Alberto Contador retained the maglia rosa but stage nine belonged to the Astana team as Paolo Tiralongo took the stage win and general classification hopeful Fabio Aru stole back another second on Contador.

Tiralongo emerged from an 11-man break to take the victory, pulling clear of Cannondale-Garmin’s Tom Jelte Slagter on the final climb of the day as Astana put their strength in depth to tactical use.

After the remnants of the break, Aru led home an elite group to finish 10th on the day, sprinting over the last few metres to cut his overall deficit to Contador to just three seconds.

Contador, riding with a dislocated shoulder after a crash on stage six, will go into Monday’s rest day with a slim lead, while Astana have three riders in the top five of the standings.