France’s Julian Alaphilippe held off the chasing pack after a huge breakaway to claim his first win of the Giro d’Italia with victory in stage 12.

The 193km route from Martinsicuro to Fano featured enough climbs to deny the sprinters the chance to catch Alaphilippe, who broke away from a large leading group with more than 100km to go.

The Soudal-Quick Step rider, 31, who came close to winning stage six but was beaten on the line by Pelayo Sanchez, joined the initial break of 40 riders before powering away from the pack alongside Italian Mirco Maestri.

The Polti-Kometa rider ran out of steam with 15km remaining as Alaphilippe moved to the front alone.

Quinten Hermans and Jhonatan Narvaez began closing in but the Frenchman had enough resolve to cross the line first, with Narvaez finishing in front of Hermans to take second.

Tadej Pogacar, meanwhile, finished in the peloton to retain the overall leader’s pink jersey.

“I always believed I could win but until the last kilometres I had to push full gas. The chasers were close behind me,” Alaphilippe said.

“It was my dream to win a stage at the Giro d’Italia. It makes me really happy. It’s an important win for me after difficult times,” Alaphilippe said.