Rigoberto Uran (Sky) edged substantially closer to the second step on the Giro d'Italia podium as he finished 6th and gained 1.10 on Cadel Evans (BMC). Now only 10 seconds behind the Australian, the Colombian is hopeful that he will be able to move up in the next two hard days in the mountains.

Rigoberto Uran appeared to be on his way to a hugely disappointing performance in today's mountain time trial in the Giro d'Italia when he passed the intermediate check far off the mark set by race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and for a moment his spot on the podium was under threat. However, the Colombian had gauged his effort perfectly and he finished strongly to take 6th on the stage.

More importantly, he gained 1.10 on 2nd placed Cadel Evans who was a hugely disappointing 25th and the instead of fearing losing his spot on the podium he is now in a good position to move up. He is only 10 seconds behind the 2011 Tour winner and with two hard mountain stages coming up, the terrain is certainly there to gain even more time on his rival.

Team Sky has one of the strongest teams in the race and has the potential to really put their rivals under pressure and sports director Marcus Ljungqvist did nothing to hide than the British team is ready to strike in the Dolomites on Friday and Saturday.

“It was a really good performance from Rigo," he said. "He paced himself well there and got a strong result and is just 10 seconds now off second place. We’ll see what happens now with the two mountain stages but it really gives us something to fight for. We know they will be too hard days regardless of how the stages are run with the weather."

“We’re getting towards the end of the race now and we want to leave it all out there and really go for it.”

Unfortunately, tomorrow's legendary stage has been modified and the Gavia and Stelvio climbs will both have to be skipped. However, three big climbs still make for a tough day in the saddle and there is little doubt that we will see Sky ride aggressively as they try to dispose Evans.

Starting at 12.15 you can follow the entire stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.