2024 Tour de France Stage 12 Results & Recap
Stage 12 of the 2024 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
Girmay Makes it Three
Biniam Girmay powered to this third stage victory in the streets of Villeneneuve-sur-Lot, while Tadej Pogacar stays in the lead of the general classification.
“I want to thank my teammates and my team, because without them I wouldn’t be able to show that I’m the fastest," Girmay said. "Since the start of this Tour de France, I knew that I could win. I’ve proved now in three sprints that if I’m well positioned, I’m capable of finishing. Today, for us, a breakaway could have gone to the end, that would have suited us well. But when it turned into a bunch sprint, I told my team over the radio that I felt good and was going to do it. It makes me want to continue to concentrate fully on the sprints. The green jersey gives me wings. I feel super fast. It's in the head. I've had my ups and downs in recent seasons, but I changed things this year, and it's working. I also changed my philosophy. When a crash happened in the finale today I was very scared. At the 500m mark, I found Mike (Teunissen). He brought me up from 15th to 3rd position, and I did the rest. A slightly rising finish like this suited me perfectly.”
Attacks were flying from the start until Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher, Jonas Abrahamsen, and Anthony Turgis broke clear at kilometre 20. The four opened up a maximum lead of almost four minutes.
With over 40 kilometres left to race, the attackers were caught.
Primoz Roglic was downed in a big crash within the last 12 kilometres, and he was forced to chase with his Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team to limit his GC losses.
“It was a stressful final already," Pogacar said. "I heard the big crash when it happened, with 12 kilometres to go, but it’s only at the finish that somebody told me that Primoz [Roglic] had gone down. It is really devastating. He was in very good shape already, and I could feel he was getting better and better with every stage. I’m pretty sure he would have been fighting for the GC in the next few days. It’s very sad that a crash has affected him. I hope that he is well, that he recovers quickly, and that he can fight back into contention. I expected my legs to be more tired today. It was a very fast, up and down stage. Actually, I prefer this pace to Tuesday’s super easy rhythm. At this pace, the legs keep turning and it feels better for me. The final kilometres were pretty hot, though. As for tomorrow, it’s another sprint stage that might get complicated because of the wind. It will probably end up being a stressful day out, like many others in this Tour de France. I get along pretty well with Remco [Evenepoel], and I am really enjoying properly racing with him for the first time. I don’t know if we will help each other in the mountain stages… I don’t even think about that. We just need good legs for those stages. At the beginning of the stage, someone hit me from behind and the chain got stuck between the frame and the wheel, so I had to change bikes. I didn’t crash or get hurt, so it’s fine.”
Arnaud Démare obstructed a strong Wout van Aert during the sprint, allowing Biniam Girmay to clinch the victory. Despite that, Van Aert recovered to finish second.
Roglic lost 2 minutes and 27 seconds, slipping to sixth place, while other GC contenders maintained their positions. Tadej Pogacar continues to lead the Tour de France.
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