Fernando Gaviria sprinted to his fourth stage victory ©Getty Images

Colombia's Fernando Gaviria secured a superb fourth stage win on his Giro d'Italia debut after further sprint success in Tortona.

The Quick-Step Floors rider continued his startling debut Grand Tour after emerging as the winner of the 167 kilometre stage 13.

Gaviria became the first rider since Bernard Hinault in 1978 to win four stages on a first appearance at a Grand Tour, with the Frenchman achieving the feat at the Vuelta a Espana.

Gaviria triumphed in a time of 3 hours, 47min 45sec with Ireland's Sam Bennett, who had already finished third three times at this year's race, ending as the runner-up on the same time.

Belgium’s Jasper Stuyven crossed the line third, with Roberto Ferrari of Italy fourth.

“As I was stuck behind, I almost thought it was impossible to make it back to the front, but we had to go for the fight and we took one more win,” said Gaviria, who leads the sprint classification.

“Riders touching each other, it happens in a sprint, I took it quietly and made my way.

“It’s great to feel the support of Colombian athletes from other sports.

“Now that I’m winning on the road, I won’t go back to track cycling.

“To compensate for missing the gold medal at the Rio Olympics, I'll have to win three monuments and a World Championship.”

Fernando Gaviria currently leads the sprint classification heading into a series of mountain stages ©Getty Images
Fernando Gaviria currently leads the sprint classification heading into a series of mountain stages ©Getty Images

With the flat profile of the race, the Netherlands' Tom Dumoulin retained his race lead of 2:23 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.

Britain’s Geriant Thomas, who saw his general classification hopes come to an end in a crash on May 14, pulled out of the race earlier today.

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

New Zealand's George Bennett, who began the day four seconds behind Rafal Majka of Poland, moved into the race lead.

It followed an impressive time trial performance, which puts him 35 seconds clear of second place Majka.

The United States' Andrew Talansky is a further second back.

The stage was won by Britain's Jonathan Dibben in a time of 28:27, with the Team Sky rider ending seven seconds clear of Brent Bookwalter of the United States.