Mikel Landa (Astana) took his team's second stage victory of the 2015 Giro d'Italia, winning from a select group of riders at Madonna di Campiglio.

His compatriot Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) extended his lead at the top of the general classification and now looks likely to be crowned champion in Milan next weekend.

The day's breakaway took some time to form and it was not until the peloton was halfway up the first climb of the day that a group of ten riders managed to put together a reasonable advantage.

The break stayed together until Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) made a move and broke up the group. He was joined by team-mate Beñat Inxausti and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), as well as Tinkoff-Saxo's Sergio Paulinho.

Various riders came and went from the front group as the going got tough, and eventually Visconti made another move. He was joined by Kantsantsin Siutsou (Team Sky), Herbert Dupont (AG2R) and Brent Bookwalter (BMC), and the remaining breakaway riders were swept up by the peloton.

Bookwalter was dropped as the quartet reached the climb of Ponte Arche, and the remaining three riders only lasted a short while longer before dropping back to the peloton in order to support their team-mates. 

Contador launched a surprise move in an effort to put even more time into his closest challenger Fabio Aru (Astana). Aru's team responded by leading the charge on the front of the peloton. They set a ferocious pace and riders began to steadily drop off the back of the group.

With five kilometres to go, only eight riders, including Contador and Aru, remained in the front group, and the Astana riders continued to set the pace into closing stages.

Yuri Trofimov (Katusha) made a bid for glory, but Landa, who had looked strong throughout the stage, caught and passed the Russian to take a convincing victory.

Trofimov held on to take second, while Contador again showed his class by finishing third on the day.

Landa said: "We have a very good team in the climbs and today it was the best part of the Giro. Obviously we wanted to finish with Aru in the best place that we can but it was difficult.

"We have the second place with him and we will still try to win the Giro, playing with the superiority of the team."

The riders can now enjoy a rest day before Tuesday's 177-kilometre stage from Pinzolo to Aprica.