cadel Evans finished 30th and in the peloton that arrived 15:36 after Pirazzi. Evans is 3:21 off the lead of Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) with four days to go.