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Tour de France stage 12 Live - Pogacar and Vingegaard face off as Pidcock wins on L'Alpe d'Huez

The profile of stage 12 of the 2022 Tour de France

(Image credit: ASO)

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Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 12 of the 2022 Tour de France.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the riders are signing-on in Briancon.

As always, Cyclingnews will have full live coverage of the stage, with post-stage reaction, analysis and photographs of the racing. 

This is today's stage. 

Today is the second consecutive mountain finish in the high Alps and is also Bastille Day in France.

The team are signing on one by one on the podium. There are a lot of worried looks as the riders realise they face a tough stage in the mountains.  

Next on stage is Team DSM and team leader Romain Bardet. He gets a huge cheer from the crowd. 

Read more about Bardet's great ride by clicking below. 

Next up is Groupama-FDJ and David Gaudu and Thibaut Pinot also get a huge cheer.

Next to sign-on are Ineos Grenadiers. 

Next up is Arkea-Samsic and the Combatif of stage 11 Warren Barguil. 

Nairo Quintana is also on stage and is a real threat today too, even if he went on the attack on stage 11 on the Col du Granon. 

This is what the riders face today. This is a superb drone shot of the L'Alpe d'Huez hairpins. 

Next up at the sign-on is UAE but they are running a little late.

Tadej Pogacar eventually arrives and quickly heads to the start line. He is no longer in the leader's yellow jersey but is wearing the best young rider's white jersey and so has a special place on the front of the gird. 

3 minutes to roll out! 

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) also lines-up in the polka dot jersey.

One minute to roll out!

The other riders move up and the clock ticks down to the start.

C'est Parti! 

Adam Yates and Geraint Thomas seem ready to race.

This is today's stage. 

This is the stage profile.

Ooops, Nairo Quintana needs a bike stage, even in the neutralised sector.

The riders face 4.6km of neutralised riding. Then the flag will drop.   

Tadej Pogacar spoke briefly to Eurosport before the start and seems bullish.  

Pogacar made it clear he is not nervous about the stage to come. 

Despite the hot weather across Europe, a rain shower came before the start, leaving the roads wet on the ride out of Briancon.  

Here we go! 

Warren Barguil is the first to attack. 

159 riders started the stage. That's the same number who finished yesterday's stage.

Neilson Powless is also attacking on the climb out of Briancon. 

Powless has a gap but other riders are chasing him.

160km to go

The first climb is the Col du Galibier but it is preceded by the gradual the Col du Lautaret. 

Crash in the peloton!

Steven Kruijswijk is delayed and needs help from his team car. but he gets going again.

Five chasers join Powless up front. They lead by 25 seconds.

The six up front are: Oliveira, Perez, Goossens, Louvel and Schönberger and Powless.

The gap is up to 1:20. 

This is the first shot of Vingegaard in the yellow jersey.

The peloton has eased. The break is at 2:00 but suddenly a chase group of five forms. 

The sun is out now and Kobe Goossens reaches the intermediate sprint in first position ahead of Oliveira.

Boom. Here comes van Aert to seep up some intermediate sprint points. 

He is seventh to the line and takes some free points.

150km to go

There is a stiff headwind up the Col du Lautaret. That will be a factor in if and how the early break forms.

Van Aert scored 9 points with his surge, taking his total to a massive 313. Fabio Jakobsen is second with 155 points.

The six riders lead by 1:30 as the attacks behind keep coming. 

There is suddenly a big split in the peloton, as riders try to get into the counter-attack. 

The peloton is lined out due to the high speed.

Jonas Vingegaard is more up front, following bodyguard and Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert.

JUmbo are taking control of the chase, with Van Aert and Roglic up front.

Giulio Ciccone  of Trek decides to try to cross the break solo. That's a big ask but the Col du Galibier will start soon.  

The Galibier from this side is a 25-minute climb. It is officially 23km at 5.1% but that includes a chunk of the Col du Lautaret. 

Ciccone is 45 seconds behind Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Matîs Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) and Gerhard Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM).

Louis Meintjes and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché) are in between Ciccone and the bunch but they face a big task to get across. 

140km to go

The lower slopes of the Galibier is packed with spectators. They will quickly descent towards L'Alpe d'Huez for the finish.

Allez! We have more attacks. 

Louis Meintjes has joined Ciccone and they are 30 seconds down on the break. 

The peloton is only 1:30 behind and Jumbo seem keen to keep control of any attacks. 

Wout van Aert is doing a huge job for Jonas Vingegaard. 

With 5km to the summit of the Col du Galibier, Ciccone and Meintjes join the break, taking it to eight riders up front. 

135km to go

Froome attacks from the peloton. 

Froome sense that Jumbo will let the attack go away and he wants to try to be part of it. 

Perez is nearing the summit of the Galibier. He passes the Desgrange monument and pushes on to the real summit at 2642m.  

130km to go

The riders can now enjoy 40km of descending of the Galibier and then the Col du Télégraphe.

Tom Pidcock dives down the descent to try to join Froome and the chase of the attack. 

Pidcock is using every metre of the road and quickly crosses to Froome.  

Froome catches Pidcock as the road eases. Pidcock seemed to wait for him to share the work on the flatter parts of the descent.

The two are 1:15 down on Perez, Ciccone, Meintjes and Powless. 

Froome is trying to hang on Pidcock's wheel but the Ineos rider is a lot smaller and seems to be a better descender. 

The attackers and Froome and Pidcock blast through Valloire. They face a 5km climb and then can dive down the descent of the Col du Télégraphe.

Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) has a disc brake issue, with his bike making a loud tick, tick, tick noise. 

Pidcock and Froome are only 40 seconds behind now. And they still have the Col du Télégraphe to descend. 

Chris Froome has twice won on Bastille Day, in 2013 and 2015. It would be  incredible if he won again today. 

Chris Froome went on the attack during stage 12

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As the peloton also starts the descent of the Col du Télégraphe, they are 3:45 down on the attackers. 

100km to go

Pidcock leads the attackers to the valley road with Powless.

The peloton is also in the valley road, 4:50 down on the attackers. 

88km to go

The Col de la Croix de Fer is a long climb of two parts. 

83km to go

These are the 9 riders in the attack: 

The riders are in the valley and riding into a headwind. It is said to be 36C out there. No wonder riders are spraying themselves with water to try to stay cool. 

The attackers start the lower slopes of the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

The stage is ticking down the kilometres to the final showdown on L'Alpe d'Huez. 

This shot shows Pidcock's daring descending skills that allowed him to cross to the attack.

Pidcock looks fresh and determined as he rides on the front of the attack.

Jumbo-Visma are clearly letting the Pidcock group open a gap, perhaps to force others to chase. 

75km to go

The peloton is still large but some sprinters, including Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan, have been distanced.

Wout van Aert is still on the front of the peloton. He's doing another incredible ride for Jumbo-Visma. 

The attackers still face 20km of climbing on the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

Fortunately the riders can enjoy some shade on the lower slopes of the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

72km to go

Here's a shot looking up L'Alpe d'Huez.

The Beefeaters are also out in force and claiming their own corner. 

Riders are slowly dropping from the peloton. 

Christophe Laporte is now doing the work on the front for Jumbo. He is far more than a sprinter.  

UAE Team Emirates manager Joxean Fernández Matxin has become the latest member of Tadej Pogačar’s supporting team to leave the Tour de France after testing positive for COVID-19.

There are still 13km to climb on the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

Here's a side on shot of Froome and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM).

65km to go

60km to go

Up front, Pidcock has upped the pace and split the attack.  

Perez is dropped, as are Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM). 

They are 4km from the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer and so the gradient and the altitude is hurting everyone.

Ineos lose Jonathan Castroviejo and Luke Rowe from the peloton.

Jumbo have clearly decided to ramp up the pace now. 

3km to the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

The break knows the peloton has upped the pace. 

Van Aert grabs a musette, as do two teammates, for a key feed near the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer.  

Behind Caruso, Uran and Pogacar's key teammate Brandon McNulty have been dropped. 

Nathan Van Hooydonck is on the front for Jumbo now. 

Nathan Van Hooydonck moves off the front, so now it is time for Benoot, with Kuss behind him.

Froome is back in the attack as they near the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer. 

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) makes sure he is first to the top to take the maximum points on the HC climb. 

50km to go

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) start the descent but it has a false flat early sector and other kick-ups before reaching the bottom. 

There are only 40 riders in the Vingegaard GC group. 

The riders in the break are keen to feed from their team cars before the descent starts in earnest.  

45km to go

This is the break of the day. Will any of them survive the chase of the peloton? 

Here we go. 

The road kicks-up after a long downhill sector and it seems to hurt everyone in the attack. 

32km to go

The attack lead the peloton by 5:15.  

We're getting close to the foot of L'Alpe d'Huez. 

Mechanical for Roglic!  

20km to go

This is the profile of the legendary climb. 

Benoot leads the peloton for Vingegaard but he has dropped back, perhaps to mark Pogacar and other GC rivals. 

5km to go until the start of L'Alpe d'Huez. 

This is L'Alpe d'Huez. 

Team DSM are up front in the peloton, will Bardet attack?  

The TV camera finds Pogacar. He looks at his computer and says with a smile: "It's pretty hot, uh?" 

Here we go. 13.8km to climb up L'Alpe d'Huez. 

The six are: 

Incredibly Pidcock has the time and focus to throw some trash in a bag on the side of the road.

Froome knows that staying cool is vital today. 

12.5km to go

Jumbo have six riders on the front, including Vingegaard.

Ganna moves up the Ineos train to the front.  

Powless loses the wheels in the attack. 

Louis Meintjes (Intermarché) is pushing the pace in the attack. 

Van Aert leads the group. Suddenly Pogacar moves up to the wheel of Vingegaard and coolly  passes a bar to a teammate. 

Powless is back on the attack but Pidcock ups the pace and hurts him again.

Now Froome starts to up the pace.

Vingegaard and Pogacar are side by side. Who will surge first? 

Pidcock goes first up front. He ups the pace and is solo. 

He is pushing a big gear but dancing on the pedals.  

10km to go

All steady in the peloton for now. Van Aert is still leading with another superb team ride. 

Pogacar takes a bidon and sprays his head with cold water.

Meintjes joins Pidcock up front. 

Thomas is a little too far back in the peloton.

Van Aert is drilling it on the front. He is hurting everyone in the peloton.

There are only 20 or less riders in the GC group. 

Meintjes is about 10m behind Pidcock. He's there but can't close the gap. 

8km to go

Vlasov is dropped. He was already 7:23 down in the GC.

Pinot and Jungels are also dropped from the GC group. 

Pidcock is alone and now going for it. He is halfway up L'Alpe d'Huez. He leads Meintjes by 10 seconds, with Froome at 20 seconds.

Thomas and Yates are in the GC group, Gaudu, Mas, and Bardet too.

Quintana is there, as is Majka for Pogacar. 

Pogacar looks good for now. He's sat on Vingegaard's wheel. 

The crowds are huge as Pidcock opens the road in front him like Moses. 

Behind Quintana cracks suddenly. Lutsenko goes too. 

They still have 7km to race,  half of the Alpe. 

5km to go

Roglic takes over on the front of the GC group. 

Look at the strength of Jumbo. 

Roglic is done, now Kuss takes over leading Vingegaard.

Majka is dropped. Pogacar is alone. 

The crowds are huge as they cheer on Pidcock.  

Meintjes is 30 seconds behind him but not giving up. 

Bardet is dropped. 

This is a classic day on L'Alpe d'Huez. 

Adam Yates is dropped. There are only 5 riders in the GC group. 

The five are: Kuss, Vingegaard, Pogacar, Thomas and Mas.

The 5 have 5km to race.

Pidcock leads the 5 by 4:00. This stage can be his. 

Pidcock has 3km to race, he is just 3km from a historic victory. 


Kuss still leads Vingegaard, Pogacar, Thomas and Mas up the climb, between the walls of screaming fans.

Pogacar attacks!!!

Vingegaard goes with him. Race on.

They ease and look at each other. Thomas is coming back to them.

Bardet is with Yates just behind.

2.5km to go

It's stalemate between Vingegaard, Pogacar and Thomas.

Kuss is doing an incredible job for Vingegaard today. 

The riders are near the L'Alpe d'Huez village now. 

Behind it's Kuss, Vingegaard, Pogacar and Thomas. 

1km to go

Vingegaard goes after him.

The two are equally matched.

They again look at each other and so Thomas gets back on.

Pidcock is close to the finish.

Pidcock shakes his head and then celebrates when he crosses the line.

Louis Meintjes (Intermarché) finishes at 48 seconds.

Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) is third at 2:05. 

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) comes in at 2:30. 

Here's Pidcock as he rides to victory.

Here comes the GC group. Pogacar kicks in search of every second

Wow. What a day of racing. What another great day of racing.

Ineos Grenadiers teams British rider Thomas Pidcock cycles in a breakaway past Dutch corner in the ascent of Alpe dHuez during the 12th stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race 1651 km between Briancon and LAlpedHuez in the French Alps on July 14 2022 Photo by Marco BERTORELLO AFP Photo by MARCO BERTORELLOAFP via Getty Images

(Image credit: MARCO BERTORELLO AFP via Getty Images)

Quintana loses time and finishes at 4:45 but he's not finished yet in this Tour.

Tom Pidcock can hardly believe what he's done. He's won on L'Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France.

Louis Meintjes is emotional as he speaks about his second place.

Here's the moment Pidcock wins the stage. 

That was raw emotion and honesty from Louis Meintjes.

Thomas is happy with his ride and has moved up in the GC.  

Thomas is third at 2:26 now. He has moved past Bardet, who slipped to fourth at 2:35. 

Pidcock was overjoyed when he reached his Ineos carer beyond the finish.

Other riders are coming in as the clock ticks. 

Pidcock is only 22 but he's now added a Tour de France stage to his cyclocross world title, mountain bike Olympic gold, a Baby Giro wib and others. 

Pidcock was happy with his big win.

"The idea was to get in the break. I lost enough time yesterday that hopefully, I'd be given freedom," he explained. 

Chris Froome was also happy to finish third. It was an incredible performance from the four-time Tour winner.

What a day for Tom Pidcock and for cycling. 

Geraint Thomas pointed out that he was the first British winner atop L'Alpe d'Huez but was happy for Pidcock and to move to third overall. 

With the help of his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl teammates, Fabio Jakobsen finished inside he time limit. 

Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar had another battled but they finished together, with Geraint Thomas and others after looking at each other. 

Vingegaard admitted he suffered after the hard, aggressive racing on Wednesday on the Col du Granon.

The Jumbo-Visma leader was blown away by the huge crowds on L'Alpe d'Huez.

This is a view from other side. Pidcock's emotions are clear to see.

These are the full results from today's stage. 

This is how Tom Pidcock got across to the break of the day. Later he rode away from them on the climb to L'Alpe d'Huez.

At just 22-years-old Pidcock is the youngest winner at L’Alpe d’Huez, bettering Lucho Herrera who was 23 when he scored the first ever Tour de France stage victory for Colombia on the climb. 

Cyclingnews journalists Barry Ryan, Alasdair Fotheringham and Daniel Ostanek are in L'Alpe d'Huez and have spoken to Pogacar, Vingegaard, Thomas and others. 

For blow by blow coverage of the stage, scroll through our live coverage. 

Stage 13 of Tour de France is over 192.6km from Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne, taking the Tour out of the Alps via hilly stage. 

Join the Cyclingnews live coverage of all of stage 13 to follow the action.

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