Gaviria had already shown his sprinting credentials at the 100th edition of the race, but he confirmed himself as the fastest man in the peloton by winning the 229 kilometre stage 12.

Three riders would form the day’s breakaway, including Italy’s Mirco Maestri, who is from Reggio Emilia.

Maestri understandably opted to attack heading into the closing kilometres to put on a show in front of his local crowd, but was inevitably caught by the peloton as the sprint teams got into position.

Gaviria would come through to cross the line first in a time of five hours, 18min and 55sec, with Italy's Jakub Mareczko and Sam Bennett of Ireland completing the top three.

“Initially I was a bit worried when Max Richeze had a flat tyre because he’s got a very important role in my lead out,” said Gaviria, who leads the sprint classification.

“I was hoping he’d have enough time to come across, he did and his work at the end was phenomenal.

“Thanks to that I’ve had an exceptional victory.

“One win in a Grand Tour could be a question of luck but three, it’s just amazing.”

The Netherlands' Tom Dumoulin remains in the race lead as he preserved his 2:23 advantage over second place Nairo Quintana of Colombia in the overall standings.

Dumoulin would finish safely in the peloton today.

Fellow Dutch rider Bauke Mollema remains 2:38 behind in third place, with France's Thibaut Pinot a further two seconds back.

Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy is 2:47 off the lead.

The Tour of California, another International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race, continued with its fifth stage today.

The United States' Andrew Talansky won the stage in a time of 3:43:15, following a brutal climb up Mt. Baldy.

Race leader Rafal Majka of Poland ended on the same time in second, finishing two seconds clear of New Zealand's George Bennett.

Bennett is four seconds behind Majka overall, with a key time trial set to take place tomorrow.