Kooij wins Giro stage 12 with Briton Turner third

Olav Kooij won a close-fought sprint on stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia as Isaac del Toro retained the pink jersey in Viadana.

Dutchman Kooij benefited from Visma-Lease A Bike team-mate Wout van Aert's superb lead-out in the final kilometre.

Casper van Uden finished second with Britain's Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers third.

"Only he [Wout] can do it, so to have him as here is extraordinary," said Kooij.

"I really need to thank him and also the rest of the team, they did a fantastic job.

"You don't want to be too far [back] in that last corner, that's maybe why we had to go a bit earlier than we wanted but I could jump on the wheel of Casper and him."

Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG stayed out of the hectic fight for position in the closing stages to finish safely in the bunch and maintain his hold on the pink jersey.

A sprint for two bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometre in Brescello means the 21-year-old heads into stage 13 with a 33-second lead over team-mate Juan Ayuso in the race overall.

Kooij's British team-mate Simon Yates is in fourth, one minute and 11 seconds off the overall lead.

1. Olav Kooij (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) 3hr 55min 40sec

2. Casper van Uden (Ned/PicniostNL) Same time

3. Ben Turner (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)

4. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek)

5. Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck)

6. Milan Fretin (Bel/Cofidis)

7. Max Kanter (Ger/XDS Astana)

8. Paul Magnier (Fra/Soudal Quick-Step)

9. Matevz Govekar (Slo/Bahrain-Victorious)

10. Matteo Moschetti (Ita/Q36.5 Pro Cycling)