Edoardo Zardini enjoyed the most beautiful moment of his sporting life when he won yesterday's first mountain stage of the Giro del Trentino but today he slightly paid for his efforts when the third stage again had a summit finish. However, he still defended himself well and crossed the line in 13th while his teammate Francesco Manuel Bongiorno battled it out with the very best to take 6th on the stage.

Already in their first professional season, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno and Edoardo Zardini indicted that there is a lot to come for the two young Bardiani climbers and this year they have continued their progress. These days they are putting ther climbing skills on show at the Giro del Trentino and today they were again in the mix in the tough summit finish in Roncone.

After his win in yesterday's stage, Zardini found himself in second on GC but the hard effort har taken its toll. Today he could only manage 12th but defended himself well to remain in 8th on GC.

Instead, it was his teammate Bongiorno who shone. When Cadel Evans put down the hammer and created a select 5-rider group, Bongiorno was up there with the likes of Evans, Michele Scarponi and Domenico Pozzovivo. In the end he slipped a bit back, crossing the line in 6th but the performance boosted his confidence ahead of tomorrow's queen stage.

”The final uphill was so tough and steep," he said. We did it at a really fast pace due to the tempo set by Evans and Pozzovivo. I had the power to follow them until 500 metres to go when Evans attacked again and I fell a bit behind.

"Anyway, I had good feelings, better than yesterday, and for this reason I’m confident for tomorrow, also because the general classification is very open and I have the chance to improve my position."

”It was a demanding stage and all the day we went “a bloc” due to the big breakaway ahead," Zardini said. "On the Muro di Roncone I decided to climb at my own pace because I felt a little tired after yesterday's effort. I lost some seconds in the general classification but with tomorrow's stage I aim to recover some positions."

”It was another positive stage for us," sports director Roberto Reverberi said. "We have confirmed that when the it's uphill, we have a strong team. First Pagani made a good attack to brige across to the breakaway on his own and then on the final steep climb Bongiorno finished closed to the podium, going head to head with Evans and the other top riders. Both he and Zardini can do really well tomorrow and achieve a great result."