cycling: Tour de France stage #12: Froome jogs up the Ventoux

Cycling: After the last two exciting stages, the events of the Tour de France rolled over today. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) won the stage from a breakaway, but that all faded into the background. Chris Froome (Sky), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Richie Porte (BMC) fell due to a support motorcycle that was probably stopped by spectators. As a result, Chris Froome's bicycle frame broke and he jogged several meters up the mountain. The official decision of the jury was made about an hour after crossing the finish line: Chris Froome stays in yellow and gets the same time as Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema.

The French want victory

The prestigious stage from Montpellier up to Mont Ventoux took place today on the French national holiday. Unfortunately, this 12th stage of the Tour de France was literally blown away by the wind because of heavy gusts of wind shortened the route by a few kilometers. The finish line should already be painted at Chalet Reynard, around six kilometers before the actually planned finish. However, that hardly changed the difficulty, because the climb, which is still more than nine kilometers long, has an average gradient of over nine percent. Of course, some Frenchmen snuck into the day's leading group, including Bryan Coquard and Sylvain Chavanel (both Direct Energie), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis) and Cyril Gautier (AG2R). Also present: André Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (both Dimension Data). Due to the strong wind and the two mountains in front of Mont Ventoux, some riders flew back before the stage final, including Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). Fabio Aru (Astana) was desperate for the stage to the foot of the mountain, because he had to change his work equipment at least three times.

Nairo Quintana tries several times

Even before the final climb, the German sprinter André Greipel attacked. It would have been like a fairy tale if the top sprinter could have won this mountain climb today, but as soon as it got really steep, he was caught again by his colleagues. However, since he only wanted to do the preparatory work for his teammate Thomas De Gendt, his plan worked for the time being. De Gendt, together with Pauwels and Navarro, broke away from his companions and this trio now drove towards the preferred destination. The winner of the day should come from this group of three, because the lead was more than six minutes just a few kilometers before the finish line. Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde attacked from the field of favourites. The Spaniard wanted to literally pave the way for his captain Nairo Quintana. However, three helpers from Chris Froome (Sky) closed the gap again without any problems. The second and third attacks were also unsuccessful. Among others, Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff) and Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) were no longer able to follow. That was a junior driver Adam Yates (Orica BikeExchange) still represented in the group of around ten favorites.

Unbelievable scenes in the last kilometers

Around four kilometers from the finish, Chris Froome in the yellow jersey attacked himself. Without getting out of the saddle, he pushed the pace so much that only his former teammate Richie Porte (BMC) and Nairo Quintana could keep up. When he forced another attack, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) also had to let go. While De Gendt didn't give Pauwels a chance in the sprint for the day's win at the finish, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was able to catch up with Froome and Porte. Nairo Quintana was losing more and more time and it looked like he was going to lose the Tour de France already today. But then unbelievable scenes took place. A support bike was suddenly stopped abruptly, leaving Porte, Mollema and Froome right behind it. Due to the crowds of spectators and the lack of barriers, everything was backed up and some drivers were held up. Mollema was the first rider to get back on the bike and rode to the finish line alone, while Froome's bike broke and he had to jog for several meters. He switched to a neutral wheel from the Mavic support vehicle before finally receiving one from the Sky team car. By then, Mollema, Porte and the group around Quintana and Yates had long since crossed the finish line. As a result, the young Briton Adam Yates was initially rated as the new wearer of the yellow jersey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oubVHVnALH4

Jury decision: Chris Froome remains in the yellow jersey

According to Chris Froome's official Twitter account, he will remain in the yellow jersey. The jury seems to have decided to give Chris Froome and Richie Porte the same time as Bauke Mollema. The Dutchman also fell to the ground, but was the quickest to get up again. The remaining times are said to remain the same. This decision took about an hour, which is probably the fairest of all possible solutions for everyone involved.

 

Awaiting jury decision… @LeTour #TDF

- Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 14, 2016

 

Still in the #YellowJersey #TDF

- Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 14, 2016

 

Tour de France Stage #12 – The day's result

Tour de France Stage #12 – The General Classification