Alberto Contador survived repeated attacks to retain the Giro d'Italia lead after stage eight's summit finish at Campitello Matese on Saturday.
The Tinkoff-Saxo star rode through the pain of a shoulder dislocated on Thursday to retain the race lead on Friday's longest stage and again had to dig deep to keep hold of the pink jersey on Saturday's 186-kilometre leg from Fiuggi.
Benat Intxausti (Movistar) won ahead of Mikel Landa Meana (Astana) and Sebastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling).
Fabio Aru (Astana) led the group of overall contenders in fourth, 35 seconds behind, with Contador on his wheel in fifth.
Contador even managed to extend his lead by two seconds at a mid-stage sprint, meaning Aru is now four seconds behind.
Team Sky's Richie Porte was sixth on the day to sit 22 seconds behind Contador overall.
Contador said: "My team was working hard at the front, and I saw the opportunity to gain two seconds in the intermediate sprint, so I took it.
"Two seconds are two seconds. In a time-trial, you suffer a lot to gain two seconds.
"On the final climb, I knew that Aru and Porte would attack, and I responded.
"I wasn't comfortable on my bike, as you could see, but I got through the day and I'm happy."
