Alberto Contador extends lead, Philippe Gilbert wins stage 12

Belgian veteran Gilbert of BMC attacked in the final kilometre of the 190km stage from Imola to edge ahead of the streamlined pack on the punchy climb of Monte Berico.

The former world champion held on to win in trademark explosive fashion by three seconds over Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), who dropped his rivals to pick up three valuable bonus seconds.

With youngster Fabio Aru (Astana) finishing a further 11 seconds back, Contador cemented his grip on the maglia rosa after a demanding day in the saddle saw numerous riders crash on slippery roads.

Italian Diego Ulissi, the Lampre-Merida rider who won stage seven in Fiuggi, took third place ahead of Germany’s Simon Geschke of Giant-Alpecin.

Victory for 32-year-old Gilbert – his first of the season and the second Giro scalp of his career – came after BMC failed to reel in the break in Wednesday’s finale at Imola.

"It was very hard to day because the pace was very fast at the beginning,” said Gilbert. "We tried yesterday but I was empty at the end. I was disappointed and I didn’t sleep so well.

"But this morning we had a big team meeting and we decided to go for it. The sporting directors had confidence in me and it was the right decision.”

FAST START: An average speed of 52.2km/h ensured no break formed on the flat run out of Imola until 75km of racing under the sun of Emilia-Romagna.

Five riders - Germany's Patrick Gretsch (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Italians Davide Appollonio (Androni-Giocattoli) and Enrico Barbin (Bariani-CSF), Frenchman Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) and Dutchman Nick Van der Lijke (LottoNL-Jumbo) – eventually formed the day’s break.

But with the Orica-GreenEdge team of Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans riding tempo on the front and mindful of the peloton’s inability to control the race in the previous two stages, the advantage of the quintet never crept much above the two-minute mark.

RAIN AND HILLS: Once the break was swallowed up with 60km remaining, the final third of the stage was enlivened by three short but sharp categorised climbs and torrential rain which wreaked havoc on the peloton.

Spaniard Benat Intxausti (Movistar) picked up enough KOM points to open up an eight-point lead in the blue jersey standings over Geschke, his nearest rival.

Belgian tyro Louis Vervaeke (Lotto-Soudal) gave fans a taste of his promise with a solo attack inside the final 50km. But caution was the order of the day after scores of riders came a cropper on the treacherous descent of the Cat.3 climb to Crosara.

Australia’s Gerrans and Dutchman Stef Clement (IAM Cycling) hit the deck hard, while Frenchman Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) was forced to unclip on a succession of bends before finally overcooking a turn and almost careering into a bunch of spectators.

PELLIZOTTI ATTACKS: It was left to veteran Italian Franco Pellizotti (Androni Sidermec) to roll back the years and edge ahead of the splintered pack 15km from the finish.

Already, Contador had tested his legs over two categorised climbs to remind his rivals just how strong he is – although it was Aru’s Astana team who had the power in numbers entering the business end of the stage.

With six men driving the pace, Astana could even afford to send one up the road in pursuit of Pellizotti in the form of Tanel Kangert.

The Estonian caught the lone leader with 5km – and that final climb – remaining, the pair holding a gap of 30 seconds over the pack as they rode under the kite and started the ascent of Monte Berico.

And it looked like Astana were going to add to Paulo Tiralongo’s stage nine win when Kangert dropped Pellizotti and rode clear in the final 500 metres.

GLORIOUS GILBERT: But BMC has other ideas. The Swiss-based team had set a strong tempo leading up to the ascent and Gilbert rain danced on the pedals to roar clear, passing Kangert with just 200m remaining.

Gilbert had time to look over his shoulder and celebrate wildly as he crossed the line to end a barren run stretching back to last October's Tour of Beijing.

But the big story was Contador’s statement of intent. The climb was short, yet the 32-year-old was able to take time off all his rivals – not only by distancing them, but by taking those bonus seconds for finishing behind Gilbert.

Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep), Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Mikel Landa (Astana) all finished in a group three seconds behind the Spaniard, but Aru came home in a second group at 11 seconds.

Contador now leads Aru by 17 seconds on GC with Landa at 55 seconds ahead of Friday’s totally flat 147km stage 13 from Montecchio Maggiore to Jesolo. A chance for the sprinters to have one last roll of the die ahead of Saturday's long individual time trial and the decisive mountain stages.