Wednesday's 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia was not a day for the GC men. The flat course across Emilia Romagna offered little action, except for a finish sprint in Reggio Emilia.

However, far from being an action-packed stage, Richard Kalapas managed to improve the situation in the Maria Rosa contest.

The Ecuadorian climber benefited from the excellent planning of the Ineos Grenadiers team in the second intermediate sprint of the day in San Giovanni in Persicheto.

Ben Swift led the peloton, while Honatan Narvaez defended the peloton's lead, with Calapaz leading the way to the line at top speed. In the end, there was little resistance from the other teams, and Calapaz won the 3-second bonus time.

Narvaez was second and Loic Vliegen (Intermarché Wanty-Gobert Materio) was third. Other GC favorites such as Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Romain Bardet (Team DSM), and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) were nowhere to be seen.

The time improvement moved Kalapas from fourth to second place and earned him a three-second bonus from his rivals.11]

Ineos' move to gain an advantage even in unexpected places was in line with the way the team had pursued the race all spring, with Vice Team principal Rod Ellingworth told Cycling News last month

that the team will move forward into the stage race season.

"It's about making the race a little more creative," he said. 'In a way, it's less understated, it gives everyone a chance to have fun and race, and it gives people a chance to be themselves.' Give people a chance to be themselves in the race, but do it in a smart way."

Calapaz is now tied with Almeida on time, 12 seconds behind race leader Juan Pedro Lopez.

Bardet is back in fourth place, 14 seconds behind.

Calapaz entered the Giro as the main contender for the overall win, but the 2019 winner did little to dissuade onlookers from that notion. After a solid performance in the stage 2 time trial, he was named one of the strongest riders in the Brockhaus summit finish, picking up seconds where others were missing out.

The next chance for a GC showdown will come on Saturday's stage 14. Thursday's stage 12 will likely be a stage for the breakaway group that will cross the Apennines into Genoa.