Tour de France 2023 - Stage 12 preview

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Stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais

Date: July 13, 2023

Distance: 168.8km

Stage type: Hilly

Stage 12 of the Tour de France takes the peloton through countryside dappled with vineyards that produce red and rosé wines. The start takes place in Roanne, just west of the production of grapes that become Beaujolais, which hosted its only other occasion as a Tour stage start in 2008. That stage in the final week was won in a breakaway by Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, and a breakaway could make its mark from Roanne again.

The rolling terrain across the 168.8 kilometres will cross climbs of the Col de la Croix Montmain and the Col de la Croix Rosier for a first-time finish for the Tour in Belleville-en-Beaujolais. Like stage 11, Paris-Nice has found a regular stop in this village on the banks of the Rhône River, last in 2014

Similar suspects to the breakaway that formed on the brutal stage 10 should fancy their chances here, with the hilly start meaning only those with great legs will make the move of the day. 

Expect Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) to want retribution after falling just short on stage 10 and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) and Esteban Chavez (EF Education-EasyPost) should want to join him.

The Colombian national champion shouldn't be the only member of the American team fighting for the break as Neilson Powless and Magnus Cort could also both perform well on a stage like this. The former will also want to mop up the 19 King of Mountains points available to extend his stint in the polka-dot jersey before the Alps.

Also, with the final 28km all running downhill to the line in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, we could see Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) once again pushing the limits on the descent to search for his third Tour de France victory. 

Lidl-Trek should also try their hand at this stage with both Mattias Skjelmose and Giulio Ciccone more than capable of staying with the strongest riders over the five categorised climbs and both have a strong kick in a reduced group sprint.

The GC group should see this day as the symbolic calm before the storm, as the three days arriving after stage 12 promise a return to the high mountains and hors-categorie climbs that will decide the overall race. 

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) sits 17 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) for the moment and although either of them could try something on this stage, they will likely wait for the Grand Colombier (17.4km at 7.1%) summit finish on Friday.