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Stage 11 to Stage 20 of the 2012 Tour de France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France was contested on 12 July and the race concluded with Stage 20 on 22 July. The second half of the race was situated entirely within France; starting with a mountain stage from Albertville to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles – incorporating two hors catégorie climbs during the stage – before the customary race-concluding stage finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Following his victory in the ninth stage individual time trial, Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins held the lead into the second half of the race. He maintained his race lead throughout the second half of the race, holding a lead of 2 minutes and 5 seconds – transpiring from stage 9 – until the race's final individual time trial, held on the penultimate day of the race. Wiggins won the stage by 1 minute and 16 seconds ahead of his team-mate Chris Froome, and Wiggins ultimately held his lead into Paris the following day to win the race overall by 3 minutes and 21 seconds, to become the first rider from Great Britain to win a Grand Tour race. Froome finished second, while the final podium was completed by former Vuelta a España winner Vincenzo Nibali, riding for the Liquigas–Cannondale team, who was the only other rider to finish within 10 minutes of Wiggins' final overall time.
Only Wiggins' team-mate Mark Cavendish was able to win more than one stage during the second half of the race, winning two of the final three stages including a fourth consecutive final stage victory in Paris. This victory allowed him to become the most prolific sprinter at the Tour de France with 23 stage victories, surpassing the record of 22 which had been held for 48 years by France's André Darrigade. Three French riders – Pierre Rolland, Pierrick Fédrigo and Thomas Voeckler – each took a stage victory during the second half of the race, with Voeckler's victory in the queen stage helping in part for him to become the eventual winner of the mountains classification. Other stage victories were taken by David Millar, André Greipel, Luis León Sánchez and Alejandro Valverde.
During the fourteenth stage of the race, Wiggins neutralised the peloton on the descent from the Mur de Péguère climb, after carpet tacks were found to be responsible for around thirty punctures on the climb itself.[1] Among those delayed was the defending champion Cadel Evans, who suffered three punctures on the climb and had lost around two minutes before Wiggins called a truce in the main field, allowing the breakaway to finish the stage over eighteen minutes clear of the pack.[2][3] Following the raid of the Cofidis team hotel during the first rest day, the second rest day was marked by a positive drugs test by RadioShack–Nissan rider Fränk Schleck, the third-placed rider from the 2011 race. Schleck quit the race after traces of xipamide, a banned sulfonamide diuretic drug, were found in the A-sample of his urine, and was later confirmed by the B-sample.[4]
| Legend[n 1] | |||
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Denotes the leader of the general classification[5] |  |
Denotes the leader of the points classification[5] |
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Denotes the leader of the mountains classification[5] |  |
Denotes the leader of the young rider classification[5] |
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Denotes the leader of the team classification[5][n 2] |  |
Denotes the winner of the combativity award[5] |
12 July 2012 — Albertville to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles, 148 km (92.0 mi)[6]
The stage was spent entirely in the Alps with two hors catégorie climbs – the Col de la Madeleine after 40 km (24.9 mi) and the Col de la Croix de Fer after 93 km (57.8 mi); both of which had summits at 2,000 m (6,562 ft) or higher – before the finish at La Toussuire-Les Sybelles. The Col de la Croix de Fer was the highest point reached in the Alps in the 2012 Tour, so the leader across the summit would win the Souvenir Henri Desgrange. The finish was a first-category climb of 18 km (11.2 mi) at an average gradient of 6.1%.[7][8] Much like the previous day, a large breakaway was formed after several different groups advanced clear of the main field as they approached the first climb of the day, at the Col de la Madeleine.
In total, there were 28 riders[9] in the group at one point; at the top of the climb, the pace picked up and the group splintered into several mini-groups as Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Peter Velits scored the maximum points on offer for the climb, followed closely by Astana rider Fredrik Kessiakoff.[10] Velits and Kessiakoff pulled out a 45-second advantage on the descent, but eight riders eventually bridged the gap and rejoined the duo before the Col de la Croix de Fer. Team Europcar had two riders in the group, with Christophe Kern setting the pace for team-mate Pierre Rolland, and the tempo was again splitting the group up.[10] Back in the peloton, young rider classification leader Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) attacked on the climb, as the benchmark for a later move by his team-mate Cadel Evans.[11] They acquired a 30-second lead at one point before Team Sky brought Bradley Wiggins back up to them. Kessiakoff just bettered Rolland for the mountains points atop the Col de la Croix de Fer, with the peloton around two minutes behind.[9]
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The group containing Wiggins and other overall contenders dropped a minute further back on the early parts of the Col du Mollard, where the breakaway consisted of Velits, Rolland, Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank's Chris Anker Sørensen and Robert Kišerlovski of Astana, with Movistar Team's Vasil Kiryienka later joining up.[9] Rolland crashed on the descent from the climb, having taken first place points over the summit, while Sørensen was in difficulty to stay with the lead.[9] Liquigas–Cannondale rider Vincenzo Nibali tried to breach the peloton on two occasions on the final climb,[12] catching up with Lotto–Belisol's Jurgen Van den Broeck who had escaped with eighth stage winner, FDJ–BigMat's Thibaut Pinot.[10] Evans cracked on the climb, losing time to Wiggins, team-mate Chris Froome and other contenders.[10] Froome put Wiggins into difficulty at one point, but backed the pace down via his team radio.[13][14] Up front, Rolland was the last remaining rider of the breakaway, and soloed to his second Tour stage win,[10] and his team's second stage win in a row.[15] Pinot led the yellow jersey group across the line almost a minute down, while Evans lost almost 90 seconds on Wiggins, Froome and Nibali, who filled the top three places overall at the conclusion of the stage.[9]
13 July 2012 — Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay–Davézieux, 226 km (140.4 mi)[16]
With a parcours of 226 km (140.4 mi), the twelfth stage was the longest of the Tour; the race left the Alps but only after a pair of first-category climbs – the 1,188 m (3,898 ft) Col du Grand Cucheron and the 1,134 m (3,720 ft) Col du Granier – in the first 80 km (49.7 mi), although there was also a third-category climb of the Côte d'Ardoix within the final 20 km (12.4 mi), before the finish in Annonay-Davézieux.[17] As had been the case in the previous two stages, there was another large breakaway group that set the tempo outside of the peloton in the early running. At its maximum, the group contained nineteen riders, but it had been reduced to eleven by the time the group reached the foot of the opening climb, the Col du Grand Cucheron.[18]
Robert Kišerlovski of Astana took the maximum points on offer for the climb, to help protect the lead of the classification, held by team-mate Fredrik Kessiakoff.[18] Cofidis rider David Moncoutié tried to bridge the gap to reach the lead group, but crashed heavily on the descent from the climb. He had to abandon the race with abrasions.[19] Kišerlovski also took maximum points on the Col du Granier, which made Kessiakoff's lead safe for another day. After reaching the mid-stage feeding zone in Saint-Joseph-de-Rivière, the lead group split and five riders – David Millar of Garmin–Sharp, Ag2r–La Mondiale rider Jean-Christophe Péraud, Euskaltel–Euskadi's Egoi Martínez, Kišerlovski and Cyril Gautier,[20] looking to give Team Europcar a third win in a row – accelerated away to a near 13-minute lead at its maximum.[18] With none of the riders being in overall contention, the peloton let the group go and decided not to chase them down before the finish.[21]
None of the quintet attacked each other, and they remained as one into the final 5 km (3.1 mi) of the stage. Kišerlovski played his hand first, launching an attack with 3.5 km (2.2 mi) remaining, but Péraud closed down the move almost immediately; a secondary move took Martínez and Gautier out of the equation for the stage victory.[18] Péraud accelerated again and Millar latched onto his wheel with Kišerlovski unable to follow the pair. Millar took the front inside the final 1 km (0.6 mi),[21] but Péraud remained on his wheel until just before 200 m (660 ft) to go; he launched his attack, but Millar beat him to the line for his fourth individual stage victory at the Tour[22] – his first since 2003[21] – and the fourth different British rider to take a stage win at the 2012 Tour.[23] The peloton was led across the line almost eight minutes down by the top two in the points classification,[21] Orica–GreenEDGE's Matthew Goss and Liquigas–Cannondale's Peter Sagan. Sagan protested the sprint finish of Goss, feeling that he had impeded him in the closing metres. Race officials agreed with Sagan and demoted Goss to seventh – helped in part by a one-second time gap between them and the rest of the field[24] – and penalised him 30 points in the classification, and 30 seconds overall.[25]
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14 July 2012 — Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Cap d'Agde, 217 km (134.8 mi)[26]
This transitional stage took the Tour to the Mediterranean. The day's only categorised climb over Mont-Saint-Clair at Sète and the wind off the sea were two potential disruptions to the race in the final 28 km (17.4 mi) of the stage.[27] For the celebration of Bastille Day,[28] the breakaway had extensive French representation, with five of the eight-rider move – Cofidis rider Samuel Dumoulin, FDJ–BigMat's Mathieu Ladagnous, Jimmy Engoulvent of Saur–Sojasun, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r–La Mondiale) and Jérôme Pineau, representing the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team – from the country.[29] The group was rounded out by Pablo Urtasun of Euskaltel–Euskadi, Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank's Michael Mørkøv and Argos–Shimano rider Roy Curvers.[30]
The octet made their escape in the opening 20 km (12.4 mi) of the stage, and their advantage eventually stemmed to a maximum of almost 10 minutes at the 35 km (21.7 mi) mark,[29] before Orica–GreenEDGE sent riders forward to the front of the peloton in order to bring the gap down. Urtasun led the group across the line at the stage's intermediate sprint point in Mas-de-Londres, but behind, points classification leader Peter Sagan (Liquigas–Cannondale) was able to launch his sprint for the line before Orica–GreenEDGE's sprinter Matthew Goss did so,[30] and extended his lead in the standings as a result. Pineau looked to go clear with 65 km (40.4 mi) to go, but his move was anticipated by Mørkøv, before he attacked of his own accord.[30] Mørkøv held a one-minute advantage over his former breakaway companions all the way to the foot of the Mont-Saint-Clair, but the peloton were able to close the advantage to them all before the summit of the climb.[31]
BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans and Lotto–Belisol rider Jurgen Van den Broeck both attacked on the Mont-Saint-Clair,[30] and their accelerated pace ripped the peloton apart, with many riders falling off the back of the peloton. Around 25 riders remained in the lead group,[32] with only Sagan and Van Den Broeck's team-mate André Greipel out of the sprinters making the group.[29] Further moves came from Astana rider Alexander Vinokourov, Michael Albasini of Orica–GreenEDGE,[33] and Rabobank's Luis León Sánchez, but they were closed down by Lotto–Belisol – looking after Greipel for the finish – and Team Sky for race leader Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins led out team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen for the sprint,[34] but Greipel launched his own off his wheel and managed to fend off a quick-finishing Sagan to take his third stage win of the Tour by half a wheel,[29] the first such feat by a German rider since Erik Zabel in 2001.[35]
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15 July 2012 — Limoux to Foix, 191 km (118.7 mi)[36]
The race entered the lower Pyrenees with two first-category climbs; the 1,517 m (4,977 ft) Port de Lers and the Mur de Péguère, reaching an elevation of 1,375 m (4,511 ft). The Mur de Péguère was featuring for the first time in the Tour de France; with sections of the climb in excess of 16%.[37][38] Small attacks set the course of the early running of the stage, with the field remaining as a whole for the first hour of racing after the attacks were closed down shortly after. It was not until a quarter of the way through the stage – some 50 km (31.1 mi) in[39] – that a move was allowed to be established on the road, when eleven riders went clear including the points classification leader Peter Sagan of Liquigas–Cannondale,[40] who was looking to extend his points advantage over his rivals André Greipel (Lotto–Belisol) and Orica–GreenEDGE rider Matthew Goss.
By the time that Sagan had crossed over the intermediate sprint line first, at Tarascon-sur-Ariège,[40] the leaders' advantage was already over thirteen minutes, and was increasing by the kilometre due to the wet conditions on the roads. At the Port de Lers, the eleven riders were fifteen minutes clear when Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar) developed a problem with his bike and had to stop for a change of equipment, losing around 40 seconds to his ten companions. He would not bridge back to them, and ultimately lost fourteen minutes to them by the stage finish. Rabobank's Luis León Sánchez attacked on the Mur de Péguère,[40] with only Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Gorka Izagirre and Sandy Casar of FDJ–BigMat able to follow originally.[39] Sagan later brought himself back up to the group, before Casar pulled a few seconds clear over the summit.[41]
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At the summit of the climb, carpet tacks[1] were thrown onto the road causing as many as thirty riders to puncture,[2][3] including Gilbert's team-mates Cadel Evans and Steve Cummings,[39] while race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) changed his bike as a precaution.[42] As a result, Wiggins called a temporary halt to the racing on the descent.[43] At this time, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) attacked and gained a two-minute margin over the peloton,[44] but a combination of the tempo set by Lotto–Belisol and Liquigas–Cannondale,[45] and Rolland realising the situation behind – later apologising for his actions[46] – meant that he was brought back to the field, and they continued to slowly roll towards the finish in Foix. At the front, Sánchez attacked with around 11.5 km (7.1 mi) remaining,[40] and eventually soloed his way to a fourth career stage victory at the Tour.[47] Sagan led home a group of four riders almost a minute behind, while the peloton eventually crossed the line over eighteen minutes behind Sánchez.[39]
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16 July 2012 — Samatan to Pau, 158.5 km (98.5 mi)[48]
The stage ran through the foothills of the Pyrenees, in the Gers and Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments. There were three minor climbs in the final third of the stage, which was expected to suit the remaining sprinters.[49] Like the previous day, small attacks set the course of the early running of the stage, with the field remaining as a whole for the first hour of racing after the attacks were unsuccessful. The most prominent of these was a five-rider move, involving Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Bert Grabsch, Garmin–Sharp rider David Millar, Andriy Hryvko of Astana, Rui Costa (Movistar Team) and Yukiya Arashiro, representing Team Europcar.[50] The peloton did not allow them to gain an advantage of more than 30 seconds,[51] and they were eventually brought back to the main field at the 60 km (37.3 mi) mark.
Another five-rider group formed immediately thereafter, consisting of Christian Vande Velde (Garmin–Sharp), Arashiro's team-mate Thomas Voeckler, FDJ–BigMat's Pierrick Fédrigo, Cofidis rider Samuel Dumoulin and Dries Devenyns of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step.[50] Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank rider Nicki Sørensen chased the quintet down for around 20 km (12.4 mi), and eventually made the group a sextet, after his team set the tempo in the main field for a while.[51] The peloton had reduced the gap to the leaders to around five minutes at one point, but eventually decided to allow the breakaway to battle it out for stage honours. Voeckler took maximum points on all three categorised climbs prior to the closing 10 km (6.2 mi),[51] before Sørensen launched the first sustained attacks prior to the finish.[51] However, Fédrigo and Vande Velde gained some ground with their attack at 6.5 km (4.0 mi) to go,[50] and they contested the sprint in Pau; Vande Velde tried to launch his sprint first, but Fédrigo saw the move and remained in front, to take his second stage win in Pau[50] – after a previous victory in 2010[52] – and fourth of his career.[53][54] The remaining members of the breakaway came in before the main field, with Lotto–Belisol's André Greipel leading them home 11' 50" down on Fédrigo.[55]
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18 July 2012 — Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, 197 km (122.4 mi)[56]
After the second and final rest day, the race entered the high mountains with the queen stage crossing two hors catégorie climbs – the Col d'Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet – followed by the first-category climbs of the Col d'Aspin and the Col de Peyresourde, completing the so-called "Circle of Death",[57][58] before dropping down to the finish in Bagnères-de-Luchon.[59] The first rider over the Tourmalet – the highest point reached in both the Pyrenees and the 2012 Tour as a whole at 2,115 m (6,939 ft) – received the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.[60]
Almost forty riders – around a quarter of the race's peloton at the start of the stage – made it into the early breakaway after around 25 km (15.5 mi),[61] including three riders in the lower reaches of the top twenty placings overall, mountains classification leader Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) and stage-winners Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar and FDJ–BigMat rider Pierrick Fédrigo.[57] Voeckler and Kessiakoff led the group over the top of the Col d'Aubisque, with the group remaining together until the foot of the Col du Tourmalet. Here, the group started to fragment after Garmin–Sharp's Dan Martin accelerated with Kessiakoff and Rabobank's Laurens ten Dam in tow.[61] BMC Racing Team rider George Hincapie, Chris Anker Sørensen of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank and Saur–Sojasun's Brice Feillu later joined the group up front, but only Voeckler and Feillu remained together at the top of the climb, where Voeckler further cut into Kessiakoff's polka-dot jersey lead.[62] The peloton crossed the summit around ten minutes later.
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Voeckler and Feillu had an advantage of almost two minutes at the bottom of the Col d'Aspin, while Martin – on his own after being the last to be dropped by the French pairing out front – was joined by Hincapie and six other riders. With added pressure from Sørensen and RadioShack–Nissan rider Jens Voigt, Kessiakoff was dropped by the group, and aided the efforts for Voeckler to take the lead in the mountains classification. Back in the peloton, the tempo set by Liquigas–Cannondale and Team Sky was reducing the numbers in the group, and eventually, BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans lost contact on the climb.[61] However, with team-mates around him, he was able to rejoin the group before the final climb of the Col de Peyresourde.[57] A third of the way up the climb, Voeckler left his companion Feillu behind, and set off on a solo attack. Evans again fell off the back of the group, as Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas–Cannondale) decided to make a preliminary attack on his rivals, Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.[63]
Wiggins and Froome were able to make their way back up to Nibali, sandwiching him with Froome on the front and Wiggins at the back of the trio. Voeckler cemented his mountains classification lead by reaching the summit of the Col de Peyresourde first, with the remaining riders of the breakaway spread out between him and the group of Wiggins, Froome and Nibali. Sørensen trailed Voeckler by a minute-and-a-half. Nibali attacked twice more[64] on the steepest part of the climb, but Wiggins shadowed the move and kept himself up with Nibali. At the front, Voeckler descended towards the finish in Bagnères-de-Luchon with a 1' 40" lead over Sørensen, and held the lead to the end for his second stage win of the race,
