Australian Neve Bradbury has reinforced her reputation as one of the best young climbers in women's cycling with an epic stage win at the Giro d'Italia.

The 22-year-old said she was "knackered but happy" after also improving to third overall.

Bradbury took out the 120km seventh stage from Lanciano to the formidable Blockhaus finish in the Abruzzo region.

The Queen stage of the Giro featured 3836m of climbing and has put the young Australian in a strong position with one day left.

"I am knackered but happy! I went so deep, I don't think I ever pushed so much in my career," the Canyon-SRAM rider said.

"When I attacked I was only thinking at the stage victory so I went full gas until the finish.

"Now I am on the podium of the GC (general classification) and tomorrow I will try to move up again and try to fight for the Maglia Rosa (pink leader's jersey)".

Bradbury is in elite company, trailling Italian race leader Elisa Longho Borghini (Lidl-Trek) by a minute 12 seconds.

Longho Borghini and Belgian world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) duelled on the steep climb to the Blockhaus.

Kopecky beat her rival for second place on the stage, 44 seconds behind the Australian.

Kopecky gained a two-second time bonus for second place and trails Longho Borghini by just one second overall ahead of the 117km final stage, from Pescara to L'Aquila, which features another 2332m of climbing.

The stage win also put Bradbury into the lead for the young rider category after her solo attack, 9km from the Blockhaus finish.

"I'm not sure where to start with that win. Neve smashed it out of the park. She took the climb on a steep section and took off like a rocket," her team boss Magnus Backstedt said.

Bradbury also finished second overall last month at the Tour of Switzerland and was third in January at Adelaide's Tour Down Under.