Richard Kalapas and Ineos Grenadiers set the pace in Sunday's Giro d'Italia, with the British team setting a destructive pace on the lower slopes of the Blockhaus and Kalapas launching the biggest attack so far among GC rivals on the climb itself.

The 2019 winner was unable to shake off Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) or Romain Bardet (DSM), and by the summit the lead group had swelled to half a dozen again, with Carapas having to settle for third in the finish sprint.

But in the biggest overall battle so far, it was Calapaz and Ineos Grenadiers who shook the Giro's GC tree the hardest.

"I missed a bit of luck in the sprint, but the feeling is good," Calapaz, who is now fourth overall and 15 seconds behind race leader Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo), told reporters at the finish. It's very important that we survived the first week of the Giro, we are still in the fight."

Ineos Grenadiers kept a low profile in the first week of the Giro, and their four riders in the top 20 in the Hungarian time trial on stage 2 was the first warning of their overall strength. Curiously, Kalapas was the worst-placed of the four Ineos, nearly 30 seconds behind stage winner Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco).

And in the Etna stage, where Kalapas attempted a late acceleration, and in the mountains of Basilicata on Friday, Ineos Grenadiers was the only one of the major GC teams to really try to force the pace. But in the blockhouse, the effect was even more devastating. ......

Despite the injury to usual powerhouse Jonathan Castroviejo from Friday, as early as the climb up Lanciano, Ineos Grenadiers was at the forefront of the peloton and focused on carving up their rivals.

Salvatore Puccio, Ben Tourette, and Pavel Sivakov kept a high pace into the blockhouse, but the steep mid-pack section was Richie Porte's alone.

Despite the strong headwind, Porte maintained a furiously strong pace at the front.

Perhaps unsurprisingly after Porte's hard work, Carapaz's devastating acceleration shortly after succeeded in sinking all but Balde and Landa. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) maintained a steady pace at the back of the field, eventually dragging the chase group back to Kalapas and his team, but by that point it was clear who was running this stage.

"The team wanted to control the stage. We'll keep fighting." We will look forward to the second half of the Giro."

The next big test for Calapaz comes exactly one week later, when the race hits the Cogne in the northwestern Alps. However, large-scale statements of intent like the one made by Kalapas and the Ineos Grenadiers at the blockhouse tend to be memorable, both collectively and individually. It goes without saying that as the race enters its second day of rest, the team's chances of winning its fourth Giro in five events remain intact.