Mark Cavendish sprints to 100th career win at the Giro d'Italia

SPRINTER Mark Cavendish won the rainy 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia for his 100th career victory, as Vincenzo Nibali maintained his overall lead.

Italy Giro Cycling

SPRINTER Mark Cavendish won the rainy 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia for his 100th career victory, as Vincenzo Nibali maintained his overall lead.

Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins dropped out of contention, finishing more than 3 1/2 minutes behind the main pack as he struggled with a chest infection. There were questions over whether he would withdraw overnight.

Cavendish clocked just over 3 hours along the 134-kilometre route from Longarone to Treviso, which started with a few hills and ended with a long, flat finish around a circuit.

It was Cavendish's third win in this year's race. The British rider with the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team also won the first and sixth legs.

"I couldn't wait to get my 100th win and I'm very pleased to have done it here at the Giro," Cavendish said.

Nacer Bouhanni of France and Luke Mezgec of Slovenia crossed second and third, respectively, with the same time.

In the overall standings, Nibali, an Italian with Astana, remained 41 seconds ahead of 2011 Tour winner Cadel Evans of Australia. Wiggins' Sky teammate Rigoberto Uran of Colombia is third overall, 2:04 behind.

Robert Gesink of the Netherlands is fourth, 2:12 back. Michele Scarponi, the Italian who won the 2011 Giro when Alberto Contador was stripped of the title for doping, is fifth, 2:13 behind.

Wiggins dropped from fourth to 13th place, 5:22 behind Nibali.

"Uran is riding great," Nibali said. "The standings are still very close and Evans is right there. Scarponi is also pedaling well."

It was the 13th Giro stage win of Cavendish's career and his 39th in cycling's three Grand Tours - the Giro, Tour and Spanish Vuelta.

Stage 13 Friday is the race's longest, a mostly flat 254-kilometer (158-mile) leg from Busseto to Cherasco, with a few hills shortly before the finish.

The race hits the mountains again over the weekend, with Saturday's stage climbing Sestriere and Bardonecchia and Sunday taking riders into France and up the Col du Galibier, which is often included in the Tour de France.

The race ends May 26 in Brescia.