04:01 PM
40km to go
Once again, it is Tom Pidcock who leads the way down the mountain. Neilson Powless follows though there is a small gap, then Louis Meintjes is third wheel, Chris Froome fourth, while Giulio Ciccone comes up the rear.
03:56 PM
47km to go
Wout van Aert, who is thankfully dressed in the traditional black shorts-green jersey combination for this classic stage – as opposed to the horrific flying legumes skinsuit he has sported for the flatter stages – leads the maillot jaune off the descent of the Croix de Fer. The breakaway’s lead has dropped to 4min 40sec.
03:47 PM
54.5km to go
Giulio Ciccone rolls off the front before going over the summit of the Croix de Fer to add another 20 points to his tally in the mountains classification. Neilson Powless is second, with Louis Meintjes in third. The maillot jaune follows at 4min 45sec. Long descent to follow.
03:41 PM
56km to go
Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) is the latest rider to be dropped by the peloton, while Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Ag2r-Citroën) is also labouring. Jumbo-Visma are putting a real demonstration of strength on the front of the race. Presumably in an effort to keep the pace high and deter any attacks, rather than trying to chase down Tom Pidcock. The breakaway are nearing the summit.
03:37 PM
57km to go
Chris Froome, incredibly, is still in the leading group. His riding style has not improved and he still looks like a frog on a skateboard, but what he is doing today is proving effective. Tom Pidcock, by contrast, is bristling.
03:34 PM
58km to go
Ineos Grenadiers team-mates Jonathan Castroviejo and Luke Rowe are dropped by the peloton, which now has Nathan Van Hooydonck riding hrad on the front. The pace has increased resulting in the breakaway’s lead dropping to just over six minutes.
03:32 PM
59km to go
Out of his saddle, Tom Pidcock is looking like he is trying to cause another split. But he may be getting a little ahead of himself here today, I know the attacks started flowing 60km from the line yesterday, but Jumbo-Visma had an entire team at their disposal – Pidcock is on his own.
03:28 PM
60km to go
Just over 5km from the summit of the Croix de Fer and Tom Pidcock presses down on those cranks, causing a split in the breakaway. Nelson Oliveira and Sebastian Schönberger are the first to crack, then Anthony Perez is the next to go. Louis Meintjes, however, is all over Pidcock. Giulio Ciccone, Neilson Powless and Chris Froome follow in the wheels.
03:25 PM
61km to go
Christophe Laporte continues on the front of the peloton, the Frenchman towing along a phalanx of Jumbo-Visma team-mates. Laporte has, I think, done pretty much all of the heavy lifting for Jonas Vingegaard today and so the Dane’s team-mates will, in theory, be as fresh as possible for when the action kicks off later.
03:17 PM
64km to go
With each turn he takes on the front, Tom Pidcock increases the pace. Anthony Perez, however, does not appear too pleased and gives the precociously talented young rider a bit of a death stare as the Frenchman pulls through. The breakaway’s advantage, meanwhile, has dropped to 6min 30sec around 9.5km from the summit.
03:06 PM
69.5km to go
The breakaway is just under 15km from the summit of the Croix de Fer and they lead the maillot jaune by 7min 2sec. All very calm in both groups at the moment, but I suspect things may change on the approach to Alpe d’Huez. Louis Meintjes is, in theory, in the best position of those in the breakaway thanks to having Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team-mate Kobe Goossens there to lend a helping hand, but Giulio Ciccone, Tom Pidcock, Neilson Powless and Anthony Perez will be hoping to challenge also.
Chris Froome, of course, is a huge name, but I’m not sure he has what it takes to launch a serious assault. Happy to be proven wrong though, what a story that would be.
02:57 PM
73.5km to go
A small split forms in the breakaway after Tom Pidcock rolls through on the front to take a turn, but it soon closes up. Their advantage over the maillot jaune has dropped to a shade over seven minutes. Chris Froome appears to be starting at his stem, it’s like 2014 all over again.
02:49 PM
75km to go
Unsurprisingly, sprinters Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Fabio Jakobsen (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) were dropped a few minutes ago. The nine-man breakaway has increased its advantage to 7min 15sec and are just under 21km from the hors catégorie Col de la Croix de Fer. Tom Pidcock is looking very assured, tapping away with the upper half of his body barely moving, his face expressionless.
02:39 PM
79km to go
Victor Lafay (Cofidis), the Frenchman who won a st age at last year’s Giro d’Italia, looks to be struggling at the rear of the race. His face looks very red, but Lafay’s face always looks red, but the fact that he’s trailing Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) on this climb would suggest he is not having the best Bastille Day.
02:35 PM
80.5km to go
Christophe Laporte has been riding on the front of the peloton, monitoring things for Jumbo-Visma and Jonas Vingegaard.
It is very hot out on the road today, over 35°C! Staying hydrated, fuelled and as cools as possible in the heat of battle will be absolutely key for everybody today.
Tadej Pogacar supposedly does not enjoy the extreme heat, but he cannot afford to lose too much more time today so will have to measure his efforts a little more smartly than he did on Wednesday. The breakaway’s advantage has grown out to 6min 50sec.
02:27 PM
83km to go
The breakaway is onto the second categorised climb of the day, the hors catégorie Col de la Croix de Fer. Only 28.5km to the summit . . . The peloton trails by over six minutes.
02:17 PM
90km to go
Having showed off his descending skills, Tom Pidcock has finally been caught by the rest of the escapees, his nine-man breakaway leading the stage by 5min 20sec. The Yorkshireman, who is the highest placed rider in the general classification in the breakaway, has moved up to eighth in the virtual standings and is around three minutes away from taking the young rider’ white jersey – although if his advantage keeps on growing, the teams of Romain Bardet (DSM) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) may start getting twitchy and start riding on the front of the peloton in an attempt to rein him back in and protect their respective places in the overall standings.
02:07 PM
100km to go
Neilson Powless rolled off the front of the breakaway a few minutes ago, but once again Tom Pidcock is giving a demonstration in how to descend and caught the American before riding straight through him. I cannot emphasise how good he is at going down these steep mountains. He’s like an artist. Absolutely beautiful bike rider.
02:01 PM
104.5km to go
Absolutely brilliant riding from Tom Pidcock and Chris Froome who have bridged over to the breakaway. I’ve seen Pidcock race cyclo-cross, the classics and mountain biking, but not seen him in a breakaway in a grand tour before. This is a very special performance.
01:57 PM
107.5km to go
Other than Matis Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic), the early escapees have regrouped, meaning a seven-man breakaway – Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM) – lead the stage.
01:53 PM
111km to go
Halfway down the descent of the Galibier and the road kicks up briefly, Tom Pidcock and Chris Froome – two very different generations of British cycling – are working well together and inching ever closer to stage leaders.
01:46 PM
114km to go
Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) have bridged over to Anthony Perez (Cofidis), the quartet leads Tom Pidcock and Chris Froome by around a minute.
01:43 PM
117km to go
Tom Pidcock is leading Chris Froome off the long and very fast descent off the Galibier, the Ineos Grenadiers rider has gained a minute on the maillot jaune, but suspect he is either thinking about challenging for the stage here today or, possibly, playing a team role and position himself up the road in order to act as a satellite rider for later on in the stage: or both.
01:37 PM
Pidcock on the charge!
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) has managed to slip off the front of the peloton and is giving a lesson is descending to his elder colleagues in the peloton. He is going like a demon, looking very comfortable and confident as he leans into each corner like a natural. He even managed to overtake Matis Louvel on the right while cornering to the left. Sublime riding from the young Yorkshireman.
01:35 PM
Froome ‘inspired’ by former team-mate Thomas
Chris Froome, who is currently attempting to bridge over to the stage leaders, has told Telegraph Sport he has been “inspired” by Geraint Thomas’ form at this Tour de France and is “still keeping the dream alive” that, at 37, he can return to the winners’ circle in elite cycling.
Frooome suffered a life-threatening crash at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019 and has struggled to return to his previous levels since returning from the accident.
But the four-time Tour champion said the sight of Welshman Thomas mixing it with 20-somethings Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at this Tour had given him hope that he could win again.
“I mean for sure the general level is higher [than before the accident],” Froome told Tom Cary. “There are more guys at a very competitive level now, whereas before it felt like there were only a handful of guys really who stood out. But what gives me a lot of confidence is looking around at guys who I was racing with back then. Guys like G [Geraint Thomas], for example, who are the same age as me, more or less, but yeah, still right up there performing. It’s inspiring.”
Froome, who left Ineos Grenadiers for Israel Premier-Tech in 2021, came into this Tour claiming to be “within 10-15 watts” of his title-winning form after undergoing a threshold test on the Col de la Madone. He also said he took encouragement from the fact that he had reached his target weight of 67 kilograms. Froome’s weight at the 2017 Tour, the last of his four wins, was 68 kilograms.
“I’ve seen a lot of progression these last few months,” Froome said. “Things are still improving. Sensations are still getting better. I’ve had a few little setbacks with getting a bit sick at the Dauphine [last month’s Criterium du Dauphine] and stuff.
“And I’ve been in the wars a little bit here. I’m still coughing up dust from the Roubaix stage [on Wednesday], too. The chest hasn’t been feeling great. But in terms of moving forward, I think I’m still moving in the right general direction. So I’ve still got hope and I’m keeping the dream alive.”
Froome added the Alps this week would give a more accurate gauge of his form, provided he can breathe properly.
“I just want to see where I’m at over these next few days. I haven’t really had a chance to test myself in the mountains yet. I want to see how the chest feels. I’ve been coughing a lot and struggling since Roubaix but hopefully it will clear up.”
01:33 PM
Galibier details . . .
01:29 PM
132km to go
Over the top of the Galibier goes Anthony Perez, adding 20 points to his mountains classification account.
01:27 PM
132km to go
Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) is on the march, but has the four-time Tour de France winner left it too late? He trails stage leader Anthony Perez by 1min 44sec, which may be too much.
01:25 PM
132.5km to go
There has been a couple of splits in the breakaway, Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) are in the leading group, 24sec behind Anthony Perez (Cofidis), while Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM) are a little bit further back and Matis Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) trails. Suspect they will regroup once over the other side of the climb.
01:19 PM
135km to go
Anthony Perez has clipped off the front of the breakaway, the Frenchman is off in pursuit of a stackful of points in the mountains classification. Could he be celebrating Bastille Day by taking hold of the polka dot jersey later on this afternoon? He’s leading the stage by 18sec and is just 3km from the summit of the Galibier now.
01:14 PM
137km to go
Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) joined forces with Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) before the lightweight climbers bridged over to the breakaway, but they lead the Wout van Aert-powered peloton by just 1min 22sec.
01:11 PM
138.5km to go
Wout van Aert, riding on the front of the maillot jaune’s group, reels in Thibaut Pinot‘s group. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) is spat out of the back of the bunch, another early blow for Tadej Pogacar.
01:09 PM
139km to go
Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) is struggling to put any serious time into the peloton, which is being paced by the Jumbo-Visma boys. Guy Niv (Israel-Premier Tech) puts in an attack off the front of the maillot jaune’s group, and is followed by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and a handful of others.
01:00 PM
As it stands . . .
As mentioned earlier, today’s stage featured an uphill start and a six-man breakaway – Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Matis Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM) – is 10km from the summit of the Galibier, but only lead the peloton by 1min 44sec.
Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) is attempting to bridge over and is 45sec down on the stage leaders, while Louis Meintjes and his Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team-mate Georg Zimmermann are another 25sec or so down the road, both wanting to get over to the day’s breakaway.
07:25 AM
Hello
And welcome to our live rolling blog from stage 12 of the 109th Tour de France, the 165.5-kilometre run from
Briançon to
Alpe d’Huez.
Well, what a stage that was on Wednesday – one of the best in many years and one that brought the race back to life – where Jumbo-Visma made the most of their numbers, while defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), for the first time in his career, was mugged right off. But for Jonas Vingegaard to do what he did, the Dane needed the plan, the team-mates and the nerve to take it to Pogacar. It was a stage for the ages, and while Vingegaard was the big winner, others did brilliantly too: Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), Romain Bardet (DSM) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) all impressed. Here are the highlights from a breathtaking day of racing.
As a result of Vingegaard’s stage win, the Dane, who finished second on his race debut last year, took his first maillot jaune, the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France, having turned around a 39sec deficit into a 2min 16sec lead over second-placed Bardet, with the pre-race favourite Pogacar now in third spot at
2min 22sec.
After taking maximum points at the intermediate sprint before later in the day helping out his team-mates, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) extended his lead in the race for the green jersey. Barring a crash or dramatic collapse of Devon Loch proportions, such is the Belgian all-rounder’s lead, he has all but assured the points jersey.
German rider Simon Geschke (Cofidis) kept hold of the maillot à pois, or the polka dot jersey, as the leader of the mountains classification, although things are getting tight near the top and with three hors catégorie climbs featured today, there may be a big shake-up in the competition as the mountain goats come to the fore.
Pogacar, who has led the young rider classification since stage one, will be back in the white jersey after losing his yellow jersey.
So, what’s on today’s menu?
Another day, another massive mountain test. With over 4,600 metres in vertical elevation contested over three hors catégorie climbs – Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer and Alpe d’Huez – today’s stage features more climbing than any other day in the three-week race. It is a classic route, one not too dissimilar to the stage in 1986 where Bernard Hinault prevailed the day after losing his yellow jersey to La Vie Claire team-mate Greg LeMond on the Granon.
Straight from the flag, the peloton heads up, up, up towards the summit of the Galibier for the second time in as many days, but not until it has passed through the intermediate sprint in Le Monêtier-les-Bains. Today’s ascent of the Galibier may not reach the steepest of pitches, but at 33.2km it is a horrible start to what will be a tough stage, particularly coming off the back of Wednesday’s test.
Following a long, almost 50km, descent where the riders may experience flashbacks from Wednesday’s as they crest over the Télégraphe, the road will, once again, kick up towards the Croix de Fer, yet another famous junction in the Tour where riders and their supporters will be praying their legs are in good form.
The third and final categorised climb of the day will see the riders head of one of the most famous, but arguably ugliest, climb in Tour history. First contested in 1952 when the great and late Fausto Coppi prevailed atop Alpe d’Huez, the switchback-tastic drag up to the ski station provides the canvas on which the riders are free to express themselves, but will today be yet another masterpiece?
As mentioned, the intermediate sprint comes relatively early and so, in all likelihood, any rider looking to add to their accounts in the race for green – yes, Van Aert – will probably be on the rollers pre-stage.
And finally, the weather. . .
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