Ben Swift retained the overall lead at Settimana Coppi e Bartali after stage three came down to a bunch sprint in Crevalcore.

Team Sky worked to control proceedings and were able to avoid a crash in the final kilometre as Swift retained a 41-second advantage heading into Sunday's deciding stage.

The Brit didn't feature in the top 10 positions on the day as Francesco Chicchi (Androni Giocattoli) popped up to take the victory.

Stage 1a victor Manuel Belletti (SouthEast) was next home while Daniele Colli (Vini Fantini) rounded out the podium positions.

A reduced Team Sky squad set about controlling the 173km test on behalf of leader Swift, with Nathan Earle, Philip Deignan and Kanstantsin Siutsou helping to keep the day's break in check.

11 riders headed up the road out of Calderara di Reno and the gap gradually reduced on eight laps of the finishing circuit in Crevalcore.

Siutsou also finished in the main peloton to retain fifth overall, 1:17 back on Swift.

"It all went to plan today," confirmed Sports Director Dario Cioni following the stage.

"A break went early on. Nathan and Sergio did a bit of work but mostly it was the other teams who brought it back for the sprint. 

"Tomorrow is a big day. It's a mountain stage but hopefully the course should not be much harder than we saw on stage two. That was a really tough day and we saw Ben was the strongest on the climbs. He's got the form and we'll support him as much as we can."