Giro d'Italia: Andre Greipel wins again as Tom Dumoulin keeps lead

Andre Greipel handed Lotto Soudal their third successive stage win

Andre Greipel sprinted to his second win of this year's Giro d'Italia on stage seven as Tom Dumoulin retained the overall lead.

Greipel (Lotto Soudal) added to his victory on stage five by beating Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) into second place and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) into third in Foligno.

Marcel Kittel (Etixx - Quick-Step) had been favourite for the stage win but suffered a mechanical problem with just over 5km to go and did not contest the sprint.

Tom Dumoulin continues to lead the general classification by 26 seconds

Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) finished in the peloton to ensure he remains 26 seconds ahead of second-placed Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and 28 seconds in front of third-placed Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) in the general classification.

Lotto Soudal have now won the past three stages of the Giro, with Greipel's triumphs coming either side of a solo win by Tim Wellens on stage six.

Greipel squeezed through a gap before hitting the front

Greipel told Eurosport: "I was looking for a wheel to follow and find a gap to start my sprint. I thought it was going to be too late, but I was lucky enough to find a gap to get through.

"We were already happy with the Giro so far, but now we have three out of the seven stages. It is quite an amazing Giro for us and we will just enjoy the moment."

The Giro continues on Saturday with a 186km eighth stage from Foligno to Arezzo. Find out more about the stage in our race guide.

Stage seven result

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, 5:01:08

2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, same time

3 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st

4 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, st

5 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo, st

6 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step, st

7 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha, st

8 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha, st

9 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, st

10 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, st

General classification

1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, 29:23:23

2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, +26sec

3 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, +28

4 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step, +35

5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, +38

6 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +41

7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida, same time

8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, +47

9 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Dimension Data, +49

10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale, +51