Giro d'Italia: Gaviria gets his hat-trick on stage 12

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Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) claimed the third stage victory of his debut Grand Tour as he blew away the other sprinters on stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia.

The Colombian, who won a reduced group sprint on stage 3 and a full bunch kick on stage 5, had cause for concern when Max Richeze punctured with 15km remaining but the Argentinian came back to provide a lead-out so strong he himself finished fifth.

Jakub Mareczko (Wilier-Selle Italia) finished in second place for the second time in this Giro, taking Gaviria's wheel in the final kilometre but was unable to come around him. Sam Bennett was third, and the Irishman's disappointment will be felt all the more keenly given the way his Bora-Hansgrohe team dominated the final five kilometres.

Stage 2 winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) found himself badly positioned and he sat up as the neared the line, taking eighth place, while Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), the other sprint winner of this Giro, wasn't in the frame or the top 10 at all.

"I had a little moment where I was worried and I didn't know how he would do, but he did it," said Gaviria of Richeze in his post-race TV interview.

Wearing the maglia ciclamino as leader of the points classification, after extending his lead at the intermediate sprints as well as the finish, he was asked if he felt he was the best sprinter at the Giro.

"I'm not sure about the best," he replied. "The best sprinter in this Giro is Andre Greipel. He's won more stages in his career than me and won more stages of the Giro. I've maybe got the better legs at the moment, but he's the better sprinter."

For Bennett, the disappointment was palpable as he made it a treble of third places. His teammates held their position on the front of the bunch in the closing kilometres, but Richeze got the jump out of a left-hand bend with a few hundred metres to go, delivering Gaviria almost all the way to the line.

"I made a slight mistake in the final, I wasn't expecting Quick-Step to come from behind like that, and I went on the wrong side of Rudi [Selig]. I couldn't make the right call in that second and it cost me the top result again," Bennett told Eurosport. "I'm sorry for seeming down about it, but we came here to try and get wins and when the team is doing such a good job I just feel like I'm letting them down."

It was a lazy day as far as the general classification was concerned, with race leader Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) letting the sprinters' teams control the longest stage of the Giro at 229km, where two modest climbs in the opening half were followed by over 100km of flat. There was, however, a small split in the peloton in the high-speed finale, and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) was the main beneficiary, gaining six seconds to move up one place into eighth at the expense of Tanel Kangert (Astana).

"It was a tailwind in the final so it was really fast, but the rest of the day was quite relaxed, no stress, so it was good," said Dumoulin. "Tomorrow will be another sprint day. I hope to just survive that without any troubles, and we'll look forward to the weekend."

How it unfolded

There wasn't a huge fight to get into the breakaway on such a long, hot and fairly flat day. One man who had no shortage of motivation, however, was Mirco Maestri, who is from the stage finish town of Reggio Emilia. He missed the initial move that saw Sergey Firsanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates) off the front in the opening kilometres but managed to make the bridge after a few minutes, ensuring a manageable three-man group for the peloton to control on a long day in the saddle.

The trio quickly established a lead of seven minutes, but that started to fall once they hit the first climb of the day, the second-category Colle di Casaglia. Back in the bunch, Greipel's Lotto Soudal team led the way, setting a pace that didn't worry any of the sprinters, until they neared the top, whereupon Dimension Data took over to tee up Omar Fraile for the remaining KOM points. After his day in the breakaway and stage win yesterday, the Spaniard had drawn level on points in the mountains classification with Jan Polanc, and the pair went head-to-head in a dash for the banner. Fraile took it, all but ensuring he'd be taking the blue jersey off Polanc at the end of the stage.

There was little interest in the points amongst the breakaway, and that was the same for the intermediate sprint that came after a short descent and section of flat. Gaviria did, however, clip off the front of the peloton to extend his lead in the points classification, though no one else seemed bothered.

The pace had been increased in the peloton and the gap was down to below four minutes as the riders hit the second climb of the day, the third-category Valico Appenninico, though it grew again on the gentle motorway slopes of the climb itself as Quick-Step set a relaxed rhythm.

The KOM marker, 120km from the finish, went uncontested in both the break and the bunch, while the second intermediate sprint, positioned at the bottom of the gentle descent, went the same way as the first.

By that point, Lotto Soudal, Quick-Step, Orica-Scott, and Bora-Hansgrohe all had riders at the head of the peloton to control the gap to the breakaway, and it was down to below three minutes with 40km to go. No need for urgency.

The pace did soon ramp up, though, and the gap started to tumble, with the peloton lining out under the pressure. The break was just half a minute out front going into the final 15km and the foot was taken off the gas slightly to let them hang out there for a few more kilometres, which allowed Gaviria's lead-out man, Max Richeze, to rejoin after a puncture.

If Marcato and Firsanov knew the game was up, Maestri wanted to put on a show as he rode into his hometown of Reggio Emilia, and he attacked his companions with 13km to go, delaying the inevitable for a few for kilometres.

The catch was made with 7km to go, by which point the sprint trains were rubbing shoulders with the GC teams who were trying to keep their leaders out of trouble.

In the final 5km, Nairo Quintana's Movistar team led the way, but Bennett's Bora soon took control with almost every team member in a single file line. Lotto Soudal set up shop on the right-hand side under the 3km to go banner, while Quick-Step soon moved up on the left.

Eugert Zhupa (Wilier Selle Italia) tried to throw the cat among the pigeons in the final couple of kilometres with a solo flyer, but Bora remained calm and brought him back for the final kilometre. There was a left-hand bend with around 400 metres to go and though Bennett's lead-out man Rudi Selig led the way, Richeze had taken the Irishman's wheel and sprang past the Bora duo once they were all through the bend.

Gaviria remained patient and launched his sprint with 100 metres to go, making no mistake as he continued what has been a dream Grand Tour debut, with another opportunity on the horizon tomorrow.

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