Giro d'Italia: Amador moves into third overall after Valdobbiadene time trial

In 2012, Andrey Amador made history at the Giro d'Italia when he won stage 14 atop Cervinia to become the first Costa Rican to claim a win at the Italian grand tour. Stage 14 in 2015 also proved to be a day to remember for the Movistar rider who now sits third overall after the 59.4km time trial in which he finished 15th.

Amador, who was assaulted and left for dead on a training ride in 2010, was the best finisher for Movistar against the clock with the 28-year-old improving his overall position from eighth to sit 3:36 minutes behind maglia rosa Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).

"I knew I could do well over this course and we achieved a great result," Amador said. "The riders starting at the end of the TT like me were a bit influenced by the headwinds in the beginning - though it stopped raining for us, winds were stronger than for those starting earlier and the gaps were considerably bigger in the first section, but I don't think it favoured anyone into the 'GC group' compared to the other contenders. In a 60-kilometre time trial, over an hour and twenty minutes of effort, you've got to save a bit of energy in the beginning to stay fresher towards the end, which we could do, but there's no real respite - you really go flat-out all the way to the finish.

Amador had occupied a top ten position on GC since stage 5 to Abetone but it had been teammate Beñat Intxausti in the headlines courtesy of his stage win on Campitello Matese and stint in the KOM jersey. With a tough final week of the Giro ahead, Amador explained that he aims to hold onto his podium position and post his best ever grand tour result, 29th at the 2012 Giro.

"It's already important for me to have made it to third place. There are some really hard days ahead for us, with plenty of mountains, which are the thing I fear the most from the route. Still, I'm excited to head into them - I want to fight for this. We must ride on a day-by-day basis, even more with this squad, which always find a man in real good form to fight for the wins," he said.

"We're a courageous group, we came here with a goal to claim stage victories and make the fans enjoy, and I think we're doing that. It was already a demanding day in this TT with the rain, and tomorrow we'll have to give 100% to keep this third spot, so we can re-evaluate our strategy during the final rest day."