Mikel Landa, the third man in the Giro d'Italia, never gave up his fight for the overall win and kept attacking to gain a few seconds. But after a failed attack on the final mountain stage, Landa realistically accepted that it was not his day.

The Bahrain Victorious rider held on to third place overall, 1:05 behind Richard Kalapas (Ineos Grenadiers) and 1:02 behind Jai Hindley. Landa is the third man, a ghostly figure who refuses to disappear, a threat, and leaves open the possibility of winning the Maglia Rosa.

Landa rode better than in recent days on the final climb to Santuario di Castelmonte, attacking his rivals and splitting the selected group of GC riders in the last few kilometers. Following an attack by Hindley and Kalapas, the three riders raced again.

Landa did not lose a second as Kalapas and Hindley sprinted to create a gap.

"Looking at the profile, the stage didn't look that hard, but it was," Landa said, explaining the key details of the stage and why Bora-Hansgrohe's tactics and forceful riding during the stage did not pay off again.

"After the breakaway group left, Bora rode at a high pace trying to catch them, but it was impossible. Then on the final climb they set a hard pace again.

"And on the last climb, there were some moves [attacks], but it was a short climb and everything was explosive. So I was happy that we were able to put it all together and finish without losing time to Kalapas and Hindley."

With the 17.4km time trial in Verona on Sunday the final decider that will determine who wins the Giro d'Italia, Landa knows that he will have to reduce his time on Sunday to Calapaz and Hindley. He must close the time gap and even take the time and start the time trial in Maria Rosa with an advantage.

That is a huge challenge for Landa, but his "randismo" improvisational genius and ability to attack cannot be denied. Randa gave up hope at the end. 'You never know what's going to happen on Saturday, it's a big stage, it's a hard stage. I'm still optimistic."