Mikel Landa secured his first stage race win for Team Sky by racing to third on the fourth and final stage of the Giro del Trentino.
The winning margin was slight, however, with Astana‘s Tanel Kangert taking his second consecutive stage win, and the time bonus, to get within two seconds on the Spaniard.
Landa had to cross the line third to stop Kangert from winning on bonus seconds and did just that, pipping the Estonian’s teammate Jakob Fuglsang.
Inside Team Sky’s training camp
The Astana pair’s performances saw them take the second and third steps on the podium, with Fuglsang 14 seconds down on Landa.
Landa will now go into the Giro d’Italia on May 6 with the confidence and equally importantly the fitness to compete for the overall title.
Giro del Trentino stage four, Malè – Cles (160.9km)
1. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana, 4-07-29
2. Matteo Busato (Ita) Southeast-Venezuela, st
3. Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky, st
4. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, st
5. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18, st
Final general classification standings
1. Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky, 14-44-48
2. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana, at 2s
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, at 14s
4. Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo, at 19s
5. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18, at 24s
