“In theory it was a transitional stage but it was hard. The road went up and down, and we were riding into a headwind for most of the day. The peloton was very nervous, and it was fast, with the three-man breakaway up the road.

“So far, something has happened almost every day: a crash, a puncture. I’m very happy because I got through the stage safely and arrived in Lugano, where I live, on my home roads.

“Yesterday was much more wearing than I would have liked, but I’m one day closer to Milan,” added Contador, who won the Giro in 2008 and is bidding to become the first rider since the late Marco Pantani, in 1998, to win the Tour of Italy and Tour de France in the same year.

The Giro enjoyed a welcome day of sunshine and was brought to life by a three-man escape that saw Belgian Iljo Keisse and Italian duo Marco Bandiera and Giacomo Berlato take off at the 2km mark.

The peloton kept their maximum advantage to a miserly three minutes and 30 seconds before reeling in the three riders 26km from home.

Australian Adam Hansen was the next rider to attack but was also caught with 10km to race.

The stage then came down to a sprint finish that was dominated by the Lampre team who set up Modolo perfectly to make the decisive burst for the line.

“On paper, the stage looked easy, but in reality it was hard, with a real ramp at 4km to go,” said Modolo.

“I looked around me on the ramp and I saw lots of potential sprinters in difficulty but perhaps they were more tired than me.

“Yesterday was very hard but I had good legs today and it was nice and hot – the sort of day I like,” added the Italian.

The Giro now faces three hilly days, including a 170km ride from Melide to Verbania on Thursday, and features a category one climb that peaks 35km from home.

The race finishes on Sunday with a flat stage from Torino to Milan.