Richie Porte took an emphatic solo victory on the queen stage at the Giro del Trentino to move into the race lead.

The Tasmanian benefitted from a powerful showing from Team Sky, who set the pace on a pair of punishing late climbs to set up their team leader.

Porte did not disappoint, and attacked with two kilometres to go, distancing his rivals on the climb to Bretonico and taking the win by 16 seconds over Mikel Landa (Astana).

Bonus seconds and a strong opening-day team time trial equate to a 24-second race lead for Porte over Landa, with Leopold König showcasing Team Sky’s strength in depth as he moved up to third overall, 42 seconds back.

The 168.2km test was shaped by a fearsome penultimate climb, with Team Sky hitting the front to take it up on the beyond-category ascent of the Passo Santa Barbara.

That whittled the peloton down to just 19 riders, with Porte, König, David Lopez and Kanstantsin Siutsou ensuring Sky had the numerical advantage over the top.

The final climb saw Siutsou set a torrid pace, before Lopez took it up and Porte finally attacked on a steep section, setting up his eighth win of the year.

"It’s nice to come here and win a stage like today," said Porte after the race. "It was such a hard stage. It was great to see Bora honour the jersey and do the work they did. But credit to my team and especially Kosta Siutsou – he was incredible today. I’m really happy with how it turned out.

"It’s a beautiful region of Italy. The scenery is spectacular but I’m here to win this race. It’s the last big hit out for me before the Giro. I’m happy with where my form is going into the Giro d’Italia.

"I didn’t feel at my best today. I came down from altitude on Friday, but to win with legs like I had today is a massive confidence booster. But it’s a team sport and the work the guys put in today for me was the cherry on top of the icing on the cake."

Porte also talked about a pair of tough late climbs which shaped the stage, and again heaped praise on his team-mates.

He added: "Ian Boswell has really stepped up this year and he attacked at the beginning of the penultimate climb which helped force the selection. Then it came back and it was the Kosta show. He paced rode the whole climb. We talked on the bus this morning that we wanted to have four guys at the bottom of the last climb and we had that. That’s what set me up for the win. There was no other team with as many numbers there as we had.

“When I saw that [Domenico] Pozzovivo wasn’t there, I thought it was the right moment to attack but in truth I should have waited longer. Landa is in fantastic form, we saw that in Pais Vasco, he’s impressive. To have him chasing me wasn’t ideal and I maybe misjudged that. But to win the stage is a great test of my form and I’m happy with how it went.

“It’s nice to win races. The best thing about going up to train at altitude is to come down and win hard races like this. As far as favourites go for the Giro d’Italia, of course, there’s [Rigoberto] Uran, [Fabio] Aru and [Alberto] Contador. I’ve raced them and beaten them this season and so my confidence is good. But I know the Giro will be a little bit harder… But I’m happy with team and with my form at the moment.

“I’m happy to put my faith in Tim Kerrison, who helped lead Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome to their Tour de France victories. It was said they all peaked too early too. I think I’m in better condition than at Catalunya and Paris-Nice. It’s just over two weeks to the Giro. I can only get better, fingers crossed.

“Drinking less beer, less wine and having a good lady behind me is a big difference,” Porte said when asked how he has managed to lose 5kg compared to last year. “You’ve got to be serious if you want to do well and I paid a lot more attention to my diet this year. After last season I worked on it a lot and don’t see it as a sacrifice, I needed to do it. And now I prefer to win a race than drink a beer. I think I’ve turned a corner.”