2018 Tour de France Stage 12 Results & Recap
Stage 12 of the 2018 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Thomas wins back to back Alp stages\nBy Clara Beard
Geraint Thomas (SKY) rocketed across the finish in Oisans to become the first yellow jersey wearer to win on the Alpe d’Huez. The Welshman outkicked Tom Dumoulin, Romain Bardet, Chris Froome and Mikel Landa after the iconic 13 kilometre climb shattered the rest of the peloton.
“Honestly, I am speechless,” Thomas said after the stage. “It's insane. here was not a chance I would win today. Kruijswijk put a hell of a lot pressure on us, we were struggling. [In the final climb], I was following Froome. Froome attacked. I went back by myself. This is just unbelievable. I couldn’t see this happening. I just tried to follow Dumoulin. I knew I had to be the first on the last corner if I wanted to win the stage, so I got around Landa and then sprinted out of the saddle with everything I had. It was after some second that I realised I was winning. Maybe I can keep the yellow jersey for the next few days. But this race is so hard, you never know for sure. I am still riding for Froome, he is the man. I don’t know how I will do over three weeks.”
Stage 12, the final race in the Alps, was designed to be a huge test for the GC contenders with four incredibly difficult and long climbs. The first, the col de la Madeleine, separated 30 riders from the peloton. The large group contained GC contender Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), who launched an all in attack on the col de la Croix-de-Fer, 73 kilometres away from the finish.
“It feels pretty painful to lose the stage after such a long breakaway,” Kruijswijk said. “I always knew it would be hard to get the yellow jersey. But this stage was high on my list. I wanted to give it a try. In the end, it wasn’t supposed to be a win. I’m disappointed but it’s not the biggest disappointment in my career. I’ve been close to a few special moments before.”
Kruijswijk gained a maximum advantage of just over six minutes in the valley before the Alpe d’Huez, but it dropped to four minutes by the time he reached the base of the climb.
The Sky train was attacked by Nibali, Quintana and Bardet, but none could shake Thomas and Froome. Just before the finish, Landa crawled back to leaders making it a five man sprint to the line where Thomas overpowered his competitors.
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