Bradley Wiggins is up to seventh on the general classification after finishing 11th behind Vincenzo Nibali on the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia.

Wiggins underlined his fine form with an eye-catching attack midway up the 19-kilometre ascent of Monte Grappa deep into the 205km stage from Ferrara to Asolo.

That saw him put daylight between himself and the peloton as he went in pursuit of leader Alessandro Bisolti (Colnago) on the category-one rated climb which averaged 8% and had sections of up to 14%.

Wiggins was soon joined by teammate Steve Cummings, who was part of a six-man break which had gone clear after 35km and had stayed right in touch with Bisolti at the head of the race.

However with Wiggins in 10th on the GC at the start of the day the peloton had to respond; that happened, with Liquigas driving it, and Wiggins, Cummings and Bisolti were all reeled in before the 1,675-metres summit.

That set things up for a flying descent by Nibali and he was the clear-cut winner 40km later in Asolo. Teammate Ivan Basso was 23 seconds behind as he completed a one-two for Liquigas by making made his fresher legs count when edging out Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) in the sprint for second.

Wiggins stayed on superbly to finish in 11th, 2:25 behind Nibali, with Team Sky's Dario Cioni working well with him and registering another excellent result for himself as he came home just four places further back.

It all means that Wiggins is up to seventh in the overall standings, 6:32 behind new leader David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne) who crossed the line in the same group as the Briton.

Arroyo takes pink jersey

The maglia rosa had been on the shoulders of Saxo Bank's Richie Porte but he now trails Arroyo by 39 seconds. Stage winner Nibali is just a place behind Wiggins in eighth.

Not surprisingly the performance from his men left Team Sky's Sports Director Sean Yates delighted.

He told us: "The boys were really up for it and it was a great day all round. We had Steve in the break and Bradley did a great job, especially as the seriously steep climbs you get in the Giro aren't really his cup of tea.

"Dario went with him too and they formed a great group on the way down - they were with Arroyo who was riding for the jersey as well as several others - and it was the perfect situation.

"Everyone else made it home in one piece too so we couldn't be happier."

The stage had panned out well for Team Sky right from the outset, with Cummings getting himself in the day's big break which at one point held a lead of 8:05. He was second behind Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) on the intermediate sprint after 124.9km and then attacked as the riders started the ascent of Monte Grappa.

It was halfway up that mammoth climb when Wiggins made his move and he and Cioni maintained the momentum to register their top-15 finishes.

Chris Froome was another to demonstrate his climbing talents as he showed he's right back to his best after his recent illness by taking 23rd place, 4:46 behind.

Tough test ahead

There's no let-up in the terrain on Sunday, with stage 15 covering 222km and finishing with a brutal climb up Monte Zoncolan, and Yates was keen to strike a note of caution.

"It's evil tomorrow," was Yates' verdict on a final climb which reaches 1,730m and comes after the riders have already completed 207km.

"It's the hardest climb and we need to protect Bradley and get him through this race," added Yates.

"The Giro is a lot harder than the Tour in terms of the climbs being much steeper which isn't in Bradley's favour.

"We mustn't get carried away and we've got to keep looking at the bigger picture which is the Tour de France - that is Bradley's ultimate goal.

"Anything the team do from here on in is a massive bonus; they've been absolutely superb in my opinion and I'm super-happy with a week or so to go.

"Anything can happen and it would be lovely to win a stage between now and the finish but as far as I'm concerned they've done more than we could possibly have asked of them."