OFFICIAL Stage 12 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Tour de France Gamers!
STAGE Grade: A-
I rate today’s stage an A-. What should have been a dud of a stage became an instant classic because of the unpredicted and unpredictable final 35 kilometers.
Route: 2/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 5/5 Surprises: 5/5
Learn to read the race, part four. After a few initial skirmishes, Baptiste Veistroffer managed to leave the peloton solo. As he does. Later, immediately following the intermediate sprint, three riders attacked out of the peloton. Textbook, as you know by now.
Veistroffer read what I wrote yesterday and thought: four riders in the breakaway have to work less hard than one. He waited for the three. The peloton kept the time gap at a little over a minute. The breakaway was one, now it was four. Everyone knew how to read the race.
A hundred kilometers to the finish. I thought: nothing surprising will happen. I turned the TV on again with 32 kilometers to go when the riders were in the middle of a reshuffling that made no sense to me. By the magic of rewinding the tape, I caught up with what had happened.
Quinn Simmons attacked from the peloton when the road was going up, slightly. At that point, only Veistroffer was left from the breakaway, still 40 seconds up the road. A cynical move, or as we say in cycling: genius. Simmons attacked just as and because Jasper Philipsen had punctured. Philipsen is Mads Pedersen’s only competition for the green jersey. By making it hard for Philipsen to return to the peloton, Simmons made it hard for Philipsen to win the stage and get points.
Cycling is a team sport. Simmons and Pedersen are teammates, Lidl-Trek. Mattias Vacek was also in this group, and several others joined, and for a few kilometers it wasn’t clear if perhaps this group would succeed to win the stage.
The group took twenty seconds, and this was not a “the peloton allowed the breakaway” situation. Fourteen riders, including the likes of Filippo Ganna and Fred Wright, time trial experts. They had a chance, but the sprint teams in the peloton were determined. It took ten kilometers of chasing, but they caught the breakaway.
Next, Pedersen himself decided to attack. In the narrow streets of Buxy, Pedersen decided to ride tempo and the peloton broke apart. I could not believe what I was seeing — this was supposed to be a bunch sprint stage. Learn to read the race: Philipsen himself had made the jump with Pedersen and was taking a big pull. In a sprint stage!
Kasper Asgreen was the next rider in front, with Davide Ballerini in tow. They had a small gap, they were caught, and then Pedersen was in the attack again. It was very confusing, for some reason the riders thought they were in a bike race.
Kévin Vauqelin and Michel Hessmann were next in the attack and even John Degenkolb joined them. We saw it all today! They were caught and the peloton went curb to curb, I thought, we are finally ready for the sprint. So who attacked again? Pedersen! Valentin Paret-Peintre followed him. VPP, at 114 pounds is the lightest rider in the peloton, and he chased down Pedersen? We saw it all today and then we saw some more.
The finish line was 10 kilometers away, I thought, for sure the riders have understood the assignment now. Still, they kept thinking this was a bike race. Asgreen again, Mattias Skjelmose, Anders Halland Johannessen, Marco Haller, they just kept attacking. Max Walker tried it.
The peloton was now riding 60 km/h, impossible to attack but Derek Gee-West tried it. We saw it all, we saw what we’ve never seen before.
After all that, though, the predictable happened. A bunch sprint, lead-outs, a crash, Tim Merlier won the stage. If you just looked at the stage results, or tuned in with a mile to go, you could think: a typical bunch sprint. Glad I didn’t watch the whole stage. But my narrative tells the rest of the story. A bike race in the middle of a Tour de France stage.
There were a half dozen candidates to be our focus rider today. I mentioned some of them, including Fred Wright. Team Grace* have picked him.
The man from London is Great Britain’s national road race champion. He also won that title in 2023, and those were the only two victories in his pro cycling career. Surprising because he does well in grand tours. In the 2022 Vuelta a España he was second in the points competition, behind Mads Pedersen. In the Tour de France that same year he was ninth in the white jersey competition. That was his high watermark, though. Since then he has specialized in almost finishing in the top 10 in major races.
He was part of that unexpected 14-rider breakaway that started the chaotic finale. After burning matches to be there, he managed to be positioned in the front of the race with 1 km to go. For a while it looked like he could challenge for a win but in the end, he was merely the last rider not to be caught up by the Fernando Gaviria crash. He rolled across the line in 12th place. Almost in the top 10.
Nobody picked Rik van Linden on their team. Understandable, he retired in 1984. His name came up today. In 1975 he won the stage to today’s finish town, Chalon-sur-Saône, on his way to winning the green jersey. I learned that in 1968 he won 74 races as a Junior. 74! In a year! He’s our honorary focus rider, van Linden, we should make him an honorary AAVC Junior.
Watch the final kilometer HERE.
Watch the FloBikes highlights HERE.
Watch NBC Sports’ Extended highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
Spoiler alert: Team Josh overtook Team Tadej in the standings today; everyone else stayed where they were.
Team Ansel took advantage of Dorian Godon’s crash today to take another stage win. Most points overall, and a three-way tie for most points from the stage and most riders in the Top-25 (seven) with Team Josh and Team Charles. They finished second and third, respectively.
Team Hugo and Team Tadej shared fourth, Team Tadej with the most points from classifications. Team Oliver were sixth and guess what — Team Caleb and Team Matthew shared seventh place. Team Amalia were ninth and the others missed the boat today.
In tenth were Team Wesley, Team Grace were eleventh, Team Cameron twelfth.
Stage 13 on Friday! On July 11, 1905 the Tour de France riders climbed the Ballon d’Alsace; recognized as the first official climb in any Tour. They’ll do it again on Friday. A category 1 climb, 25 kilometers from the finish.
Never in the history of the Tour de France, not in 1905 and not ever since then, would you think that the leader would attempt to win this stage. On Saturday we have four big climbs, on Sunday two more. Any normal champion would take Friday off, but we don’t live in the epoch of the normal champion. We live in the epoch of Tadej Pogačar. He might win this stage simply because he can.
It would be outlandish, I hesitate to bring it up even. But 25 kilometers solo after a category 1 climb sounds so Pogačar, I can’t overlook that.
In a normal Tour de France a rider like Richard Carapaz, Tom Pidcock, even Tobias Halland Johannessen should win this stage. From a breakaway. You know, like a proper stage before two days of hard climbing. I want Carapaz to win, but I bet it’ll be Pogačar.
Standings after stage 12:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
2849 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Josh* |
2782 |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
Team Tadej* |
2760 |
2 |
-1 |
|
4 |
Team Hugo* |
2531 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Charles* |
2439 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Caleb* |
2256 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Matthew* |
2195 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Oliver* |
2074 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Amalia* |
1980 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Wesley* |
1352 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Grace* |
1041 |
11 |
0 |
|
12 |
Team Cameron* |
768 |
12 |
0 |
Standings after stage 12 (including dogs and adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
2849 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Josh* |
2782 |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
Team Tadej* |
2760 |
2 |
-1 |
|
4 |
Team Kent |
2746 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Amelia |
2714 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Kari |
2713 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Melanie |
2705 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Rob |
2606 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Eric |
2595 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Jon |
2559 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Kurt |
2541 |
12 |
1 |
|
12 |
Team Hugo* |
2531 |
11 |
-1 |
|
13 |
Team Craig |
2501 |
13 |
0 |
|
14 |
Team Julie |
2476 |
14 |
0 |
|
15 |
Team Charles* |
2439 |
15 |
0 |
|
16 |
Team Ed |
2377 |
17 |
1 |
|
17 |
Team Laurens |
2353 |
18 |
1 |
|
18 |
Team Jonwaine |
2322 |
16 |
-2 |
|
19 |
Team Corsa |
2311 |
19 |
0 |
|
20 |
Team Ambrose |
2270 |
21 |
1 |
|
21 |
Team Caleb* |
2256 |
20 |
-1 |
|
22 |
Team Matthew* |
2195 |
22 |
0 |
|
23 |
Team Kate |
2165 |
23 |
0 |
|
24 |
Team Grace |
2089 |
24 |
0 |
|
25 |
Team Oliver* |
2074 |
25 |
0 |
|
26 |
Team Ellie |
2043 |
26 |
0 |
|
27 |
Team Adam |
2011 |
27 |
0 |
|
28 |
Team Cameron |
1981 |
28 |
0 |
|
29 |
Team Amalia* |
1980 |
29 |
0 |
|
30 |
Team Charlotte |
1934 |
31 |
1 |
|
31 |
Team Jonathan |
1909 |
30 |
-1 |
|
32 |
Team Erin |
1749 |
32 |
0 |
|
33 |
Team Suzanne |
1743 |
33 |
0 |
|
34 |
Team Lichterman |
1729 |
36 |
2 |
|
35 |
Team Allison |
1714 |
35 |
0 |
|
36 |
Team Furner |
1699 |
34 |
-2 |
|
37 |
Team Wesley |
1632 |
37 |
0 |
|
38 |
Team Senna# |
1460 |
38 |
0 |
|
39 |
Team Izzy |
1434 |
39 |
0 |
|
40 |
Team Wesley* |
1360 |
40 |
0 |
|
41 |
Team Valerie |
1197 |
41 |
0 |
|
42 |
Team Grace* |
1041 |
42 |
0 |
|
43 |
Team Sam |
776 |
43 |
0 |
|
44 |
Team Cameron* |
768 |
44 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 12:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
YELLOW JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
99 |
36 |
5 |
9 |
3 |
53 |
152 |
1828 |
1980 |
|
Team Ansel* |
152 |
53 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
89 |
241 |
2608 |
2849 |
|
Team Caleb* |
98 |
43 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
70 |
168 |
2088 |
2256 |
|
Team Cameron* |
23 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
20 |
43 |
725 |
768 |
|
Team Charles* |
152 |
43 |
14 |
10 |
7 |
74 |
226 |
2213 |
2439 |
|
Team Grace* |
40 |
20 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
32 |
72 |
969 |
1041 |
|
Team Hugo* |
116 |
49 |
10 |
13 |
12 |
84 |
200 |
2331 |
2531 |
|
Team Josh* |
152 |
50 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
86 |
238 |
2544 |
2782 |
|
Team Matthew* |
98 |
43 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
70 |
168 |
2027 |
2195 |
|
Team Oliver* |
110 |
43 |
14 |
11 |
5 |
73 |
183 |
1891 |
2074 |
|
Team Tadej* |
110 |
52 |
14 |
10 |
14 |
90 |
200 |
2560 |
2760 |
|
Team Wesley* |
30 |
36 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
49 |
79 |
1281 |
1360 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 12 (including dogs and adults):
|
85 |
37 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
70 |
155 |
1856 |
2011 |
|
|
Team Allison |
61 |
32 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
56 |
117 |
1597 |
1714 |
|
Team Amalia* |
99 |
36 |
5 |
9 |
3 |
53 |
152 |
1828 |
1980 |
|
Team Ambrose |
152 |
38 |
14 |
10 |
7 |
69 |
221 |
2049 |
2270 |
|
Team Amelia |
116 |
54 |
10 |
10 |
15 |
89 |
205 |
2509 |
2714 |
|
Team Ansel* |
152 |
53 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
89 |
241 |
2608 |
2849 |
|
Team Caleb* |
98 |
43 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
70 |
168 |
2088 |
2256 |
|
Team Cameron |
79 |
38 |
8 |
12 |
11 |
69 |
148 |
1833 |
1981 |
|
Team Cameron* |
23 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
20 |
43 |
725 |
768 |
|
Team Charles* |
152 |
43 |
14 |
10 |
7 |
74 |
226 |
2213 |
2439 |
|
Team Charlotte |
61 |
37 |
5 |
15 |
9 |
66 |
127 |
1807 |
1934 |
|
Team Corsa |
82 |
49 |
12 |
10 |
12 |
83 |
165 |
2146 |
2311 |
|
Team Craig |
110 |
49 |
14 |
12 |
12 |
87 |
197 |
2304 |
2501 |
|
Team Ed |
110 |
43 |
14 |
10 |
7 |
74 |
184 |
2193 |
2377 |
|
Team Ellie |
87 |
38 |
12 |
12 |
8 |
70 |
157 |
1886 |
2043 |
|
Team Eric |
122 |
50 |
14 |
15 |
12 |
91 |
213 |
2382 |
2595 |
|
Team Erin |
44 |
36 |
4 |
13 |
6 |
59 |
103 |
1646 |
1749 |
|
Team Furner |
35 |
37 |
3 |
13 |
13 |
66 |
101 |
1598 |
1699 |
|
Team Grace |
87 |
39 |
12 |
12 |
8 |
71 |
158 |
1931 |
2089 |
|
Team Grace* |
40 |
20 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
32 |
72 |
969 |
1041 |
|
Team Hugo* |
116 |
49 |
10 |
13 |
12 |
84 |
200 |
2331 |
2531 |
|
Team Izzy |
62 |
23 |
8 |
12 |
3 |
46 |
108 |
1326 |
1434 |
|
Team Jon |
122 |
51 |
14 |
10 |
14 |
89 |
211 |
2348 |
2559 |
|
Team Jonathan |
20 |
47 |
0 |
9 |
8 |
64 |
84 |
1825 |
1909 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
43 |
55 |
2 |
13 |
14 |
84 |
127 |
2195 |
2322 |
|
Team Josh* |
152 |
50 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
86 |
238 |
2544 |
2782 |
|
Team Julie |
122 |
45 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
84 |
206 |
2270 |
2476 |
|
Team Kari |
122 |
52 |
14 |
13 |
14 |
93 |
215 |
2498 |
2713 |
|
Team Kate |
122 |
40 |
14 |
12 |
5 |
71 |
193 |
1972 |
2165 |
|
Team Kent |
122 |
52 |
14 |
13 |
14 |
93 |
215 |
2531 |
2746 |
|
Team Kurt |
152 |
42 |
14 |
15 |
9 |
80 |
232 |
2309 |
2541 |
|
Team Laurens |
111 |
52 |
5 |
13 |
12 |
82 |
193 |
2160 |
2353 |
|
Team Lichterman |
84 |
30 |
12 |
10 |
6 |
58 |
142 |
1587 |
1729 |
|
Team Matthew* |
98 |
43 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
70 |
168 |
2027 |
2195 |
|
Team Melanie |
152 |
49 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
88 |
240 |
2465 |
2705 |
|
Team Oliver* |
110 |
43 |
14 |
11 |
5 |
73 |
183 |
1891 |
2074 |
|
Team Rob |
122 |
53 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
89 |
211 |
2395 |
2606 |
|
Team Sam |
0 |
16 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
26 |
26 |
750 |
776 |
|
Team Senna# |
63 |
28 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
45 |
108 |
1352 |
1460 |
|
Team Suzanne |
44 |
38 |
4 |
10 |
7 |
59 |
103 |
1640 |
1743 |
|
Team Tadej* |
110 |
52 |
14 |
10 |
14 |
90 |
200 |
2560 |
2760 |
|
Team Valerie |
74 |
19 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
36 |
110 |
1087 |
1197 |
|
Team Wesley |
63 |
30 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
47 |
110 |
1522 |
1632 |
|
Team Wesley* |
30 |
36 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
49 |
79 |
1281 |
1360 |
Allez le Tour!
-Laurens.