Stage 12 report ...
Read all about Romain Bardet’s stage win on a day when Chris Froome lost his yellow jersey to Italian rider Fabio Aru. Tune in tomorrow, when the riders will tackle a short 101-kilometre stage from Saint-Girons to Fois. Don’t be fooled by the distance, mind - it boasts three Cat1 climbs. Thanks for your time, company and emails today and please join join me again tomorrow. For now, I’m off for a post-stage
pedal on the stationary bike next to my desk, in an effort to get rid of unwanted lactic acid
pint. Slainte!
Updated
Romain Bardet wins the stage
After nearly six hours of racing, Romain Bardet wins his third ever Tour stage on the eve of Bastille Day. A counter-attack in the closing stages took him past Fabio Aru, who won’t mind being beaten seeing as he’s ridden his way into the yellow jersey. Chris Froome showed vulnerability in the closing metres of today’s race, losing over 20 seconds in the final 300 metres.
John Hubbard writes in response to Dirk Siebel “Doping does make a difference to spectators,” he says. “The lure of elite sport of any kind is that we want to see what marvels human beings can achieve through extraordinary physical and mental effort, not what can be achieved through cheating. Cycling spectators are cheated just as much as spectators in other sports by dopers.
“Dirk accepts doping gives cheats ‘an unfair boost’ and it’s that unfairness that helps them train harder and longer, gives quicker recovery times from injury, and better performance on the day. If it’s not fair, it’s wrong. And doping is just wrong.”
The new Top 10 on General Classificiation
Astana rider Fabio Aru takes the yellow jersey on a day when Chris Froome lost 21 seconds in the final 300 metres of today’s summit finish.
New top-10 overall #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/2l25dqRMDg
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 13, 2017
General Classification Top Five
1. Fabio Aru
2. Chris Froome, 0.06
3. Romain Bardet, 0.25
4. Rigo Uran, 0.35
5. Dan Martin, 1.41
Confirmed: Fabio Aru takes the yellow jersey
The Astana rider did enough to take the yellow jersey off Chris Froome’s shoulders. He leads the GC by six seconds.
Fabio Aru takes the yellow jersey
Provisionally at least. Once the sums have been done, it looks as if the Italian Astana rider is going to be in the yellow jersey this evening, having started the day 18 seconds in arrears. Chris Froome lost 21 seconds in the final 300 metres of this stage.
Romain Bardet wins the stage!
Romain Bardet wins by two bike lengths from - I think - Fabio Aru. Chris Froome finishes 21 seconds behind and there are bonuses to be factored in as well.
150m to go: Aru leads from Dan Martin and Romain Bardet.
300m to go: Aru attacks and Froome follows.
600m to go: George Bennett attacks! The Kiwi rider jumps off the front of the bunch but is immediately caught.
1km to go: Dan Martin looks a likely winner of this stage as he attempts to get on the shoulder of Chris Froome. Mikel Landa is looking as strong as anyone as he leads Chris Froome.
14km to go: As if pedalling through treacle, Landa, Froome, Aru lead the group up these final brutal yards. At the side of the road, some moron lights up a flare.
2km to go: The leaders pass under the two-kilometres-to-go banner and Nieve is dropped. Landa and Froome continue to lead them up the hill with just a ridiculously steep 1,500m left to go.
3km to go: The lead group go over the top of the Col de Pyresourde and begin the short descent before tackling the 2.4 kilometre climb to the finish line at Peyragudes. The gradient is a calf-sapping 8.4%.
5km to go: Nieve, Landa and Froome lead the bunch towards the summit of Col de Pyresourde. Alberto Contador is in trouble - he’s out of his saddle, pedalling hard and shouting at the cameraman to get away from him.
6km to go: The lead group have taken over a minute out of Nairo Quintana. In that lead group, there’s eight of your top 10 on GC with only Quintana and Fugslang missing: Chris Froome, Mikel Nieve and Mikel Landa (Sky), Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Fabio Aru (Astana), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), Dan Martin (Quick-Step), Louis Meintjes (UAE) and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott).
An email from Chris Betteridge: “Does Chris Froome have huge dirt on all the other riders in the peleton?” asks Chris. “The reluctance to attack him when opportunities arise is astonishing. They aren’t going to beat him in a ‘gentlemanly’ fashion, so what this race needs is a bastard of a rider to try and take advantage of his mechanicals and off road excursions!”
7km to go: Cummings is caught by the yellow jersey group and dropped after a fine day’s work. I’m fairly sure Warren Barguil has also been dropped, but will confirm imminently. The lead group is about 12 or 14-strong and boasts three Sky riders (including Froome), Rigoberto Uran, Alberto Contador, Simon Yates, George Bennett, Louis Meintjes, Dan Martin and others.
8.8km to go: And 3.3km to the summit of the Col de Peysourde. Steve Cumming’s lead is down to 14 seconds. As a camera-toting motorbike pulls alongside him, he smiles wryly and makes a “gun under the chin” gesture with his forefinger and thumb. I think it’s safe to say he won’t be winning this stage.
9.4km to go: Michal Kwiatkowski is dropped by the yellow jersey group and is struggling to even turn his pedals. Stage leader Steve Cummings has just accepted a bottle of water from a spectator and poured over his own head and down his back. His lead is down to 41 seconds and he’ll do very well to win the stage from here.
Most of the exciting stuff on this Tour is happening on descents. Much of it while French TV are on Ad Breaks. #cursedupausepub
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 13, 2017
not to mention Pinot's outstanding form here...
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 13, 2017
seems he's ill too. Mollema, Rolland struggling as well
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 13, 2017
11km to go: Nairo Quintana has been dropped by the yellow jersey group, which is being led by four or five Sky riders, Fabio Aru and Warren Barguil. Rigoberto Uran, Simon Yates, Dan Martin and Alberto Contador are also there or thereabouts. They have opened a gap of 1min 53sec on Quintana, a gap that looks as if it could get an awful lot bigger before the afternoon is out.
Most of the exciting stuff on this Tour is happening on descents. Much of it while French TV are on Ad Breaks. #cursedupausepub
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 13, 2017
11.8km to go: The rest of the yellow jersey group wait for Froome, Aru and Nieve to catch up with them in the early stages of the penultimate climb to the Cat1 Col du Peyresourde. Alone in front of them, Steve Cummings has a lead of exactly two minutes.
Aru and Froome go off the road! Chris Froome, Mikel Nieve and Fabio Aru completely misjudge a corner on their descent and gatecrash a picnic being enjoyed by some spectators. Nieve zooms between two campert vans, while the other two stop just short of leaving tyre tracks across somebody’s baguettes. Both are OK, neither actually come off their bikes and they’re soon on their way again.
An email from Ricky in Ontario: “You said you had to pull into the side of the road for your call of nature,” he writes. “At such a crucial stage in the race, any good minute-by-minute athlete, like any good cyclist, would do it on the go! You must have a bin beside your desk!”
I do indeed, Ricky. In fact, this being the Guardian, I have two but am not sure whether to go in the recycling bin or the other one. I guess, seeing as my litter is already recycled, I’d have to pee in the red one.
16km to go: Steve Cummings whizzes down another little descent before hitting the final climb of the day. He’s increased his advantage over the yellow jersey group to 2min 08sec.
20km to go: Steve Cummings negotiates a little flat section at the bottom of the descent and passes the 20km to go banner. He has another five kilometres to go until the final climb of the day. He leads the yellow jersey group by 1min 54sec.
25km to go: Steve Cummings begins his long, technical descent down a ridiculously narrow road that looks less than the width of two cars. Behind him, Cyril Gautier misjudges a corner and ends up in a grass margin. Michal Kwiatkowski is leading the yellow jersey group down the decent, with Chris Froome on his wheel. Here’s hoping everybody gets down safely, as I have to pull into the side of the road, hike my cycling shorts down and attend to the call of nature. Back in five!
30km to go: Behind Cummings, Thomas De Gendt is fighting back and is leading Cyril Gautier up the climb. They’re about to be caught by Warren Barguil, but not before De Gendt and Gautier crest the summit.
Updated
30km to go: The yellow jersey group, headed by six Sky riders, passes the sign announcing one kilometre to the summit. Warren Barguil attacks off the front looking for as many King of the Mountains points as possible. Further up the road, Steve Cummings is first over and takes 20.
31km to go: Steve Cummings has one kilometre to go to the summit of Port de Bales. Behind him, Cyril Gautier has recovered after being dropped from the once 12-strong breakaway and has just passed Thomas de Gent, whose goose looks well and truly cooked.
32 min: Alberto Contador and Warren Barguil attack off the front of the yellow jersey group but are quickly caught.
Steve Cummings attacks: Cummings attacks Thomas De Gendt and the Belgian offers no resistance whatsoever. He has nothing left in the tank. Steve Cummings is on his own with two or three kilometres left to the summit of today’s HC Port de Bales climb.
Jakob Fugslang latest: The Astana rider with the “small” fractures to his left wrist and elbow is struggling to stay in touch with the yellow jersey group, which is 2min 32sec behind our two leaders.
De Gendt et Cummings en tête, Gautier tente de revenir / De Gendt and Cummings leading, Gautier trying to bridge #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/ug0IXJ0ACT
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 13, 2017
35km to go: Steve Cummings makes his way back towards Thomas de Gent and gets on the Belgian’s wheel. The gap to the peloton is 2min 39sec - there are six riders from Team Sky at the front; everyone left in the race except Luke Rowe and Christian Knees.
36km to go: Julien Simon, Jack Bauer, Diego Ulissi, Koen De Kort, Imanol Erviti and Michael Matthews have all been dropped by the breakaway. With over five kilometres to go to the summit of the HC Port de Bales, Thomas de Gendt has surged clear of Stefan Kung, Cyril Gautier and Steve Cummings.
37km to go: There are just five members of the original breakaway left and they’re being led by Thomas de Gendt. They’re about to be joined by Brice Feillu, who was paced up from the peloton by Maxime Bouet.
An email from Aidan Gentry: “Any news on how Fuglsang is doing with his creaky arm?” he asks. He’s hanging in there, as far as I know, although I think he has been dropped - or isa about to be dropped - from the peloton. I can tell you for certain that Thomas Voeckler, who many French bike fans fancied to put in a good showing today, has also been dropped.
39km to go: There are grupettos forming all over the mountainside as more and more riders asre shelled out the back of the peloton. AMong them, Thibaut Pinot, who has had a poor Tour. In the breakaway group, my tip for the day, Diego Ulissi, is struggling to stay in touch.
40km to go: With the gap down to 3min 47sec and 10km to go to the summit of Port de Bales, two spectators dressed as bumble bees run along the roadside shouting encouragement at the leaders of the peloton. Sky are still calling the shots, although Luke Rowe is no longer acting as a tow-truck. He’s done for after all his hard work and going backwards.
More cycling book recommendations
“I enjoyed Road to Valor telling the story of Gino Bartali,” writes Ben Collier. “He really didn’t like to talk about the charity work he did between winning the 1938 and 1948 Tours!”
“Domestique by Charly Wegelius,” writes Russell Burnett. “Great insights of the non-GC guys’ struggles. Never won a stage. Mentioned by Phil and Paul countless times.”
“David Millar’s Racing Through The Dark is a fantastic read, an unstinting mea culpa and a tale of how a good man can succumb to le dopage,” writes Guy Hornsby. “His contrition is why so many respect him. He’ll always be a doper, but the road is littered with those that never confess, and with many more anodyne, bland cycling ‘autobiographies’. Richard Moore’s ‘Slaying The Badger’ is also a great read, poignant for me as it was my first era of coming to love cycling, with LeMond and Hinault at its centre.”
43km to go: With the gap from the 11-man breakaway to the peloton down at 4min 27sec, there’s been a counter-attack off the front of the bunch. Fortuneo–Oscaro riders Maxime Bouet and Brice Feillu arer currently trying to bridge the gap from the bunch to the breakaway, which is making its way up the Hors Categorie Port de Bales.
@bglendenning cycling book suggestion - try the Rider by Tim Krabbé
— matthewcr (@matthewcr) July 13, 2017
@bglendenning on the subject of tour books, I loved "a race for madmen" by Chris sidwells. It's out of date but a great intro to the history
— David Cullen (@DavidRCullen) July 13, 2017
Andrew Benton responds to accusations that he as good as stole food from the mouths of various Fotheringham family members: “Ah, but someone else previously bought the new version when it was new and thereby contributed to the Fotheringham family shoe fund,” he writes. “But I can contribute to helping disadvantaged communities get safe drinking water, and all the other myriad things Oxfam does.
“I wouldn’t have bought a new full-priced version, I’m not that dedicated to reading about cycling. That’s why I’m asking about recs for the general reader - take cycling books out of the specialist market, make them mainstream, and Will and his cohorts will be on the cycling book gravy train for ever!”
@bglendenning + 1 for French Revolutions. Entertaining, but also a good look into how much the riders must put in to the sport.
— Paul Graham (@svenadultbooks) July 13, 2017
50km to go: The gap from the breakaway to the peloton is 4min 10sec.
Speaking of cycling books: Another one I read and enjoyed and is well worth a read considering the welcome presence of Pippa York on ITV’s commentary team over the next few days is In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore. It’s been several years since I read it, but I suspect it may be ever so slightly outdated, given recent revelations.
This profile of the final climb looks a mite more intimidating than that posted by Sky.
L'enchainement terrible qui attend les coureurs pour cette fin d'étape ! ⛰️🏔️⛰️
— Carrefour France (@CarrefourFrance) July 13, 2017
35 pts encore en jeu pour le #MaillotaPoisCarrefour 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/NYE1H6sXyP
Look at that final climb! A savagely steep run to the line awaits in Peyragudes. 55km to go 🏔 #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/VlmuLRTpyT
— Team Sky 🚲 (@TeamSky) July 13, 2017
An email from Andrew Benton: “I bought a secondhand first-edition of Will Fotheringham’s Put me Back on my Bike a couple of weeks ago (thanks Oxfam Harpenden bookshop),” he says. “After having completed just a couple of chapters it seems quite a lot about Will’s experience of finding out about Tom’s experience and flits about a fair bit. Definitely one for the die-hard cycling fan, and the faded colour pic of Simpson with a BP sponsor’s logo on his shirt in a group with Anquetil, Merckx and Altig reminds readers it was a very different age to keep it all in context. What’s the best cycling book around for a general interest reader?”
Ha-ha! Well Andrew, I’m sure Will will be absolutely delighted to hear you bought a second-hand version of his book, in the process contributing no pennies to the Fotheringham family shoe and food fund. Off the top of my head, I’m struggling to think of any decent books about cycling I’ve read that might be of general interest. A ROugh Ride by Paul Kimmage and The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton are decent exposes of drug abuse in cycling by riders from two different generations. I also enjoyed French Revolutions: Cycling The Tour de France by Tim Moore.
It bills itself as “A depiction of an inadequate man’s attempt to achieve the unachievable and ride the route taken by the pros on the 2000 Tour de France, this is a tale of calorific excess, ludicrous clothing and intimate discomfort”.
Marcel Kittel rejoins the peloton: Having been dropped by the breakaway on the climb to Col des Ares, Marcel rejoins the peloton and is no longer riding alone.
65km to go: Correction - Michael Matthews leads the charge down the descent at a ridiculous lick and goes so fast that he opens a gap on the rest of the breakaway. He gets to the bottom and starts looking over his shoulder, waiting to see how far behind the fellow members of his escape party are. Before too long, they rejoin him.
That 11-man escape party in full: Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Koen De Kort (Trek-Segafredo), Cyril Gautier (AG2R-La Mondiale), Stefan Kung (BMC), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Jack Bauer (Quick-Step Floors), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Julien Simon (Cofidis)
69km to go: The peloton begin their descent and we see one unidentified rider taking too bends at top speed while cycling with no hands as he attempts to put on a gillet that’s flapping in the breeze. It’s no longer raining and the road looks dry as further down the mountain Thomas de Gendt leads the descent of the breakaway.
An explosive burst of pace from Matthews: Every little helps and Michael Matthews does his bit by standing on his pedals and zooming past Thomas De Gendt to take the 10 points on offer to the first rider over Col De Mente. They’re no use to him, but denying De Gendt maximum points will help his team-mate Warren Barguil. The breakaway group sweeps up all the points available on this particular climb.
73km to go: Thomas De Gendt forces the pace of the breakaway up the Col De Mente and it looks as if Michael Matthews is going to try to steal a march on him to help his team-mate Warren Barguil, who is currently wearing the polka-dot jersey.
An email from Dirk Siebel: “I just wanted to send some thoughts on the topic of doping which seems to be on many people’s minds, particularly with the Tom Simpson link today,” he writes.
“Doping in a sport such as cycling is somewhat strange. For all the people watching on TV or along the road, it doesn’t make a difference whether some rider needs 40 or 50 minutes to get to Alpe d’Huez, it will be spectacular either way. The people who really are cheated are the fellow riders in the peloton, particularly GC contenders trying to win clean. That’s very different from, for example, athletics where spectators are cheated when somebody breaks a world record thanks to doping.
:Also, I often think that many people don’t acknowledge the sacrifices all these riders make, including those who are using illegal methods. Yes, it gives them an unfair boost but they still have to train hours every day, they still have to get through crashes and injuries and they still have to dedicate pretty much their whole life to cycling, more often than not for very meagre returns.
“While I am not condoning any form of doping, it’s not as if I could order some drugs online and start competing with any of these athletes. All efforts should be made to get of doping (which will never be entirely successful) but the discussion should at least shift a bit towards the motivations behind doping and maybe trying to find ways to ensure it is needed less and less.”
76km to go: It’s wet and misty as the breakaway group head pedal onwards and upwards to the summit of the Col de Mente. They’ve about two kilometres to go and the peloton are 5min 36sec behind them.
Back in the bunch, Warren Barguil, who leads the King of the Mountains category and is wearing the polka dot jersey to show for it, can be seen in fifth place behind Chris Froome. He’s presumably leaving himself nicely poised to go with any attack that might be launched off the front of the bunch.
There are 10 KOM points up for grabs for whoever is first over the Col de Mente and it would be a huge surprise if the rest of the breakaway didn’t leave them to Thomas de Gendt.
78km to go: As the peloton takes on the early stages of the climb to the Col De Mente, assorted riders are being shelled out the back of the bunch. Among them: Bora Hansgrohe rider Maciej Bodnar, yesterday’s most aggressive rider who led for 204 kilometres yesterday before being collared just 200 metres from the line. Ouch.
79km to go: The 11-man breakaway continue their assault on the Cat1 Col de Mente, while the peloton are 6min 11sec further back and freewheeling through a little dip before they hit the official foot of the climb. Luke Rowe and Christian Knees have been doing all the work on the front of the bunch for Sky and we’ll find out soon enough how much it’s taken out of the duo.
An email from Sam Charlton: “I can’t help but agree with the thought that it’s a missed opportunity to pay tribute to Tom Simpson,” writes Sam. “Whenever Le Tour goes over Huez et al , we always get stories about Pantani, and various tributes to equally talented riders with questionable habits. All in a completely different era to ours. What was then acceptable, is obviously no longer. Whilst I am obviously not condoning doping, I do think that it is another dose of double standards by ASO. lest we forget that many confessed dopers are part of commentary teams etc. It’s a real shame and no doubt part of a modest whitewashing of the rich history of Le Tour, regardless of ones opinions of the riders.”
82km to go: The breakaway group are finding the going tough as they head up the Col de Mente and Marcel Kittel is the first to crack. He drops off the back of the escape party, which is being led by Steve Cummings. The gap from Cummings to the peloton is 6min 19sec.
85.8m to go: If you or anyone you know is on the roadside of this stage about 88km from the finish, Chris Froome just discarded his black Sky gillet, which will make a nice souvenir for somebody.
89km to go: The Cat1 Col De Mente is next on the agenda for the field. It’s 1,349m above sea level, 6.9 kilometres in length and has a gradient of 8.1%. This is its 19th appearance in the Tour.
More reader bickering: “I think Alister Conner is confusing the two Kiwis in the race, Jack Bauer is in the breakaway not George Bennet,” writes Oliver Gauld. “So stand down on historic NZ virtual leader.”
102km to go: And the breakaway group have just ascended the Col des Ares. THe gap to the bunch is 5min 53sec. Looking at the current betting for today’s stage, the breakaway’s Steve Cummings heads it at 5-2. Chris Froome is next at 4-1, despite Sky having said they’ve no interest in winning the stage and would prefer to just put more time into Fabio Aru. Also in the break, Diego Ulissi is 5-1 and would be my idea of the winner if I was having a punt. Aru (9-1), Dan Martin (10-1), Thomas De Gendt (12-1) and Romain Bardet (12-1) all next. Barring some sort of serious attack by Aru and his depleted/injured Astana team-mates, I’d say today’s winner will come from the breakaway.
Another injured rider tweets ...
Thank you for everything, Tom. 50 years ago today. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/wRx5iGYWoT
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) July 13, 2017
An email from Jason Humphreys: “Of course it’s a shame that Sagan and others have left the race for different reasons, but Marcel Kittel’s performances have been a real highlight,” he writes. “Not only has it been a joy seeing him lie in ambush before ripping the sprint finishes to shreds, but the fact that he looks like a model has caught the attention of my wife (also German), meaning the daily Tour highlight shows are suddenly being tolerated. Not sure that would’ve been the case had Froomey been bagging the stage wins ... Allez Marcel!”
Intermediate sprint result
1. Michael Matthews 20 points
2. Marcel Kittel 17
3. Thomas De Gendt 15
4. Jack Bauer 13
5. Stefan Küng 11
6. Koen De Kort 10
7. Diego Ulissi 9
8. Nils Politt 8
9. Cyril Gautier 7
10. Julien Simon 6
11. Imañol Erviti 5
12. Stephen Cummings 4
At 5.45
13. Christian Knees 3
14. Luke Rowe 2
15. Mikel Nieve 1
BMC rider Richie Porte is home.
My new set of wheels aren't quite as cool as my @Ride_BMC but it's nice to finally be home. pic.twitter.com/gbE5qPv2QX
— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) July 13, 2017
Perfect height to make me a coffee, while on your way to the fridge to grab the beers #beoverlater😂👍
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 13, 2017
Updated
Tom Simpson died 50 years ago on Mount Ventoux. Here’s William Fotheringham’s take on a missed opportunity by this year’s Tour organisers. I have to dash away for five to 10 minutes, but will be back ASAP. Don’t touch that dial as today’s stage promises to be a thriller. To confirm: Michael Matthews won the intermediate sprint and took 20 points. Alongside, but a couple of centimetres behind him, Marcel Kittel was second.
Updated
Had some great images in my head when listening to Philippa York's comms - cycling has never been as good again as it was in the 80s
— SuzeCY (@festinagirl) July 13, 2017
Michael Matthews wins the intermediate sprint. Well, I think he did - it was tight as a drum between himself and Marcel Kittel as they crossed the line, but the Australian Sunweb rider looks to have got up. I will bring you confirmation as soon as I have it.
An email from David Alderton: “After such an agonising near miss from a break a few years back, I’d love for Jack Bauer to stay out and win today,” he writes. “It’s highly unlikely, but the break still has hope, but getting away in the downhills looks tricky. Hamilton breaking his collarbone and riding on was rock and roll to me in 2003, grinding his teeth down on the way, but I was disappointed to find out the rest afterwards. His book is good, mind you, but nobody comes off well in it.”
His book is very good and ca be bought from the Guardian Bookshop by clicking on this link. Here’s the bumf ...
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sport’s story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong. The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven - and some flawed - characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.
123km to go: The gap from the 12-man breakaway to the bunch is 5min 38sec, it’s spilling rain and the intermediate sprint is two kilometres away.
Updated
126km to go: The gap is 5min 34sec as the breakaway group head towards the intermediate sprint. Following that, things get a lot tougher and the first climb is the 7.5 kilometre long Cat 2 Col des Ares at 797m above sea level with a gradient of 4.6 per cent.
@bglendenning G'day Baz. May I just point out that with a 4 minute gap, George Bennett of NZ is virtual Maillot Jaune. Historic, won't last.
— Alistair Connor (@ConnorAlistair) July 13, 2017
We’re approaching the intermediate sprint: The breakaway group is about four kilometres away and Marcel Kittel and Michael Matthews look likely to contest it between them. Kittel already has five stage wins in this Tour under his belt, of course.
133km to go: Sky lead the peloton down the descent of the Cote de Capvern with the gap out to 5min 18sec. Long before we get to the business end of today’s stage, here’s a preview from the good people at CyclingTV.
141km to go: The gap is out to 5min 09sec and your breakaway group is: Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Koen De Kort (Trek-Segafredo), Cyril Gautier (AG2R-La Mondiale), Stefan Kung (BMC), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Marcel Kittel and Jack Bauer (Quick-Step Floors), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Julien Simon (Cofidis).
Thomas De Gendt took the sole King of the Mountains point available on the day’s first climb and it’s flat all the way now to the intermediate sprint at Loures Barousse.
144km to go: Various Sky riders pick up
jiffy
feed bags before hitting the official feed zone. Hmmm ... what are they up to? Pippa York’s theories, as espoused on ITV: an attack at the feed zone, perhaps ... or maybe they’re just trying to make other teams edgy and nervous by forcing them to wonder what they might be up to.
Guy Hornsby offers Bob O’Hara out to the car-park: “Not wanting to make this about me and Bob O’Hara, but I was fully aware Fulgsang and Aru are both Astana and the Dane is fifth in the GC,” he seethes. “But given the former’s injury, it’s debatable how effective he’ll be as a super-domestique for Aru. I’d discounted his ‘chances’ for that very reason, and expect him to be outside the Top 10 by tea time. Of course, as Barry pointed out, Tyler Hamilton heroically rode with a broken collar bone, and indeed G managed the 2013 tour with a fractured pelvis sustained in a frantic stage in Corsica, so it’s not impossible. But I feel Aru will be on his own by the time he reaches the Peyragudes.”
149km to go: Team Sky continue to put in the hard yards at the front of the bunch as the gap goes out to 4min 28sec. The breakaway are well into the day’s first climb, the Cat 4 Cote de Capvern that’s 594m above sea level and is 7.7km in length with a gradient of less than 4%. A speed-bump, ostensibly. On ITV, Chris Boardman says: “This stage has Steve Cummings written all over it”. THe Dimension Data rider has given himself a decent chance by getting in the breakaway, but has an awful lot of work to do.
156km to go: The gap is out to 4min 04sec as the rain continues to pour down. It is, we are told, warm and sunny at the finish of today’s stage at Peyragudes.
Ben Tomlinson writes: “Peter Sagan’s been keeping himself busy with photoshop since he got kicked out of the Tour.”
Ready to race in the upside down #strangerthings #netflix pic.twitter.com/JtWBO6pv1O
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) July 12, 2017
Another mail from Bob O’Hara, who is having a productive day: “This would probably have been more interesting on the last couple of stages, but I’ve just noticed that Sky have both the yellow jersey and the Lanterne Rouge in their possession,” he says. “No doubt all part of their marginal gains.”
Luke Rowe is the Sky cyclist occupying last place on General Classification, just 1hr 57min 26sec off the lead set by his team leader Chris Froome.
Bob O’Hara writes! “Someone should whisper in Guy’s ear that Aru and Fulgsang are in the same team,” he says. “Mind you, if Fulgsang is still in the top 12 by the end of today, he’ll have earned it.”
That’s Jakob Fulgsang, who set off on today’s stage with “small” fractures in his left wrist and elbow that are surely going to hurt like hell when he starts pulling out of his handlebars on the climbs. Tyler Hamilton famously rode half a Tour with a broken collarbone, which was a fairly heroic effort even if it did turn out he was not the most scrupulously honest of professional cyclists.
163km to go: The gap between the peloton and the breakaway is out to 3min 05sec with all the hard work on today’s stage yet to be done. Sky continue to lead the bunch on a day they’ll be hoping to tighten their stranglehold on the race.
Orica Scott’s Stage 11 Backstage Pass
An email from Guy Hornsby: “Finally, a stage that should be a real selection,” he writes. “How odd it feels with so many of the big GC names or Super-Domestiques already out or adrift. I honestly can’t remember a Tour that’s had such an attrition rate at this stage. And all it’s done, bar G’s exit, is strengthen Chris Froome’s hand.
“Aru’s chance is greatly diminished by Fulgsang’s injury, BMC’s leader is gone, Quintana looks fatigued, Contador a shadow of himself, and the top 12 has only Sky with more than one team member in it. In many ways, to unseat Froome, individuals will have to work together, while still pushing their own GC aims. That’s an unlikely event, or one that rarely works out, but if Bardet, Aru, Uran, Martin, Yates and Quintana can attack in waves from the Mente onwards, then this race may yet come alive.
“Sadly, I fear (and I say this as a big Froome fan) we’ll just see him surrounded by his many lieutenants, squeezing the life out of the rest of the peloton. That said, it can’t be as boring as the flat stages this last week.”
173km to go: The gap between the peloton and the breakaway stretches a little and is out to 2min 46sec.
179km to go: Back in the peloton, Team Sky are leading the bunch and are controlling the gap. Why? To facilitate any other riders who might want to attack, according to David Millar. His colleague Pippa York said that if she was Warren Barguil and chasing the points jersey, she “would throw everything at the first two mountains and then hope I’m going to survive on the hors categorie climb once the GC battle kicks off”. She goes on to say that if Barguil waits until the feed station to attack, he’ll have the Sky-bots to contend with. She also criticises Barguil and Team Sunweb’s tactics earlier in the race.
Today’s breakaway: Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Koen De Kort (Trek-Segafredo), Cyril Gautier (AG2R-La Mondiale), Stefan Kung (BMC), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Marcel Kittel and Jack Bauer (Quick-Step Floors), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Julien Simon (Cofidis) have opened a gap of 2min 28sec after 30 kilometres of racing.
Today’s intermediate sprint: Marcel Kittel leads the points classification and will be hoping to win today’s intermediate sprint which is in Loures-Barousse, 120 kilometres from the finish. Before that, there’s a 7.7km Cat 4 climb, which ought to pose Kittel few problems. Michael Matthews, his nearest rival in the points category is part of a 12-man breakaway that has opened a gap on the peloton, but Kittel has tracked and gone with him.
An added treat on ITV’s Tour coverage: Over the next few days, Philippa “Pippa” York will be helping out on co-comms and her insights ought to be invaluable.
In what I suppose you could say was a different chapter of her life, Pippa rode as Robert Millar and was one of the greatest riders in British cycling history. No mean climber, Millar won the King of the Mountains prize in the 1984 Tour when finishing fourth overall, came second in the 1985 and 1986 Vueltas and was also second in the 1987 Giro. He also won three Tour stages, all of them in the Pyrenees.
Warren Barguil attacks: Team Sunweb rider Warren Bargui, who is wearing the polka-dot jersey and could more or less guarantee himself this year’s King of the Mountains title today, attacks off the front and brings a host of big name climbers with him. The peloton is strung out and stretched to breaking point, but has yet to split.
On ITV, David Millar suggests it’s ridiculous that Barguil is doing this early work and says that his team-mates should have placed themselves at the front of the bunch at the beginning of the stage to help him with this donkey work. Early mention of Marcus Burghardt means that it’s time for our annual screening of this clip from the 2007 Tour showing him colliding with the world’s hardest Labrador pup.
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The breakaway is over: Due to extremely low on numbers in their escape party, Messrs Gogl, Burghardt and Van Keirsbulk fail to put any distance between themselves and the peloton, realise the futility of trying to do so on such a day with so many big climbs ahead and return to the bunch.
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Jakob Fuglsang starts today despite injury
The Danish Astana rider, currently in fifth place on GC and Fabio Aru’s chief lieutenant, crashed at the feeding station in an accident that ended his team-mate Dario Cataldo’s Tour yesterday. Fugslang was left with minor fractures to his left wrist and elbow, but has started this morning anyway. It’ll be interesting to see if he finishes.
They're racing in stage 12
An early start for the riders today on what promises to be a seriously attritional day’s racing. It’s raining heavily in Pau as race director Christian Prudhomme uses his white flag to semaphore the start of racing. Michael Gogl, Marcus Burghardt and Guiallaume van Keirsbulk immediately try to form a three-man breakaway.
Stage 12: Pau to Peyragudes (214.5km)
After yesterday’s flat stage, the peloton tackle the bumpy stuff again, in a stage that finishes in a brutal summit finish at the Peyragudes ski station on one of the Tour’s oldest climbs, the Col de Peyresourde. Here’s William Fotheringham’s take on the stage from our Tour de France preview.
The last 80km looks dire, with the first-cat Col de Menté, the hors-catégorie Port de Balès and the Col de Peyresourde at the end. This is the second of only three summit finishes – so it is a vital chance to gain time for any climbers. The long run in to the Menté will favour an early break with a good climber, and France will be rooting for Thomas Voeckler in his last Tour.
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