Tour de France 2016: Stage 12

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January 1 - July 24, Montpellier, France, Road - WorldTour

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 Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 12 of the Tour de France from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux.

 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of what could be one of the most dramatic stages in this year's Tour de France. 

At the the start in Montpellier the riders are already signing on and preparing for the stage.

As you perhaps have seen, the stage has been shortened due to the danger of high winds at the summit of Ventoux. 

The riders still face a tough 10km to the line in the trees on the lower slopes of Ventoux. They will be protected from the wind but the gradient of 9% will hurt for sure.   

The stage is due to start at 11:45 local time, with the riders also worried about the risk of strong side and heads winds early in the stage. There could be attacks far before the climb to Ventoux. 

The riders are lining up for the start in Montpellier. The sun is out but the riders are tense before the big day to Ventoux.  

Tour de France organisers have made the right decision to shorten the stage. Live weather reports from the summit of Ventoux show winds of 90km/h, with gusts of 128km/h. That would have been dangerous for the riders, the race organisers and the fans.   

Despite a cut in the stage length, the stage is due to start as scheduled, with a neutralised start from the spectacular centre of Montpellier. 

The riders are on the move but face an 18.7km neutralised section before the official start of the 176km stage.

Chris Froome is again wearing the race leader's yellow jersey and is leading the peloton from the start area. 

Froome has now worn the yellow jersey for 34 days, winning the race twice so far. He is now in the top ten of all-time yellow jersey wearers after equalling Louison Bobet and Ottavio Bottecchia.

The riders are rolling our of Montpellier under blue skies with little cloud. However they are worried about how fast the clouds are racing across the sky and their direction. 

Froome leads fellow Briton Adam Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange) by 31 seconds after gaining 12 seconds with his audacious attack on Wednesday to Montpellier.

This is the top ten on GC going into today's stage. Will it change today on the slopes of Mont Ventoux? We will soon find out.

Of course today is July 14. Bastille Day in France, which celebrates the storming of the Bastille and the start of the French revolution and the unity of France.

From the Cyclingnews blimp we can see the riders are close to the ofiicial start. Here we go.... 

And they're off!

The flag has dropped and we immediately have the first attack of the day.

And its from a French rider: Adrien Petit (Direct Energie). He jumps clear straight away. 

A total of 191 riders are left in the Tour de France. Yesterday Jurgen van den Broeck (Katusha) crashed. He managed to finish the stage but was later diagnosed with a fractured shoulder bone and was forced to quit the race.  

We have other attacks, with several small groups surging clear of the peloton.

15 riders have formed the break at the moment. The peloton has not reacted yet and the 15 lead by 1:30.  

We stand corrected, there are 14 riders in the break. We will have the names very shortly. 

We have a mix of sprinters chasing the intermediate points - at the 102km mark, and climbers hoping to gain time and target the stage victory.  

The brave 14 are: Bertjan Lindeman and Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Stef Clement (IAM), Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (DiData), Paul Voss (Bora), André Greipel and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Bryan Coquard and Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Julian Alaphilippe and Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Dani Navarro and Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis).

The peloton seems happy to let the break go for now. The gap is up to 5:00. But a small chase group is closing in on the break. 

It's interesting to see Thomas de Gendt of Lotto Soudal in the move, and Serge Pauwels of Dimension Data.

De Gendt is no doubt thinking of the double mountain points up for grab at the finish today, as he targets the climber's polka-dot jersey. We may see FDJ chasing the attack to defend Pinot's lead in the special jersey.

Paul Voss (Bora) has suffered a flat, leaving 13 riders up front, with six chasers.

The six chasers are at 1:00 with the peloton at 6:15.

The rider wrongly named in the break was Alaphilippe. The talented Frenchman is actually in the peloton. The Etixx riders is Keisse, also in the move is Chris Anker Sorensen of Fortuneo.

Alberto Losada (Katusha) was trying to chase the break but has eased. The Katusha team is chasing the break after missing the attack of the day. 

With so many teams represented in the break, it will be interesting to see who will join Katusha in the chase. 

The attack has sparked a fast start to the stage. The six chasers are still at 1:00, with the peloton at 6:00.  

The peloton seems to have eased up, with Team Sky now on the front. If Froome opts to let the break go, their lead could rise even more.  

Wow! the peloton has eased up and is 9:00 on the break.

The break leads the peloton by a whopping 10:00!  

The riders have been on the attack for 45 minutes now, with an average speed of close to 50km/h.  

Cruelly Vegard Breen (Fortuneo) was dropped by the break and is about to be caught by the peloton. That leaves 13 riders up front in the break of the day. 

 The chasers continue to lose time to the break and could soon be swept up by the peloton which is at 12:00.

These are the riders in the attack of the day: Bertjan Lindeman and Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Stef Clement (IAM), Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (DiData), André Greipel and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Bryan Coquard and Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Chris Anker Sørensen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Dani Navarro and Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis)

The question is if any of them can stay away and win the stage.  

Wow! The gap to the peloton is up to 15:20.

What do you think will happen on the reduced climb on Ventoux? We spoke to Adam Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange) about his hopes on the tough climb.

106km remaining from 178km

This is the tenth time the Tour de France has climbed Mont Ventoux.

91km remaining from 178km

Team Sky continues to lead the peloton, with four riders leading the chase of the breakaway.

85km remaining from 178km

Behind the wind is causing some problems and we have some splits in the peloton. The stage could explode agin, like it did on the road to Montpellier. 

Team Sky and Etixx are leading the peloton, with other riders left blowing in the wind. 

Fabian Cancellara (Trek) is on the front of the peloton, mixing it with the GC team leaders. 

40 riders are out of the back of the peloton, including Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

Race leader Chris Froome is near the front and is being followed by Nairo Quintana. The Giant-Alpecin is also riding at the front to protect Warren Barguil.  

We stand corrected, Giant is riding to help Barguil get back to the Froome peloton after being caught behind.

Rafa Majka (Tinkoff) is also in the second group. Upfront Etixx and Trek are driving the pace.

Barguil and the other chasers are 40 seconds behind the Froome group.  

The riders are still on the flat roads of the south of France but will soon head into the foothills of Provence and Ventoux will be ahead of them.  

The results of the print have been confirmed, with Keisse taking 20 points ahead of Lindeman and Greipel. 

The chase group of five riders has refused to give up and is stick between the break and the peloton, some 5:40 down.

Trek and Etixx are still driving the Froome peloton, with Barguil, Pinot and Majka now 1:30 behind them. 

The 13-rider break on a wide highway, leaving them exposed to the cross winds. The wins is blowing from the hills, from the riders left side, at speed of up to 40km/h.  

Nairo Quintana is in the peloton with Froome, he has four teammates with him today to help him fight for position in the echelons.  

Fabio Aru has been forced to make a rapid bike change, taking Fuglsang's bike. But the bike is far from  perfect fit. 

The speed is very high and so Aru has to fight to stay with the front group. 

The Astana team car is stuck behind the chasers and so Aru had to take a teammates bike.  

The peloton is going through the feed zone but nobody is stopping or slowing. The feed will be fast and on the go today.    

Froome takes on his musette but he is at the very back of the pletoton. He needs to be careful.

riders are racing with musettes ver their shoulders, digging for bars and bottles on the go at speed.

The Barguil group is a minute back and so the team cars have been allowed to move up behind Froome. That should help Aru get bike change but is a bad sign for Barguil.

The speed has also sparked some crashes. Angelo Tulik (Direct Energie) went down hard, hurting his knee. He has abandoned the Tour. 

Etixx is still driving the group,with even sprinter Marcel Kittel doing some turns on the front. 

Aru has taken a new bike from his Astana car and is getting some help from a magical spanner and a tow. 

Aru took a long tow and risks being penalised after the stage.

50km remaining from 178km

It's quite shocking to see how small the front peloton is on the flat part of the stage. It just goes to show that the Tour de France is never predictable, and it takes a complete rider to win it - one who can pay attention and not miss the splits in the crosswinds.

The BMC riders are moving up - Porte and Van Garderen know they have to make the most of what's left of the Mont Ventoux today.

Now Orica-BikeExchange put a few riders behind the chase in the yellow jersey group, working for white jersey Adam Yates.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) are losing 1:45 at the moment. Their group is quite large but not nearly as motivated as the yellow jersey group ahead.

45km remaining from 178km

The bare moonscape of the Mont Ventoux is visible in the distance. It's a shame the riders won't be going to the top, but the winds were quite intense up there.

1km to the summit for the breakaway, but no one is hitting out quite yet. Sorensen and Clement lead the group before De Gendt pulls through.

Edward Theuns (Trek) is being distanced from the yellow jersey group.

Just before the crest of the Gordes, the leaders have a chance to grab bottles from their soigneurs.

The steam appears to be going out of the breakaway somewhat. De Gendt leads them across the line at the summit of the Cote de Gourde with 8:30 on the yellow jersey. The Sagan/Pinot group is two minutes further behind.

41km remaining from 178km

Gregory Rast and Michael Albasini are the next to drop out of the yellow jersey group, and then Irizar and Tony Martin find the pace too brisk.

Who's doing all that damage? It's surprisingly Simon Gerrans, who's tapping out a vicious tempo ahead of the Sky train.

In the breakaway, we can see the effect of the wind. Iljo Keisse is being blown around quite vehemently by the Mistral.

38km remaining from 178km

Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18) is the next chaser to be swept up by Gerrrans' pace. Preidler is next. Only Rosa remains in no man's land.

On the Col des Trois Termes goes the yellow jersey group. De Gendt led the breakaway over both climbs so far in his quest to overhaul Pinot in the polka dot jersey classification.

From the billowing flags we can tell the breakaway are heading straight into the wind and this will certainly hurt their chances of staying away.

32km remaining from 178km

Froome callls off the pace in the group- stopping to check his wheel.

Cancellara comes to the front and tells everyone to respect that pause.

Inexplicably, Froome has gone back to help pace his teammates back on.

Highly unusual for Froome to do that - He's back in with Kiryienka, the reigning world time trial champion, who could easily bring the team back without Froome.

Now, Froome is having to chase through the team cars on a narrow, twisty road, a risk that is quite imprudent for the overall race leader.

At the tete de la course, Coquard has been dropped as the leaders are noses into a very stiff wind.

29km remaining from 178km

Thanks to that go-slow in the yellow jersey group, it seems that the second peloton has been able to make contact.

Aru will be pretty pleased to see his teammates back in the group.

Stannard, however, hasn't made the regrouping. He looked like he was in a fair bit of pain, but he's done his work for the day. 

27km remaining from 178km

The breakaway pass through Mazan, and can enjoy the last few kilometers of flat roads before the climbing will commence. 

23km remaining from 178km

The break continues to lose time, with the gap down to  9:30. Behind other riders make it back up to the peloton.

Fabio Aru takes advantage of the pause in hostilities to changes bikes again. He's now back on his original race bike. 

Sagan, Barguil and Meintjes are all back in the peloton, leaving only Pinot stuck behind. 

18km remaining from 178km

Movistar is now on the front, with just 8km to go to the climb. The pace is riding.

The attackers are on the lower slopes of Ventoux, with Andre Greipel going on the attack alone.  

Greipel is no doubt riding to help teammate De Gendt, who is a real contender for the stage victory. De Gendt can sit on the wheels with Greipel up the road.  

The crowds are again huge along the roadside today.

Nibali has been forced to sit up after something became stuck around his rear hub. He'll need some mechanical help.  

Up front Greipel has been caught and sits up. He's worked hard today for De Gendt. 

Trek is riding on the front of the peloton for Bauke Mollema, but Sky is also riding to protect Froome. 

At the head of the race the break goes under the official banner that marks the start of the 10km climb to the finish. De Gendt ups the speed, dropping Sorensen, Clement and Chavanel. 

De Gendt is tapping out a fast pace and so the break has been reduced to just four riders.

Pierre Rolland (Cannondale) has edged off the front of the peloton but Sky seem happy to let him hang out front. 

Rolland has been swept up by Team Sky. The pace is high, with Frank Schleck spat out of the back,  

The peloton is 10km from the finish now and starting the climb to Chalet Reynard. It is 10km at 9%. 

Vasil Kryienka has sat up after dragging the peloton and Team Sky to the foot of the climb.  

Up front De Gendt is suffering as Pauwels ups the pace. Only Navarro is with him now. 

The riders are so far protected from the strong winds by the trees and the huge crowds.  

Landa and Poels are leading for Sky but Pantano (IAM) and now Valverde are going clear.   

Geraint Thomas is suffering at the back. Froome is on man down for later.

Sky has left Valverde up the road, letting him burn out. Froome stiill has three teammates to lead him: Landa, Poels and Henao. 

Behind Rolland is dropped.  

Here we go! Quintana attacks alone!

The Colombian surges clear but is not at full speed. Sky drags Froome back up but other riders are cracking behind, including Martin. 

Quintana kicks again, he's taking the race to Froome but Sky seem in control. 

Indeed Quintana is pulled back. That effort will have cost him but how much?

Quintana goes again! 

But Poels and Henao close the gap. 

Froome seems to be riding defensively today. There are only ten or so climbers left in the Froome group. Dan Martin is not with them. He is suffering behind. 

4km remaining from 178km

Martin is fighting to get back on but he's 20 seconds behind.

Martin is trying to catch Kreuziger who is just ahead of him. 

De Gendt has now kicked away alone. Pauwels is chasing him but Navarro seems to have cracked. It looks like a Belgian stage winner today.

Quintana is on Froome's wheel but will he attack again? 

For now Purito has a dig but Poels chases down him too. The Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner is doing a great job for Froome today. 

Tejay van Garderen and Porte are there for BMC. Yates is in the Froome group too, defending his second place overall.  

Froome moves up from the middle of the group. He is back on his teammate's wheel.

The Froome group is at 3km to go.   

Romain Bardet (AG2R) moves up as Froome attacks!

Froome is spinning his gears as usual. Porte and Quintana are with him!

Quintanais struggling and is distanced.

Froome is spinning with his hands on the tops. Porte is tucked in his wheel. Quintana is trying to limit his losses but has been caught by Aru.  

Porte is working with Froome as Mollema attacks in pursuit of the two. Quintana is not looking sharp.

Mollema has jumped across to Porte and Froome. He's a fighter. 

up front the three attackers are only 500m from the finish. 

It's a sprint finish. 

De Gendt leads it out and wins, as Pauwels cracks and sits up. 

Navarro also cracked in the final metres. 

Froome is digging deep as he tries to gain time on Quintana and the rest. Porte is helping him with the work. 

Crash!

Porte hit the motorbike and Froome crashed too! 

Froome is now running up the road as he calls for a new bike.

They have been passed by the chasers. Froome gets a bike from Neutral service but can't ride on. He's losing time!

Other riders have passed him and already finished the stage. 

Froome finally gets a bike and sprints to the finish. He has lost a big chunk of time.

Froome shakes his head as he crosses the line. 

It seems the TV motorbike ahead of Porte, Froome and Mollema stopped suddenly. All three went down. 

This will cause a huge polemic. Was it the fault of the huge crowd and the motorbike? 

In the moment of panic, the other riders managed to pass Froome and Porte, Froome was left waiting for a new bike but ran up the road in desperation, hoping to perhaps cross the line on foot.   

What happened is hugely embarassing for race organiser ASO. 

With Froome losing time, Adam Yates (Orica) will take the yellow jersey. 

Froome has lost 1:40 in the incident. This will totally change the out come of the Tour de France.

Froome has moved down to fifth place at 53 seconds down on Yates.

Could the 3km crash rule apply and some how save Froome?  

However the stage was not categorised as stage where the 3km rule is applied.

There is uncertain what , if anything, ASO can do.  

Ten Sky directeur sportif Nicholas Portal said it was a nightmare out on the climb.

Froome was escorted into the podium area after crossing the line. He took to his bike to warm down. 

Fabio Aru (Astana) admitted he knew little about what happened to Froome. He was focused on saving his race after a flat and three bike changes.

What a crazy finish. Some 20 minutes after the finish the yellow jersey has still not be presented. This is a nightmare scenario for the race organisers ASO and the UCI judges. 

Peter Sagan was awarded the green jersey on the podium, as was stage winner Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal). However Adam Yates (Orica) has not yet been awarded the best young rider's white jersey or the yellow jersey. 

It seems the race judges are trying to understand if they can take the times at the moment that Froome, Porte and Mollema crashed. 

Sagan spoke briefly after the podium but finished behind the Froome chaos.

Peter Sagan: "I didn’t have a big objective today, I tried to get through calmly. I’m just happy to come through it there were lots of crashes during the day with the wind."

Thomas De Gendt was overjoyed to win the stage but did not know what happened to Froome.

Speaking post-stage, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) showed little sentiment for Froome.

There are reports that Froome still has the yellow jersey. We are awaiting an official announcement from ASO.  

We appear to have a new GC top 10 with Froome back in yellow.  

It seems the judges have given Froome the time he had at the moment of the crash. Of course there could be protests from riders like Mollema, who got up and raced to the finish and gained time.  

According to this new provisional result, Froome leads Adam Yates by 47 seconds, Mollema is third overall at 56 seconds.

Nairo Quintana is fourth overall at 1:01. 

Adam Yates sportingly admitted that he didn't want to take yellow as a consequence of the chaos and Froome's time loss.

There is still no official explanation of events and the judges decision but it seems it was some how based on sporting fairness. of course the Trek team and others are not very happy with the decision.

We have some initial reaction from Richie Porte (BMC), recorded before the judges gave him and Froome some time back after their crash. 

Further comments from Porte, before the judges gave them back the seconds they lost due to the crash. 

This is perhaps the photo of the day, showing the moment Porte, Froome and Mollema crashed.

This image shows Froome's desperation as he ran up towards the finish before grabbing a new bike. 

Froome and Porte were fortunate that judges decided to ward them the same time as Mollema, meaning that Froome kept and even extended his lead in yellow.

As the dust settles on the stage and it is now clear that Froome has kept his yellow jersey, we're going to end our live coverage for the day. 

To see short videos of the crash, the moment Froome ran up the road and his reaction on what happened, click here. 

We will also have reaction from  Team Sky, Richie Porte of BMC, race director Christian Prudhomme and others. 

Join us tomorrow for full live coverage of the stage 13 time trial on Friday. 

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