Cycling: Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) celebrated his second Tour day victory this year on the Plateau de Beille after an extremely difficult 195 km. In partly infernal conditions with pouring rain and hail, Spaniard Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Romain Bardet (ag2r) put them in second place. Froome, Quintana, Contador and Nibali exchanged blows but finished at the same time.
Today's stage - probably the hardest in the Pyrenees this year - really offered everything a cycling heart desires. Breathtaking landscapes, an exciting atmosphere on the side of the road, countless attacks in the field and four class drivers who fought a thrilling battle on the way to the Plateau de Beille. But let's start at the beginning: The first notable decision was made in the intermediate sprint after a little more than 20km: André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and the man in green, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo). This puts Greipel back up to two points behind Sagan in the points classification.
That intermediate sprint was also the signal for the escapees of the day. A group of around 20 riders was quickly found, which was able to break away from the field and in some cases had a lead of more than ten minutes. The eventual winner of the day, Joaquim Rodriguez, and road world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) were also in it. But the three demanding mountains of the day - the Col de Portet Col (2nd category), the Col de la Core and the Port de Lers (both first category) ensured that the top never really calmed down. There were repeated attacks, drivers fell behind, others caught up.
The favorites Froome, Quintana, Contador, Nibali and van Garderen held back and drove with their helpers at the front of the field, which was now almost 15 minutes behind. When shortly before 16.00 p.m. between the stage destination on the Plateau de Beille and the Port de Lers the black clouds in the sky suddenly opened their doors, the newly formed top duo Michal Kwiatkowski and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) just on the descent. The road became slippery due to the rain and the many curves turned into a slippery slope. The first victim of the difficult conditions was MTN-Qhubeka's Louis Meintjes, who fell on the descent but, despite apparently severe abrasions, quickly got back on his bike and was able to continue.
Kwiatkowski then left Vanmarcke at the foot of the Plateau de Beille, who was quickly caught by the pursuers around Rodriguez and Fuglsang. It was these two who then took up the pursuit of the Pole at the front and were able to catch him within a few minutes. The world champion had shot his powder and quickly fell behind. Meanwhile, it was Rodriguez at the front, who in turn pulled away from Fuglsang and rode safely to his second victory after triumphing at the wall of Huy.
The classification drivers around Chris Froome fought a really thrilling battle at the Plateau de Beille. With Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte, Froome had two very strong helpers around him, Quintana relied on his Movistar colleague Alejandro Valverde and Contador also had two helpers in the group, including yesterday's winner Rafal Majka - Nibali, on the other hand, was with them, as was often the case The tour was mostly on its own and van Garderen obviously had trouble keeping up the pace. The contenders of the Maillot Jaune watched each other for an unexpectedly long time, until finally, surprisingly, first Nibali, then Contador attacked. But both attempts were nipped in the bud by the almost overwhelming Team Sky around Porte and Thomas. Alejandro Valverde also tried twice to create a gap, but he too had to bow to Sky's strength.
The goal was getting closer and just before the 4km mark it was Nairo Quintana who presented Sky with serious difficulties for the first time. The Colombian in the white jersey actually managed to create a gap and Richie Porte fell behind – he had worked enormously. But with Geraint Thomas, Froome has a second strong helper this year, who finally managed to catch Quintana again. The Brit in the yellow jersey himself also made a final attack with just under 3km to go, but Quintana, Contador and van Garderen managed to close the gap.
500m from the line, Alejandro Valverde plucked up courage one last time and finally managed to distance the group decisively and gain a few seconds. Froome, Contador, Quintana, Nibali and van Garderen rolled across the line at the same time. Today, Quintana and Valverde in particular really had a hard time with Sky and it will be exciting to see whether the Brits can keep this pace, this freshness until Paris. Because in the Alps at the latest, Movistar will sound the next attack.
Final result stage 12 Tour de France 2015
[easy table th=“0″]1.,Joaquim Rodriguez,Katusha,05:40:14
2., Jakob Fuglsang, Astana, 00:01:12
3.,Romain Bardet,ag2r-La Mondiale,00:01:49
4., Gorka Izagirre, Movistar, 00:04:34
5.,Louis Meintjes,MTN-Qhubeka,00:04:38
6., Jan Barta, Bora-Argon 18,00:05:47
7., Romain Sicard, Europcar, 00:06:03
8.,Mikael Cherel,ag2r-La Mondiale,00:06:28
9th, Alejandro Valverde, Movistar, 00:06:46
10.,Christopher Froome,Sky,00:06:47
[/easy table]
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