Arredondo made his way into an early 14-strong break group that formed on the first climb of the day, the San Pellegrino, before pushing ahead in the final four kilometres to take the stage win.

Another Colombian, Fabio Duarte, took second place and the Irish Team Sky rider Philip Deignan finished third.

Colombia's Nairo Quintana controlled the attacks from his rivals and kept the pink jersey, still leading compatriot Rigoberto Urán by 1min 41sec, with former leader, Australia's Cadel Evans suffering the biggest loss of the day as he dropped from third to ninth in the general classification.

The 171km stage ended in the Giro's eighth of nine summit finishes and with the potential for a breakaway winner, a large escape group packed with climbing talent moved clear early in the day.

The 26-year-old Trek Factory Racing rider, Arredondo, had already tried to attack from the break-away group before his final burst.

After an earlier break, Julián Arredondo launched another burst in the final 4km to drop the remaining break-away leaders and win his first Grand Tour stage ©Getty Images



This earlier attack did enough to whittle down the tiring pack and when the Colombian went again in the final kilometre no one could stay with him.

Although chased all the way to the line by fellow Colombian Duarte, Arredondo had enough of a buffer to celebrate his victory over the closing 100 metre

"I've been working really hard for this and I'd like to thank my team and everyone in Colombia," said Arredondo.

"Although the race isn't over until Sunday, this is a very big step towards the mountains jersey, which was my main goal when I got into the break today.

"I have to give a big thanks to my director and coach Josu [Larrazabal].

I wanted to attack at the bottom of the last climb but he told me from the team car, 'no, no no! take it easy, not yet!'

"Then with four kilometer to go he said, 'Julian now!'

"I won this stage to a great degree from his advice."

Nairo Quintana did well to stay out of trouble and crossed the in tenth to remain almost 1min 41sec ahead of fellow Colombian Roberto Urán ©Getty Images



Just like the lead group in front of them, the chasing pack went all guns blazing in the final climb as the battle for the pink jersey continued.

French Europcar rider Pierre Rolland was the main animator in the group as he launched back-to-back attacks in an attempt thin the numbers.

His efforts paid off as Australian Cadel Evans was dropped in the final 5km to finish well off the pace and drop six places down the leaderbaord.

Rolland's advantage in third place is a narrow one, though, as Astana's Fabio Aru gained a handful of seconds with a final surge up to the line and now lies just two seconds behind him in fourth, with Rafal Majka on the same time in fifth.

Race leader Nairo Quintana looked untroubled as he finished just behind Aru.

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