Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Armirail, who led into the last climb, finished 17th on the stage, 10min 46sec behind Pogacar.
Share
KOM standings: top 5
1) Pogacar 27pts
2) Martinez 27pts
3) Woods 22pts
4) Healy 16pts
5) Armirail 15pts
Share
Top 10 GC after stage 12
1) Pogacar 45hr 22min 51sec
2) Vingegaard +3min 31sec
3) Evenepoel +4min 45sec
4) Lipowitz +5min 34sec
5) Vauqelin +5min 40sec
6) Onley +6min 05sec
7) Roglic +7min 30sec
8) Johannessen +7min 44sec
9) Gall +9min 21sec
10) Jorgenson +12min 12sec
Share
Updated at 17.11 BST
Grischa Niermann of Visma Lease A Bike speaks to TNT Sports: “Jonas was feeling well, but on the last climb Pogacar was clearly the best, and he also suffered a lot. It was a very hard day and in the end the best rider won.
“It was for sure not Jonas’s best day. He is still the best of the rest. But congratulations to Tadej and to UAE, they showed who is the strongest rider here.”
Share
Was Pogacar out for revenge? “I knew first time I rode Hautacam, for recon, it’s a super nice climb,” Pogacar says. “Then it came in 2022. I was trying with my “head through the wall” to get back the yellow jersey, but Visma were too strong back then. I forgot about this, I was just looking forward to today, but then all the people were saying [before this stage]: ‘It is revenge time, blah blah blah.’
“When we approached the bottom of the climb, it was just a reverse of a few years ago, one Belgian guy on the front, Tim [Wellens] … I’m super happy to win on this climb, and to take time.
Did he have doubts after yesterday’s crash? “For sure you don’t know how the body reacts after the crash. It was not too bad. I feel my hip but only when I do acrobatics. But here I am just riding the bike. I sweat a bit more, but maybe it’s good.
“We did a super job. The team rode really well. yeah, chapeau also to Ben Healy and EF. They were trying to defend the jersey, they showed big spirit, and also Uno-X, they fight for their own GC, so it was a hard day for everybody. But in the end we were super-strong. We had this stage in mind a long time, and we did it.
“I think this stage can go today for Samuele [Privitera, the 19-year-old Italian cyclist who died yesterday] and to all his family. It was really sad, it was the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking in the last kilometre about him and how this tough sport can be. And how much pain it can cause.”
Share
Updated at 17.05 BST
“Did Amirail drop off the face of the earth?” asks Beau Dure. Fair question, I’ll check where he was in the final reckoning …
Share
Tour de France stage 12: top 5
1) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 4hr 21min 19sec
2) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease A Bike) +2min 11sec
3) Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) +2min 23sec
4) Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +3min
5) Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +3min
Share
Updated at 16.54 BST
That is Pogacar’s 20th Tour de France stage win.
Vingegaard eventually comes home 2min 11sec behind Pogacar, that will add up to three and half minutes in the overall.
Lipowitz finishes third.
Share
Updated at 16.49 BST
Tadej Pogacar wins Tour de France stage 12!
Complete and total domination from the defending champion.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is there by the finish line to applaud.
And it looks like Vingegaard has blown up, somewhat, back down the road …
Share
Updated at 16.56 BST
1km to go: Pogacar rides under the flamme rouge. He’s riding imperiously to another phenomenal stage win, and all with a considerable amount of road rash on his left arm and body.
“I was expecting a much bigger battle, a much closer one,” says Sean Kelly on commentary.
Share
1.5km to go: Pogacar’s lead continues to grow. It’s up to 1min 48sec. The fans roar their approval. It’s a phenomenal ride by Pogacar but it’s not pointing at it being a very close overall race …
Meanwhile Lipowitz now leads Evenepoel by a minute, and is looking very strong.
Share
2km to go: “What is Richard going to do with his baguette now he won’t be eating it?” asks Bob. “Drop it in the Large Hadron Collider?”
Share
2.5km to go: Vingegaard gets out his saddle and then settles back into a rhythm as typically idiotic fans run alongside him in reckless fashion. The gap to the leader is 1min 36sec.
Share
3km to go: Now, towards the summit, there are thousands of fans packing the road side. A Republic of Ireland flag is waved in Pogacar’s face as he rides through the crowds.
“It won’t be an unassailable lead but it will be such a comfortable position after one proper mountain stage,” remarks Rob Hatch on commentary for TNT Sports.
Share
3.5km to go: Pogacar was 29sec behind Healy before today. Evenepoel was third in GC, exactly a minute down on Pogacar. As it stands Vingegaard will go second in GC tonight but he might be three minutes behind the race leader.
Share
4km to go: Pogacar now has 1min 20sec on his rival Vingegaard, and his closest challengers are 2min 15sec down. This is utter dominance, but it’s not a surprise.
Share
4.5km to go: Florian Lipowitz attacks Onley, but the young British rider responds. They are eighth and seventh on GC respectively with 10sec between them.
Share
Updated at 16.33 BST
5km to go: The hot tarmac on the mountain has been daubed with various messages in chalk and paint. Pogacar rides over one message that says “JONAS” in yellow with a Danish flag.
Share
5.5km to go: Pogacar will take the headlines but I take my hat off to any athlete that finishes today’s stage within the time limit. It’s been absolutely relentless and brutal. Thank God it’s a nice easy mountain ITT tomorrow …
Share
6km to go: “He doesn’t look like he’s anywhere near the limit,” Kelly says of Pogacar, just before we see a spectacular helicopter shot of some buzzards just sitting there, maybe enjoying the action. “When you think about the pace of the stage today this is crazy stuff. It’s mind-boggling.”
Share
Updated at 16.29 BST
6.5km to go: Pogacar now has 53sec on Vingegaard. That’s some gap and he rides relentlessly onwards, in that unmistakeable rhythm. The chasers behind are gaining a bit on Vingegaard but they are 1min 49sec behind the stage leader.
Share
Updated at 16.28 BST
7km to go: “This is absolutely amazing. Imperious,” writes David Alderton.
“What a day so far!”
Share
7.3km to go: “He’s just got to limit his losses,” says Sean Kelly on commentary. “In the losing position, it’s very hard to hold your head and keep working at it. And as Robbie said, you just never know what can happen.”
Share
7.5km to go: “Pogacar now reminds me of Drago,” emails Tim. “He’s not human. He’s like a piece of iron. But on a carbon bike. Fearsome. I can understand why Trine Vingegaard wants Jonas to call it a day.”
Drago. Photograph: Dave Friedman/United Artists/AllstarShare
8.5km to go: “We’ll see how I recover,” Pogacar said last night. “Normally the day after a crash you’re never at the best, but I will give my best and we’ll see. I think we’re ready as a team for Hautacam.”
Yes, it would seem so.
Pogi is off. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/ReutersShare
Updated at 16.23 BST
9km to go: Pogacar grabs a drink from the neutral service motorbike. Vingegaard rides on behind, all alone, desperately trying to limit his losses on the first major mountain stage of this year’s race.
Share
10km to go: Pogacar is now riding among the thousands of fans lining the final climb.
“Should they have waited for Pogacar yesterday?” asks Robbie McEwen on commentary. “Because this is what he had in store for them.”
Pogacar leads his rival by 22sec. Evenepoel is more than a minute behind Pogacar.
Share
Updated at 16.20 BST
11km to go: Pogacar powers on alone up front, looking very composed and in complete control. He leads his rival Vingegaard by 9sec.
The Visma Lease A Bike rider has settled into a rhythm. And he’s refusing to panic. It’s not a rhythm that looks likely to win him the stage …
Share
Updated at 16.18 BST
11km to go: “Can Richard Hirst point to the soundness of the Richard Hirst theory, despite the scepticism displayed in some quarters?”
You can probably guess who sent that email. Yes, absolutely Richard, you can.
Share
Updated at 16.16 BST
Pogacar blows the lead group apart to go clear
12km to go: Jhonatan Narváez takes it up for UAE. Armirail’s lead is 45sec.
Pogacar attacks! Vingegaard tries to respond but he cannot compete with a massive acceleration from the defending champion! And Pogacar is about to catch Armirail, the gap is under 10sec now.
Share
Updated at 16.17 BST
12.5km to go: Tim Wellens is powering away for Pogacar at the front of the bunch. The gap is down to 1min 18sec. Kuss is dropped from the group of favourites. Pogacar looks fresh, up out of his saddle and riding strongly behind Wellens. No ill effects from yesterday’s crash are visible now. Oscar Onley is there, on the wheel of Vingegaard.
Share
Updated at 16.13 BST
15km to go: Armirail powers towards the start of the climb. Two minutes is the gap, which clearly isn’t going to be enough, now the group of favourites has caught the chase group. If there were still attackers from a bigger lead group then the outcome may still be in doubt, as to whether the favourites will battle it out for the stage.
Pogacar and Vingegaard: Ready to go. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/ReutersShare
Updated at 16.09 BST
16km to go: The second group on the road has now incorporated the former chase group and the favourites are present. There are 27 riders, and Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel are all among them …
Share
Updated at 16.07 BST
18km to go: The kilometres continue to flash past. Armirail is now on the flattish section just before the start of the Hautacam … he is 1min 56sec ahead of his pursuers and he looks full of beans. Here we go!
Share
23km to go: Skjelmose, Woods, Storer, Rubio are the four chasers, but Armirail’s lead continues to grow. He is 1min 54sec in front now! But the Hautacam will be a great leveller, if that is the correct word for a massive mountain.
Pogacar and Vingegaard and the rest of that group are now 2min 05sec down on the leader.
Share
Updated at 16.03 BST
26km to go: At the front, Armirail’s lead is up to 1min 34sec. He is a time trial specialist, winning the French national individual time trial title in 2022 and 2024. So this flat/downhill section will be much to his liking. I’ll take a bet that no one bet on him to win this stage? (Not to say that he definitely will …)
Bruno Armirail. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.58 BST
Evenepoel catches up with main contenders
28km to go: Evenepoel has managed to get himself back in the group with Pogacar and Vingegaard. Huge effort, fair play to the man.
“After what he’s had to do here, and the chase he’s put it, it would be extraordinary if he’s able to match the other two [Pogacar and Vingegaard] on the Hautacam,” says King Kelly.
Share
Updated at 15.58 BST
29km to go: Now a big downhill leading into the Hautacam. The final climb is 13,6km long, so there’s a bit more than that of downhill terrain to go before the road kicks up again.
Share
32km to go: Armirail has fashioned a lead of one minute on the chasers after mopping up five points for winning that category-two. This is a massive ride.
Share
35km to go: Bruno Armirail (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) has attacked off the front and is our new leader. He crests the category-two Col des Bordères and will now speed towards the foot of the Hautacam, the final climb. Surely he’ll be caught by one of the specialist climbers behind him, and probably plenty of others, when that climb begins?
Share
Updated at 15.52 BST
36km to go: Woods has been caught up front. There is a group of three with Skjelmose and Storer to keep Woods company.
No, scratch that, sorry. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) now leads on his own! And the group of three are chasing him.
Share
Updated at 15.44 BST
36.3km to go: “A lot of riders have got into difficulty earlier than expected,” says Sean Kelly on commentary. “It’s turning out to be a really difficult stage.”
Healy is really suffering and will definitely be kissing goodbye to yellow. With a stage win and three days as race leader in the can, though, it’s been a remarkable race for him.
Share
Updated at 15.42 BST
39km to go: Our lone race leader, Michael Woods, has 23sec on his pursuers, Storer and Rubio.
Evenepoel is 2min 40sec behind the tête de la course, and according to the data I’m seeing he’s only 20sec behind the group with Pogacar and Vingegaard. We shall see.
Or is he actually 46sec behind that group? That’s another suggestion that I’m seeing. He’s definitely in trouble anyway.
Share
Updated at 15.40 BST
40km to go: An email from Ruaidhrí arrives entitled: “Ben Healy”
“Well Luke, there goes that dream … Love from Ireland.”
Don’t cry because it’s over, Ruaidhrí. Smile because it happened.
Ben Healy. Photograph: ShutterstockShare
41.5km to go: “I’m just catching up on today’s updates now (quiet morning at work on the East Coast),” emails Gwyn Williams. “When I saw the news you reported about Cees Bol abandoning the race, I was put in mind of this article I saw a while back about his fan club. This is everything great about cycling and its fans: a random bunch of guys are intrigued by his name, which they translate as Cheese Bowl, and then happen to meet Cees in person at a race.
“Upon learning that he doesn’t even like cheese, they are hooked by the sheer silliness of it. They bet on Cees in the first professional race of his career and win enough money to start a fan club. Now six years later they travel around in a van with CEESBOL license plates and shrink-wrapped with Cees’s picture on it, and Cees attends fan club meetings at their bar in Belgium. In what other sport do things like that happen?”
Cees Bol has a fan club. Photograph: Tim de Waele/Getty ImagesShare
44km to go: Primoz Roglic, apparently, isn’t wearing socks. That’s a maverick move from the Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe man.
Share
Updated at 15.36 BST
46.5km to go: Woods, looking extremely sprightly, powers to the top of the climb, grabs a bottle and then tears into the descent with no further ado. He picks up 10 KOM points, placing him second overall, above Ben Healy now but below Lenny Martinez in the polka-dot standings.
Share
Updated at 15.29 BST
47km to go: “In spite of there being some good climbers in the breakaway, if Visma or UAE decide to put the hammer down on the climb to Hautacam and then Vingo or The Pog attacks, well, it’s a lost cause for the guys in front,” emails RM.
Well, it seems Visma’s team has already splintered out on the road and as we know UAE were under-strength before the stage started, so I remain to be convinced about that. Everyone is exhausted.
Share
Updated at 15.27 BST