Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) regained the overall lead in the Giro d'Italia just one day after losing it thanks to a fine time trial performance in Valdobbiadene.
On a windswept stage, Contador bounced back emphatically after Fabio Aru (Astana) had moved to the top of the leaderboard on Friday, putting a gap of more than two minutes between himself and the Italian going into the 15th Stage.
Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) was the fastest rider on the day, upsetting the favourites to win by 12 seconds from Luis Léon Sanchez (Astana).
“This is a special victory. I’m good in time trials but I’ve not had a big victory in one for a while,” Kiryienka said.
“That was a long and difficult wait for Alberto Contador and the maglia rosa to finish. It’s turned out to be a very nice day for me today, I’ve been a bit lucky perhaps.”
The rider from Belarus looked likely to top the day's standings throughout his effort, and it was no surprise when he knocked early leader Patrick Gretsch (AG2R) off top spot.
But as the general classification contenders began to roll down the starting ramp, the wind changed direction, hampering any hopes they might have had of stealing the stage victory.
Richie Porte (Sky) and Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep) both struggled in the difficult conditions, while Contador looked the most likely of the late starters to overhaul Kiryienka's advantage.
The Spaniard began to make significant progress after he had already passed his three-minute man Mikel Landa (Astana), while Aru was visibly struggling.
He went on to finish third, just two seconds behind Sanchez, gaining 2'47" on Aru and in the process making himself the clear favourite to ride to victory in Milan next week.
Contador admitted after the stage that he was feeling the effects of a hard day in the saddle.
He said: “My legs are killing me. The result is a big surprise for me. I gave it all I had, and paced myself carefully all the way. The change in the wind made things much more difficult.
“I have to keep my head. There is still a lot of this Giro ahead of us. Today has been a good day for us, but you still have to take it day by day.”
The Giro d'Italia continues on Sunday with Stage 15, a 165 kilometre road stage from Marostica to Madonna di Campiglio.