Thomas took possession of the overall race lead after Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel was forced to withdraw following the previous stage on Sunday (May 14) after a positive coronavirus test.

Cort Nielsen of EF Education-Easypost has now won stages in all three Grand Tours following his win in today’s 196 kilometres stage from Scandiano to Viareggio.

In rainy conditions, the Danish rider outsprinted his breakaway rivals to cross the line in 4hours 51min 15sec.

Canadian Derek Gee of Israel-Premier Tech finished second on the same time, with the podium for the stage completed by home rider Alessandro De Marchi of Team Jayco Alula, two seconds adrift.

Danish rider Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo led home the peloton in fourth place, 51 seconds behind the stage winner.

Reflecting on his stage win Cort Nielsen said it had been "a tough day."

"I'm extremely happy to complete my trilogy, winning a stage of the Giro d'Italia after the Tour de France and La Vuelta," said Cort Nielsen.

"But it's been one of the hardest days I've spent on the bike. 

"Firstly I had to get back to the front. 

"Then my radio wasn't working because of the rain so I was never sure where the chasing peloton was. 

"But we kept pushing hard. It was worth it. It's hard to believe that it happened though."

In the overall Maglia Rosa standings, Ineos Grenadiers rider Thomas leads by two seconds from Slovenia’s Primož Roglič of Team Jumbo-Visma and by five seconds from compatriot and teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart.

Tomorrow the riders are set to take on the longest stage of this year’s race - 219km from Camaiore to Tortona.