Pozzato sprints to home win

TEAM Katusha's Filippo Pozzato recorded the first Italian stage win in this year's Giro D'Italia after a tight sprint finish.

The 206-kilometre 12th stage from Citta Sant'Angelo to Porto Recanati did not witness a repeat of stage 11's sensational events, which saw an entirely new top ten after a mass early breakaway.

That remains unchanged, with Australian Richie Porte retaining the race leader's pink jersey for Team Saxo Bank, but a measure of order was restored on the day.

Bouygues Telecom's Thomas Voeckler led and paced the crucial late break but Pozzato got up to pip the Frenchman on the line.

Voeckler was edged out by half a wheel length as Pozzato came up trumps in the sprint for the line, with Jerome Pineau following in third. Alexandre Vinokourov, who had worn the pink jersey prior to Wednesday's drama, crossed the line in fifth.

Porte leads overall by 1:42 from David Arroyo, with Robert Kiserlovski third and Xavier Tondo holding onto fourth place despite an early fall yesterday morning.

Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins remains tenth despite finishing down in 58th place on the day.