photo credits @ ASO
Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) took a stunning victory in stage 12 of the Tour de France today, jettisoning the breakaway group with just under 30 kilometers remaining to claim a solo victory in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
The Basque rider attacked the remnants of the breakaway group just over 2 kilometers from the summit of the final climb, extending his advantage throughout an undulating descent into Belleville-en-Beaujolais to seize the day’s honors.
Earlier, Mathieu van der Poel went on the attack with 47 kilometers to go, dropping Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost), before Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) bridged their way to the Dutch rider on the Col de la Croix Rosier, with a larger group containing Izagirre joining the quartet soon after.
Race Highlights
The attacks began immediately after the drop of the flag, with former world champ Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), van der Poel, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) amongst the breakaway riders.
It took 80 kilometers for the group to finally establish itself, forcing GC contenders Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and others to close numerous gaps, while Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) found himself distanced at one point, but was able to get back on terms.
With 100 kilometers remaining, the day’s key move finally started to take shape, when a group containing Pedersen, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Alaphilippe, Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and others came to form, with Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), van der Poel, Amador, Guillaume Martin, Izagirre, Jorgenson, Ruben Guerreiro, Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier Tech), Burgaudeau and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno X Pro Cycling) later bridging their way to the leaders.
With 60 kilometers to go, the breakaway group had opened its gap up to 2:44 ahead of the yellow jersey group, with van der Poel and Amador attacking their fellow escapes just a few kilometers later, a move that was quickly followed by Jorgenson.
Van der Poel later dropped Amador along the Col de la Croix Montmain with 47 kilometers left, only to be joined by Jorgenson and Pinot a few kilometers later.
Soon after, Martin, Benoot, Johannessen, Burgaudeau, Izagirre and Guerreiro made their to the leaders, with Izagirre blasting clear around 2 kilometers from the summit, while an exhausted van der Poel was pushed out the back.
Izagirre went over the top with more than a 20-second advantage ahead of the chase, later opening up a sizable lead of 44 seconds during the final 10 kilometers.
Meanwhile, Jorgenson tried to stir things up at several points but couldn’t bridge the gap. But, the American rider, along with Burgaudeau, finally gained some ground.
At that point, however, Izagirre was beyond their clutches.
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