Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia - a 229km ride from Forli to Reggio Emilia, and the longest stage of the race. Besides two lower category climbs in the opening half, it's pretty much flat all the way and so will definitely re-open the doors for a ding-dong battle between the sprinters.

No change in the general classification today after an easy ride for all the big guns. Rather, the day belonged to this man... what a debut Giro he's having...

Caleb Ewan was nowhere to be seen while Andre Greipel lost his lead-out man and could only get eighth place.

Here's the moment Gaviria nailed his third win of the race to extend his lead in the maglia ciclamino competition.

So, it's a victory for Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) while Jakub Mareczko (Wilier-Selle Italia) is second and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) third.

But it's a comprehensive win for Fernando Gaviria, who takes his third win of the race.

Lotto Soudal have a man on the front, but no Greipel... and Bora power through onto the home straight...

Zhupa is caught just before the 1-to-go banner...

It's a massive battle for positioning now as Eugert Zhupa, the Albanian national champion and another locally raised rider, has a pop off the front!

Now the Lotto Soudal train on the other side of the road... fascinating stuff. Orica-Scott's reduced train are swingign between the two, with Quick-Step currently taking a back seat.

Bora-Hansgrohe in control now with six riders on the front - they're clearly going all in for Sam Bennett today.

All over for Mirco Maestri, who should be rewarded with the combativity prize today. Bora-Hansgrohe now taking it up - and so are Wilier-Selle Italia.

But now the teams of the GC riders muscle their way in to protect their riders: FDJ and Movistar, most notably, there for Pinot and Quintana respectively. Dumoulin's Sunweb team are there too...

Quick-Step now take over the reins as the gap comes down to 10 seconds.

Fans on the side of the road have lit flares by the 10-to-go banner. It's all Orica-Scott and Quick-Step for now. 20 seconds for Maestri.

Firsanov and Marcato have been reeled in. Just Maestri out now, the 25-year-old, who heralds from nearby Guastalla, is going for the daily combativity prize: he knows he won't be able to defy the rampaging pack on a day like this. Still, he has 22 seconds to play with, so why not treat his people to a bit of a spectacle. He's totally burying himself!

Richeze is back on the back of the peloton but will have his work cut out moving up to the front because the pace is high and it's very strung out.

Local lad Mirco Maestri has one last throw of the dice as he rides clear of his two fellow escapees just as the gap was coming down to just 20 seconds...

Blow for Quick-Step and Gaviria: Max Richeze, the Colombian's lead-out man, has picked up a puncture. He'll have a struggle to fight back on now - and may be exhausted before the finish.

We're 11 stages in and still there's been no win for the host nation. Their best bets today are sprinters Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates), Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) and Jakub Mareczko (Wilier-Selle Italia) although none of them are of the same calibre as the likes of Gaviria, Greipel, Ewan or even Bennett.

There's a slight lull on the front of the pack as two of Dumoulin's Sunweb team-mates even manage to have a convivial chat with the Orica-Scott train working for Caleb Ewan. The gap is 35 seconds for the three leaders.