The FDJ.fr rider fought off a late surge by Track Factory Racing's Giacomo Nizzolo to beat the Italian and Australian Michael Matthews in a three-way sprint to the line.

The race looked set for a bunch sprint to the finish as around 10 riders came into the final kilometre, however, a slip from Tyler Farrar as he came into one of the final corners too fast sent many of the riders sprawling to the ground.

It then became a three-way sprint, with Nizzolo taking up the lead.

Frenchman Bouhanni stuck himself into the slipstream of the Trek rider, before jumping with around 75 meters to go.

"At the end it was really quick, but my team did it absolutely perfectly," said Bouhanni.

"They were all ready to help me and they gave me a very good approach to the sprint.

"I followed my team mates and in the final 500 metres I did my job."

Cadel Evans held on to his pink jersey as he avoided the late pile-up to cross the line unscathed ©Velo/Getty Images


Race leader Cadel Evans retained his pink jersey as he avoided the late crash to cross the line unscathed.

Despite many of his general classification rivals falling in the late incident, with the collision coming inside the final three kilometres, no time was lost by anyone, causing his lead to remain at 57 seconds.

"As expected after a rest day, everyone is a bit fresher physically and mentally," said the Australian.

"The final climb was very fast and the fresher riders were desperate to get to the front after the descent.

"It often makes it a more dangerous finish."

The 173km leg set out from Modena, where the riders had enjoyed a rest day yesterday, and ended in Salsomaggiore.

An early break by Marco Bandiera of Androni Giocattoli and Andrea Fedi of Neri Sottoli was largely left to its own devices by the main peloton as many teams readied themselves for a bunch finish.

As the teams began fighting for control at the front of the peloton, with 20km to go, the advantage of Bandiera and Fedi began to tumble.

After almost the entire day out-front, the pair was finally caught in the closing nine kilometres as Team Sky began to push the pace, hoping to drop the pure sprinters and set up Great Britain's Ben Swift for the stage win.

The ploy failed, however, as the likes of Bouhanni and Nizzolo made their way back to the front in ample time to sprint for the win.

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