Wet conditions shaped a hazardous day of racing for stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia, stage three winner Michael Matthews getting through unscathed to be with the front group on the short climb to the finish. BMC Racing led a late catch of two escapees in the final kilometre to launch Phillippe Gilbert to victory, whilst Matthews lost contact in the final metres to roll across the line in 32nd place.

“It took 70km for the break to go today, it was incredible,” White said of the day’s racing. "There were very straight roads, not too much wind and attack after attack.

"By the time the break went there were cross winds and it got really nervous, so we got on the front to chase straight away to make sure it didn’t blow out. Then the rain came and it stayed nervous all the way to the final.”

Earlier in the stage, 2014 Liege – Bastogne – Liege champion Simon Gerrans suffered from yet another fall that ruled him out of contention on a day he and his ORICA-GreenEDGE teammates had targeted.

“It’s obviously really disappointing for Simon today,” White said. “There hasn’t been much time for medical staff to assess too deeply yet but the good news is that whilst it is sore it looks to be just some skin off.”

The 35-year-old will not line up tomorrow as a precautionary measure.

Tomorrow’s stage 13 is one of the shorter days of the three-week Tour and is pan flat. Having missed a rare opportunity for a bunch kick in recent days, no doubt the sprint teams will want to redeem themselves on one of the few remaining opportunities left for their fast men.