Andre Greipel claimed a third stage win of this year's Giro d'Italia on Thursday (19th May) before announcing his early departure from the race, while Bob Jungels maintained the overall lead.

It was a day for the sprinters in the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, with stage 12's flat, 182-kilometre course from Noale to Bibione expected to end in a bunched finish.

Mirco Maestri and Daniel Oss were the two riders looking to upset the odds after breaking clear of the peloton, the rainy conditions boosting their chances of a successful escape.

However, the Italian duo's breakaway came to an end with 22 km to go.

The riders from Lotto-Soudal then came to the front of the main bunch as they looked to set up Andre Greipel for a third win at this year's race.

Australian Caleb Ewan provided the only threat to Greipel's victory hopes, but the German forced his sprint rival to pass on the outside in the closing metres and the Orica-Greenedge rider had neither the time nor power to make it count.

Having already won stages five and seven, Greipel topped the podium again on stage 12 with a winning time of four hours and 16 minutes, with Ewan finishing in second place and Giacomo Nizzolo third.

Bob Jungels finished safely amidst the peloton with the same time as Greipel and maintained his 24-second lead over closest rival Andrey Amador at the top of the general classification.