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Tour Stage 12 Report: The finish of stage 12 up the Alpe d’Huez didn’t disappoint with a stunning attack from Tom Pidcock at the base of the climb to win the stage from Louis Meintjes and Chris Froome. Behind them, Tadej Pogačar attacked the favourite’s group, but Jonas Vingegaard had him covered.
Stage 12 last K
Tom Pidcock won the Queen Stage of the Tour de France. The British rider of the INEOS Grenadiers team attacked from the leading group 10 kilometres from the finish on Alpe d’Huez and held all the others at bay. Louis Meintjes and Chris Froome took second and third. Tadej Pogačar bombarded yellow jersey wearer Jonas Vingegaard with two strong attacks, but the Dane was able to hold out strongly.
‘What’s the plan today Jonas?’
Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme: “There’s a wink to history here as well as a desire to close the Battle of the Alps on a route tailor-made for the best climbers. It’s an exact replica of the Briançon-Alpe d’Huez stage of 1986, with the ascent of the Galibier once again on the programme, followed by the climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer, before tackling the 21 hairpins leading up to the Isère resort. It will provide an intermediate assessment of the state of play.”
Stage 12 profile
From the starting gun, American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) shot out of the peloton. Powless, who had a view of a top-10 place until yesterday, went solo. It took a while for reinforcements, but eventually Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM), Matis Louvel (Arkéa Samsic) and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) joined him. The six escapees joined forces going towards the foot of the Col du Galibier.
Philippe Gilbert’s wife, Bettina Pesce, and daughter Valentine were at the start today
The peloton was still restless, many riders tried to cross to the front group. Primoz Roglič, Thibaut Pinot and Aleksandr Vlasov, among others, tried, but were unable. It was Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) who caught the escapees on the slopes of the Col du Galibier. Jumbo-Visma took control at the head of the peloton and set the pace and closed gaps to larger groups that had tried to get away.
The jerseys at the start
Ciccone and Meintjes joined the six leaders at the front a few kilometres from the top. The eight didn’t stay together on the first climb of the day, Frenchman Perez didn’t think it was going fast enough and went solo. Powless, Meintjes and Ciccone were the strongest climbers in the chase group and the three of them stayed close to Perez. The 31-year-old rider from Toulouse took 20 KOM points. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) decided to give a masterclass of descending after the top of the Galibier. Together with Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) he rode towards the escapees.
A win for France and Pinot on Bastille day?
On the way to the Col de la Croix de Fer, Pidcock and Froome joined the front group, but Louvel had been dropped. The lead of the nine at that time was under 4 minutes. The pace then dropped even more in the peloton, much to the pleasure of the sprinters Fabio Jakobsen and Caleb Ewan. With a lead of 6 minutes, the nine riders started the second climb of the hors category, the Col de la Croix de Fer.
Nelson Powless Neilson wanted to be in the break today
The nine seemed to ride together to the top of the second categorised climb of the day. The Belgians of Jumbo-Visma lifted the pace in the peloton and the lead of the nine leaders dwindled quickly. That was the signal for an acceleration from Pidcock, so that only Meintjes, Froome, Powless and Ciccone could hold. Ciccone grabbed the points at the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer, ahead of Powless and Meintjes. The five went down the descent together, looking forward to the last climb of the day. Their lead had already narrowed considerably, at the top they only had 5 minutes.
The break got bigger
Of course the last climb of the day was the mythical Alpe d’Huez. The five leaders worked well together and did everything they could to start the 21 hairpin climb with a nice lead. They succeeded, at the foot they had 6 minutes on the peloton.
Van Aert leading the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard
The Alpe d’Huez is 13.9 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 7.9%. With 12 kilometres to go, Powless and Froome were dropped for the first time, but both were able to come back. Not much later, Pidcock blasted away from the leading group, the Olympic MTB champion and cyclo-cross World champion looked very fresh 10 kilometres from the finish.
The peloton on the Galibier
Pidcock didn’t really pull away, Meintjes and Froome both rode at their own pace, so they stayed close to Pidcock all the time. In the peloton, green jersey Wout van Aert took the lead in the peloton for quite a few kilometres, after which Steven Kruiswijk took over the work. Jumbo-Visma’s pace was killer. After more solid work from Roglič, Nairo Quintana and David Gaudu, and others, had to let go 6 kilometres from the line.
Roglič’s turn wasn’t too long, but it had done a lot of damage. Not much later, Romain Bardet and Adam Yates were also dropped. The remaining GC men at 4 kilometres from the finish were Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Geraint Thomas and Enric Mas. A kilometre later, Pogačar decided that his moment had come. The Slovenian attacked, but Vingegaard stuck to his wheel.
Jumbo-Visma in control of the peloton
Back at the head of the race. Pidcock continued to ride at an even pace, which ensured that Meintjes didn’t get any closer. The little climber was losing more and more time, while Froome was trying to hold his rhythm. For the 22-year-old rider it was only his second victory in his young WorldTour career on the road. Meintjes took second place, Froome finished third ahead of Powless.
Chris Froome crossed to the break
Pidcock also joined the break and was the descender of the day
The top GC men got back together, Pogačar dropped the pace after he saw Vingegaard on his wheel. Kuss proved his worth once again and set the pace for yellow jersey wearer. At a good kilometre from the finish, Pogačar once again unleashed his jump, but once again the Danish yellow jersey was quickly in his wheel.
The yellow jersey of Vingegaard was comfortable in the peloton
The fun on ‘Dutch Corner’ was going toward fever pitch
In the last hundreds of metres the overall classification riders started their sprint, but there were no time differences between Pogačar, Vingegaard and Thomas. Pogacar won the sprint and finished fifth on the stage, three minutes after Pidcock. Mas and Bardet both lost a handful of seconds, Gaudu, Yates and Quintana clearly had a bad day.
Pidcock fought through the fans
The big win for Tom Pidcock
Stage winner and 8th overall, Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers): “I guess that stage win at L’Alpe d’Huez for my first Tour de France, it’s not bad! The idea was to get in the breakaway. I lost enough time yesterday to begin having some freedom. After the Galibier, I got away in the descent, knowing that no one would take the risk to follow me. Chris Froome did. It was pretty nice to getting across with him. We worked well together. He’s a legend! Maybe he’s not as fast as he was but he’s still Chris Froome. It worked out perfectly to break away with him. This win is certainly one of my best moments in cycling, with people’s flags… You can’t experience that anywhere else than at L’Alpe d’Huez.”
Stage win and back into the top 10 overall
Overall leader and 6th on the stage, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): “I expected Tadej Pogacar to attack today, just as I am expecting him to attack over the next couple of weeks. I am lucky to be supported by a team that is probably the best one of this Tour de France, as was proven yesterday and also today. My confidence on my team is very big. But, eventually, it will come down to man against man with Tadej Pogacar… and that day I will have to be strong enough to win this race. I had enough legs as to follow Tadej’s attack on the final climb, but I didn’t know if I was strong enough to power away and I didn’t want to make myself vulnerable. What if I tried to attack, and then he counterattacked and drop me? It was not easy to fall asleep on a day like yesterday. As for today, it was a hard day, with many climbing meters… But also a nice one because of the amount of support I got from the crowds. It felt as if there were a lot of Danish fans out there!”
The top men were still together at the finish line
# All the Tour news in EUROTRASH and the ‘Rest Day Round Up’ on Monday. #
Tour de France Stage 12 Result:
1. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers in 4:55:24
2. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 0:48
3. Chris Froome (GB) Israel-Premier Tech at 2:06
4. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost at 2:29
5. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 3:23
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
7. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
8. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 3:26
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
10. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo at 3:32.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 12:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 46:28:46
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 2:22
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:26
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 2:35
5. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:44
6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa Samsic at 3:58
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 4:07
8. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 7:39
9. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 9:32
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 10:06.
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