Franco Pellizotti broke his contract with Astana and continued in the colours of Androni-Venezuela to get the chance to ride the 2014 Giro d'Italia. By taking third in today's queen stage of the Giro del Trentino, the former Italian champion proved that he is fully ready to lead his team in the Italian grand tour.

Franco Pellizotti signed a contract with Astana for the 2014 season, hoping that he would be able to do the Giro before going on to support Vincenzo Nibali in the Tour de France. When MPCC rules prevented him from riding for the Kazakh team in the early part of the season, ruling out Giro participation, the parties agreed to annul the contract and Pellizotti returned to his former Androni team to get the chance to ride his preferred race.

With the Giro start now only two weeks away, Pellizotti is approaching the important event that he so desperately wanted to ride and today he proved that he is fully ready for the challenge when he finished 3rd in the queen stage of the Giro del Trentino to move into  9th on the final GC. The Italian may have been unable to follow Mikel Landa and Louis Meintjes in the finale but he was pleased with his condtion so close to the big event.

"The condition is good, it is growing day by day," he told Tuttobiciweb. "I am a little disappointed that I could not fight for the victory but the Astana riders [Landa, Fabio Aro, Michel Scarponi] could make the difference. However, I am satisfied with my third place, the important thing is that everything is going well.

"I'm ready [for the Giro]. Actually, WE are ready as I will now go to altitude with my teammates