Ineos wary of 'volatile' Tour de France and control Thibaut Pinot on stage 12

BELLEVILLEENBEAUJOLAIS FRANCE JULY 13 Daniel Martinez of Colombia and Team INEOS Grenadiers competes during the stage twelve of the 110th Tour de France 2023 a 1688km stage from Roanne to Belleville en Beaujolais UCIWT on July 13 2023 in Belleville en Beaujolais France Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images
Tour de France 2023: Ineos Grenadiers lead the main chase group on stage 12 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

The presence of Ineos Grenadiers on the front late on stage 12 of the Tour de France was to keep Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) from getting back into contention on GC, team management explained.

Part of the break of the day and trying hard to chase back lone leader Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), the eventual winner, Pinot’s move saw him finish sixth, 3:01 up on the main GC group. The Frenchman moved up to 10th at 6:33 on Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.