Fernando Gaviria wins Giro d'Italia stage 12 as Geraint Thomas loses more time

Colombian Gaviria put in another impressive performance in the first Grand Tour of his career

Fernando Gaviria burst clear at the end of the Giro's longest stage to claim his third win (Getty)

Fernando Gaviria sprinted to victory on stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia on what proved another disappointing day for Team Sky's Geraint Thomas.

Quick-Step's Gaviria burst clear at the end of the Giro's longest stage to claim his third win ahead of Jakub Mareczko (Wilier-Triestina) and Ireland's Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe).

It was another impressive performance from Colombian Gaviria, a former two-time Omnium world champion on the track, who is competing in the first Grand Tour of his career.

There was no change at the top of the overall standings with Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin preserving his two minutes and 23 second lead over Movistar's Nairo Quintana, with Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) in third.

Thomas lost another 48 seconds on the leaders (Getty)

But Thomas, whose overall chances were effectively wiped out by a major crash on Sunday, lost another 48 seconds on the leaders and now lies in 15th place, six minutes and 46 seconds back.

Gazprom-RusVelo's Sergey Firsanov led an early breakaway on the stage which at one point reached more than six-and-a-half minutes before Italian Mirco Maestri went solo.

Maestri maintained his advantage until he was swallowed by the peloton with around seven kilometres remaining, handing a predominantly flat and unremarkable stage over to the sprinters.

Bennett did his best to better the two third places he has already achieved in this year's race but ultimately it was Gaviria who blazed home as the Colombian continues to impress.