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Tour de France momentum with Jonas Vingegaard as he gives Tadej Pogačar reason to doubt - Analysis
Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France!
Just under two hours to go before today's stage starts and it's looking like another sprinter-friendly day in the saddle.
The full map of today's stage.
Mark Cavendish's lead-out man Michael Mørkøv is out of the Tour de France with a COVID-19 infection, his Astana Qazaqstan team has announced.
"Yesterday evening and this morning Michael Mørkøv was tested positive for Covid-19," the team announced on their website. "Despite the rider feels good and doesn’t have essential symptoms, the medical staff of Astana Qazaqstan Team took a decision to stop the rider, first of all, to protect his health from long-term effects the virus could provoke in the future."
Mark Cavendish lead-out man Michael Mørkøv leaves Tour de France after testing positive for COVID-19
Astana-Qazaqstan's veteran lead-out master and key lieutenant to Cavendish forced to leave the race ahead of stage 12
Astana have posted the news to social media now. Cavendish will fight on without his top lead-out man
🇫🇷 MEDICAL UPDATE: @LeTour Unfortunately, @MichaelMorkov won't start today:https://t.co/vWMp5ej9w3#TDF2024 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam pic.twitter.com/CIeAHfXLdyJuly 11, 2024
Now a look back at yesterday's stage 11 which brought another chapter in the yellow jersey battle.
Tour de France: Jonas Vingegaard charges ahead of Tadej Pogačar to win gripping finale on stage 11
Remco Evenepoel third while Primož Roglič recovers from late crash but recovers for fourth place in battle to Le Lioran
A look at yesterday's stage result and subsequent updated GC rankings, powered by FirstCycling.
Around an hour to go to the start now.
Riders will be signing on ahead of the stage in Aurillac.
167 riders set to start today after Mørkøv's departure, barring any further withdrawals.
British rider Fred Wright was the previous man to leave the race after missing the time cut on stage 11.
'Worst day of my life' - Fred Wright suffers through stage 11 with broom wagon and misses time limit
Former British road champion struggles across finish line with 'no regrets, because that was what I had'
And now a look ahead to today's race with our stage 12 preview - Sprinters return to spotlight
Television coverage starts when the race does so be sure to check out How to watch the 2024 Tour de France – TV schedule, live streaming worldwide
French squad TotalEnergies have reportedly fallen victim to bike theft in the night, with 11 of their bikes taken by thieves. Story to come...
The riders are now about to roll out and start the neutral zone at the start of stage 12.
Just a few minutes until the kick off the stage officially.
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) is the first man on the move.
Live pictures at the race are briefly down due to technical error.
Thomas Gachinard (TotalEnergies) joins Geniets in the attack.
Meanwhile Fabio Jakobsen is already out the rear of the peloton.
The Dutchman is 1:20 off the peloton now.
The attackers are caught and now it's Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) on the move.
Jakobsen now already four minutes down and counting. He surely doesn't have long left to run in this race.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar is held up by a tangle in the peloton meanwhile.
Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) now in the attacking group.
Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) chasing.
Madouas, Pacher, Abrahamsen, Turgis is our break of the day as Martin gives up the chase.
The peloton slowing down to let Pogačar back in really helped the breakaway men there.
Alpecin-Deceuninck, Intermarché-Wanty among the teams at the head of the peloton now.
A dowhill run onto lower roads and towards the first climb of the day now.
After 62.8km, the riders will hit the fourth-category Côte d'Autoire.
Over the top of the Côte d’Autoire (2.7km at 5.7%) and Abrahamsen gets the point.
He moves within two of Pogačar's KOM lead.
Pello Bilbao off the rear of the peloton currently. He looks to be ill.
The break of the day with Abrahamsen leading the way.
Under 10km to go until the riders hit the Côte de Rocamadour (2km at 5.4%), another fourth-category climb offering one point.
'Tough times never last but tough people do' - Fabio Jakobsen abandons Tour de France
Bilbao got back and he's now off the rear of the race again.
Abrahamsen leads the break over the Côte de Rocamadour, which hosted the Van Aert-Vingegaard one-two at the Tour's closing time trial two years ago.
116km to go
We're coming closer to what has, once again for a flat day this Tour, been a largely uneventful stage so far.
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) follows Fabio Jakobsen in leaving the race. That isn't too much of a surprise give how his stage was unfolding.
Mørkøv, Jakobsen, Bilbao leave the race today.165 riders remain.
Tour de France momentum with Jonas Vingegaard as he gives Tadej Pogačar reason to doubt - Analysis
10km to the intermediate sprint in Gourdon now, then one final fourth-category climb left before the finish.
A scenic shot of the peloton during stage 12.
Intermarché lead the peloton towards the sprint.
Up front it was Turgis who led Abrahamsen over the line.
Girmay leads Philipsen in the peloton to extend his KOM lead by a single point.
Now Alpecin-Deceuninck and Movistar are back leading the peloton, now 1:35 down on the break.
Belgian remains second overall after 'riding at my own pace' on tough day of climbing
Much of the day's climbing is now over and done with. One small climb left to tackle.
1:20 for the move and the time is only coming down.
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76km to go
A minute for the break now and there's very little chance of them staying away to the end now.
5km to the final climb of the day, the Côte de Montcléra (2km at 4.8%).
Abrahamsen leading the break up the final climb of the stage now.
They're 55 seconds up on the peloton here. Turgis dropping from the break.
68km to go
Another point for Abrahamsen. He's now level with Pogačar on 36 points at the top of the KOM standings.
The peloton only closing in now as the finish nears.
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42km to go
The last of the breakaway's lead swiftly disintegrates and now the peloton is all together once more.
The peloton earlier on during stage 12.
Dane strikes weighty psychological blow by catching and beating Tadej Pogačar on breathless day in Massif Central
We're looking set for a fairly dull run into the final few kilometres of the stage here.
Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia Women concluded earlier today. Click for the full report on the action.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates in the peloton.
Mostly flat roads towards the finish now.
Jonas Vingegaard riding towards the finish on stage 12.
The day has averaged 47kph, quicker than the fastest predicted time schedule, so at least we're finshing earlier than expected.
UAE, Ineos, Israel, DSM, Jayco, Bahrain, Movistar, Alpecin all spread across the front of the group.
An Astana rider crashed into an island in the middle of the road, falling over to the other side and then causing a chain reaction further back.
Riders from Lotto, Jayco, Arkèa, Astana still at the scene, getting up slowly after the crash.
It looks like a Lotto rider on the left of the road might be in trouble. Two of his teammates have stayed behind with him. He's being attended to by medics.
Meanwhile, Primož Roglič is chasing back to the peloton after being caught in the crash.
Alexey Lutsenko is reportedly still being tended to at the site of the crash.
It'll be very hard for him to get back. The timing is going in the wrong direction here.
DSM move to the front of the peloton.
5km to ho
Roglič 1:34 down now. Visma lead the peloton under the 5km banner, where the GC times will be taken today.
UAE now up front.
Pogačar is staying safe up there.
DSM, Astana, Uno-X among the teams represented up front.
Abrahamsen leads the way with Israel, Bahrain, and Astana lining up behind him.
All setting up for the sprint now.
It looks as though all the big-name sprinters are up there.
A big mix of teams up front.
Bahrain with the leadout.
Israel, Arkéa, Uno-X behind.
Now Arkéa take over.
Démare kicks off the sprint
Behind him it's Girmay, Cavendish, Van Aert.
It looks like Démare will hold on but no, there's a late surge on his left.
Roglič just now reaching the final kilometre.
Biniam Girmay celebrates his third Tour de France 2024 stage victory in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
Girmay beat Van Aert and Démare into second and third. Pascal Ackermann and Mark Cavendish finished fourth and fifth.
No full confirmation of Roglič's time loss yet.
There we go – he finished in 120th place at 2:27 down on Girmay and the peloton. Brutal for the Slovenian. He did go down in the crash, as evidenced by the tears in his jersey.
Tour de France: Biniam Girmay the new sprint boss, takes third win on stage 12
Green jersey holder beats Van Aert, Démare as Primož Roglič loses time in late crash
After that stage, Roglič drops from fourth to sixth in the GC behind João Almeida and Carlos Rodríguez. He's now at 4:42 down on Pogačar.
Girmay, meanwhile, extends his points classification lead. He has 328 points to Jasper Philipsen's 217.
Here's what Girmay had to say after his third stage win of the Tour...
"First of all I would say thanks God giving me a lot of strength and power. Without God we cannot do anything so I'm super happy. Second, I want to say thanks to my teammates. Thank you for everyone, without them I cannot prove I am the fastest. I'm super happy.
"From the start of the Tour I feel like I knew I can do good results if I have the right time and the right wheel. I proved in the last three sprints if I'm in the right position I am able to win Especially today, We didn't have any stress. We think the break will arrive, don't take risk, but in the end when everyone came together I got on the radio and said I feel good. I'm super happy I can deliver."
Here's the stage result today...
And here's the new GC
Arnaud Démare has been relegated from third position so now Pascal Ackermann moves up onto the stage podium. More to come on that soon.
Another day in yellow for Tadej Pogačar, who also leads the king of the mountains competition.
Girmay extended his green jersey lead, meanwhile.
And Evenepoel has another day in the white best young rider jersey to enjoy.
The current GC standings at the Tour de France 2024
A big drop for Primoz Roglič as disaster strikes on stage 12
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