Thomas Voeckler clings on to Bastille Day yellow as the Schleck brothers lay down the law
Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took a lone victory at the top of Luz-Ardiden to claim the twelfth stage of the Tour de France. The Olympic champion escaped the shrinking peloton on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet then climbed to the finish with Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), before outsprinting the Belgian in the closing 300 metres.
Vanendert held on to take second on the stage after seven seconds, just three seconds clear of Fränk Schleck, who had attacked a very select group of riders in the final kilometres. Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) led Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) over the line thirty seconds behind Sanchez.
"I knew it was an important day, and I had to try something because my position in the general classification meant that I was not a dangerous rival for some of the GC riders,” said Sanchez at the finish. “I had my chance and I decided to go.
“On the descent after the Tourmalet, [Philippe] Gilbert helped widen the gap along with one of his team-mates,” he explained. “As I had also a teammate in front, Ruben Perez Moreno, I knew it was the right time to attack.
“I was also aware that Andy Schleck had lost a lot of teammates,” he added, “and so did Alberto Contador, so they were not able to reel in our escape.”
At last the race hits mountains on Bastille Day
The 211km stage would be predominantly flat, although slightly rising, until it would hit the base of the 1st category Hourquette d'Ancizan after 132km. This was the first time the climb would feature in the race but the next one, the mythical Col du Tourmalet, was to be climbed for the eightieth time.
Luz-Ardiden, was to host a stage finish for the eighth time; the last time was in 2003 when Lance Armstrong was brought down by a spectator’s souvenir bag, before going on to win the stage.
After eleven tough days, aimed at the sprinters and puncheurs, stage twelve finally offered a chance for the overall classification favourites to show themselves. The slender lead of Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) would be under attack, but the plucky Frenchman would doubtless do all he could to hold on to the yellow jersey on France’s national day.
An early break and this one’s a threat to Voeckler’s lead
After 2km a six man group escaped the peloton, containing: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) and Jérémy Roy (FDJ)
Europcar was setting the tempo on the front of the peloton, but doing nothing to stem the growth of the six men’s advantage; after 20km the group’s lead was up to four minutes.
Unlike the previous two days, the break was not an “Escape Royale” for Voeckler and his team, as Thomas was only 5’51" behind. Most of the time the Welshman trailed by was lost on stage seven when he, and the rest of Team Sky, was waiting in vain for team leader Bradley Wiggins to rejoin the race. The delay cost him the white jersey, which he’d worn since day one, as well as his high place in the overall classification.
After 50km the six riders led by 5’10”, and a few kilometres later the lead went over the six minute mark, meaning that Thomas was race leader on the road. With the peloton just cruising, the lead went over seven minutes at the 61km point.
While there was only a slim chance that Thomas would be able to stay away to the finish, he was currently heading towards being the first ever Welshman to wear the yellow jersey. His compatriot Nicole Cooke, the Olympic champion, has won the women’s equivalent race however.
Europcar stabilised the gap at this point though, only allowing a few more seconds in the next 20km but, as the pace eased to allow Voeckler to stop for a ‘natural break’, it began to rise again; after 85km it topped eight minutes.
The break takes the sprint and Cavendish mops up the points
Mangel led over the intermediate sprint line in Sarrancolin, after 119km while behind the six riders, the peloton began to accelerate as the sprinters readied themselves to battle for the remaining points.
As the peloton approached the sprint Movistar moved to the front for José Joaquin Rojas, while HTC-Highroad was moving forward on behalf of green jersey incumbent Mark Cavendish. Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert was also lurking in the pack, wanting to get some points towards getting the jersey back.
HTC-Highroad took Cavendish to the line, with Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss also taking big points away from the Manxman’s rivals.
Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), wearing the polka-dot jersey and apparently having recovered a little from his encounter with the barbed wire on stage nine, went straight over the top in an attack, but the Dutchman was marked by Movistar and FDJ and he sat up. The gap had dropped to 8’20” after the acceleration to the sprint line and, as Europcar took its place at the front again, it continued down to below eight minutes as the leaders made their was towards the base of the Hourquette d'Ancizan.
As the peloton hit the bottom of the climb Europcar had taken the gap down to 5’50”, just about putting Voeckler back into the yellow jersey.
The Tour hits its first mountain and the counter attacks start
Young Katusha sprinter Denis Galimzyanov lost contact with the peloton immediately, just as Gutierrez was dropped by the break. Hoogerland, determined to get away, attacked, and took Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) with him; the French champion proudly wearing his country’s flag on its national day.
A few minutes later Roman Kreuziger (Astana) set off after them.
A few more kilometres into the climb, Cavendish and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo) were tailed off along with a number of the other sprinters, and flatland domestiques.
When the five leaders were 3km from the top they led Chavanel, Hoogerland and Kreuziger by 4’45”, with the peloton a further minute back. Kreuziger upped the pace and dropped Hoogerland as he and Chavanel tried to close in on the break.
Mangel sprinted for the Col ahead of Perez, distancing the others slightly, but they all came back together over the top.
On the first corner Thomas’ back wheel suddenly locked and he left the road. Luckily for the Welshman there was a grass verge at the side, but he threw himself to the ground to avoid going over the nearby precipice. On almost the next curve, his wheel locked again and he was forced off the road once more, stopping on the grass behind a parked car.
The Welshman gingerly continued his descent, but was now behind the break.
Chavanel and Kreuziger crossed the Col 3’55” behind, with Hoogerland 50 seconds behind them. Leopard Trek and Liquigas-Cannondale joined Europcar at the front of the peloton, and it crested the top after 5’49”.
The yellow jersey follows Geraint Thomas down
On the same corner as Thomas had come down, there was an identical crash involving a number of riders, including Voeckler, Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) and Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad). No one was seriously hurt but the gap went back up to 6’20” as the peloton regrouped; Thomas was not there up any more, but was now with Gutierrez and were both chasing back
The lead group, now down to four, was 6’44” with 55km to go, meaning that GT was back in the maillot jaune virtuel, even though he was not right up there. As they passed through Sainte-Marie de Campan at the bottom of Tourmalet, they led Thomas and Gutierrez by 42 seconds, Kreuziger by 3’20” and the peloton by 7’40”.
Thomas and Gutierrez made short work of joining the leaders, taking the lead group back up to six.
Leopard Trek turns the screw on the Tourmalet
With 49km to go the Leopard Trek took over the front of the peloton from Europcar and lifted the pace a little with the whole team lined out behind Joost Posthuma. All of the race favourites were close to the front at this point,
As Fabian Cancellara took over the Leopard Trek pacemaking, Hoogerland was caught and dropped. Up ahead Kreuziger dropped Chavanel and set about trying to catch the break up front; Stuart O’Grady was the next Leopard Trek rider to take over the pace, and with 9km still to climb, the deficit to the leaders was down to 5’00”.
Riders were constantly streaming off the back of the peloton, including white jersey Robert Gesink (Rabobank), while Kreuziger was gaining on the leaders. Jens Voigt was the next Leopard Trek rider; the peloton was thinning, but so was the Luxembourg team.
Roy accelerated in the front group and Gutierrez found himself dropped for a second time, then Thomas took over on the front. Mangel and Kadri were dropped leaving just three ahead; where Kreuziger had been about to catch up with the break, he was suddenly struggling and drifting back.
With 40km to go Leopard Trek’s pressure had cut the lead to just 3’12”, and was hauling back Chavanel. As the leaders entered the final 3km of the climb, Thomas went alone, with Roy struggling to catch him up.3km for Thomas 3’23”
Andy Schleck suffered a front wheel puncture and, as he was getting it changed, Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) attacked and was followed by Yury Trofimov (Katusha). As Schleck rejoined Jesus Hernandez (Saxo Bank-SunGard) attacked, with Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale), but Voigt pulled them back.
The increase in pace saw Andreas Klöden, RadioShack’s last contender, dropped.
Roy caught Thomas and took the Souvenir Jacques Goddet over the top of the Tourmalet. Kreuziger was 2’12” behind, with Ten Dam at 2’51” and the peloton at 3’12”.
More breaks on the descent but the yellow jersey is still there
On the fast descent, where riders got up to speeds of 90kph, Gilbert pulled off the front of the peloton. He was followed by Sanchez and Vanendert and, as the climb began, they got together with Ten Dam, Kreuziger, and Perez, who’d been in the front group. This new group was 2’33” behind Thomas and Roy, with the Voigt led peloton fifteen seconds behind it.
Klöden, who’d made his way back up on the descent, was dropped immediately, just as Kreuziger dropped by the group ahead. Voigt though, was finished, leaving just the Schleck brothers from Leopard Trek, and Europcar took over the front of the peloton once more.
De Weert attacked to try to get ahead, just as Sanchez and Vanendert moved ahead of Gilbert, Ten Dam and Trofimov.
With 10km to go, Thomas and Roy led the peloton by 1’40”, but Sanchez and Vanendert were now just a minute behind. This was the cue for Basso to send Sylwester Szmyd to the front, and the pace went up considerably as the Polish rider began to slash the leader’s advantage. Gilbert and the rest were caught, just as Sanchez and Vanendert caught and passed Thomas and Roy. With 8km to go, the new leaders were 40 seconds ahead, and quickly extended their lead.
As they passed under the 5km to go banner, Sanchez and Vanendert led by 1’08”; the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider started the day 5’01” behind Voeckler, but only around 2’30” behind the race favourites so was taking time out of everybody.
Andy Schleck finally breaks the stalemate
With the favourites having been watching each other for the past eleven stages, Andy Schleck finally broke the stalemate and attacked. His move was immediately marked by Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) though, and the other favourites caught back up. Fränk Schleck went next, but the rest were dragged up to him by Basso; he went a second time, only to be followed by Contador.
The main group was now reduced to just Basso, Fränk and Andy Schleck, Evans, Contador, Cunego, and Voeckler with teammate Pierre Rolland. With the strength of all the favourites’ teams, the only rider to have a teammate with him at this stage was Voeckler.
Fränk Schleck tried again, but was marked by Contador once more, and there was a lull in the pace that saw Rolland take over on the front. The slight drop in pace saw Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervélo) make it back up with Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ).
A Schleck gets away and closes in on the stage victory
With 2.5km to go though Fränk Schleck went again and got a gap this time. Rolland took over the pace again and, as the race passed under the 2km to go banner Schleck was 49 seconds behind Sanchez and Vanendert, with the peloton at 1’12”
Basso and Evans then upped their pace and finally the group split. Voeckler tried to hang on, but had to give up the chase. Fränk Schleck was gaining on the leaders as they entered the final kilometre, but the other favourites were steadily pulling him back too.
With 500 metres to go Vanendert looked over his shoulder and, seeing the Luxembourg champion gaining, attacked. Sanchez was on him straight away though, and attacked himself in the final 300 metres, and Vanendert had no answer. The Olympic champion went on alone to take his biggest win since that Beijing race three years ago, ten years after his former teammate Roberto Laiseka won in the same place.
“It’s a day full of emotion, as I rode in the "orange wave" with the cheers of ‘our’ audience – it was very impressive!” said Sanchez. ‘And here we are celebrating the anniversary of the victory of Laiseka, so it’s a very special victory.”
Vanendert finished seven seconds behind him, with Fränk Schleck at ten seconds.
Contador was dropped by the rest in the final kilometre; Basso, led Evans and Andy Schleck over the line thirty seconds later, with Cunego following just behind. Contador 43 seconds behind Sanchez, losing several seconds to his main rivals
Voeckler finished just a few seconds behind Contador, with Rolland, and so holds on to his yellow jersey on Bastille Day.
“What a stage!” he exclaimed. ‘It was very hard and today the Europcar team really made a great job and I was a little bit afraid when I crashed at the top of the first climb. I’m normally not so bad in the downhill but I was very scared this time. The road was very slippery and I decided to change my bike and that helped.”