Italy's world time-trial champion Filippo Ganna won Saturday's Giro d'Italia 14th stage with Portugal's Joao Almeida tightening his grip on the leader's pink jersey.

Ineos rider Ganna claimed his third stage win in this year's race over 34.1km through Italy's sparkling wine Prosecco region.

Ganna clocked 42min 40sec, with Australian teammate Rohan Dennis second fastest at 26sec and American Brandon McNulty third at 1min 09sec.

Almeida, sixth on the stage at 1min 31 sec, has been leading from the front since stage three.

The Portuguese gained another 16 seconds on second-placed Dutchman Wilco Kelderman, who drops to 56 seconds adrift on the eve of the summit finish in Piancavallo. 

UAE Team Emirates' McNulty, 22, moves up to fourth overall, ahead of former two-time Italian race winner Vincenzo Nibali, who dropped to 2min 30 sec in the overall standings. 

On Sunday, the Giro returns to altitude in the 15th stage which arrives in the Piancavallo resort after 185km with three second category mountains preceding the final 14.5km climb.