Richie Porte secured third place on stage three at the Giro del Trentino to retain his overall race lead.

Team Sky were pushed hard on the penultimate day of racing but kept the pace high heading into the closing stages to set up Porte for another strong finish.

The Tasmanian weathered a bevy of late attacks and came to the finish in a select group, five seconds back on stage winner Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale).

Mikel Landa (Astana) took second on the summit finish, shaving two seconds off Porte's lead, but third on the stage ensures Team Sky's team leader heads into the final day with an advantage of 22 seconds.

Leopold Konig continued his consistent showing with 10th on the stage, allowing him to hold onto the final GC podium spot, 58 seconds back on the pink jersey of Porte.

Team Sky had to work hard as a sizeable breakaway and a number of dangerous attackers looked to make life difficult on the road to Fierozzo. Sebastian Henao, David Lopez, Ian Boswell, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Xabier Zandio and Konig set the pace on behalf of Porte across a mountainous 183.8km test.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) attacked repeatedly to destabilize the team, initially early on before dropping back to the peloton, and then again heading onto the final climb. Linking up with Diego Rosa (Astana) and Rodolfo Torres (Colombia) the trio forced Team Sky to set a high pace in the closing stages.

Siutsou was again prominent, drilling it on the front to slash the advantage of the leaders before Porte ably defended his jersey.

“Ag2r were aggressive and raced well, Pozzovivo deserved the stage,” Porte said. “Pozzovivo is a big champion and it’s interesting to see that he bounced back after yesterday. The stage was not easy at all and the first climb after 37km was not as easy as it looked on paper. But it’s another day in the jersey. We ran short of teammates at the finish but that’s cycling. Everyone pulled their weight today.

“This is not our final team for Sky for the Giro. There are guys coming in who are a little stronger, while some of these guys will be better for the Giro. We lost Nieve due to illness but he’ll be okay for the Giro and will be a big help. That’s what we lacked that bit in the last three kilometres.

“Cadel Evans won it last year and so I’d love to add my name to the list of winners. We’ll see what happens. A rider like Oscar Gatto is the big favourite for me for the last stage. If we have to control it, we will. But others teams have interests too. We got our stage yesterday. But anyway, we have the team to take control.”

“I know that a three-week Grand Tour is a little bit different to Paris-Nice or Catalunya but I’ve matured as a rider and got stronger. I’m ready to take on three weeks, even if the final week is not easy because of the time trial, racing at altitude and the climbs. We’ll take it as it comes. It’s the same parcours for everyone else…. We’ll see what happens.”

Sports Director Dario Cioni talked TeamSky.com through the day's action and a team performance which places Porte a giant step closer to victory.

"The course was a tough one today," he confirmed. "Yesterday the climbs were more concentrated at the end of the stage, where as today they were spread throughout the stage. Xabi and Boswell did a really good job early on and took us into the penultimate climb, keeping control of things. They did a really good job there.

"Then on the final climb we knew if the pace stayed high, even if someone attacked, they couldn't gain too much. It's a good way to defend. Keep the pace high and force any guys who attack to go into the red.

"We're one step closer now heading into the final stage. We know any stage can be difficult depend on what the other teams do. It's a different type of stage and one that will suit a bigger number of riders. We want to bring home the victory and we'll do everything we can to finish it off."