Stage twelve concluded with a chaotic bunch sprint in Saint Etienne, after a hilly and very hot 185.5km of racing. It was a stage for tough riders rather than the pure sprinters, and today the toughest of all was Alexander Kristoff (Katusha Team), just as it had been when he triumphed in Milan-San Remo in the spring. The Norwegian impressed during the 2013 Tour de France by claiming six top 10 finishes with little team support. This year he returned with the team behind him and after finishing 2nd on stages four and six, and with some strong support work today from Luca Paolini, was finally able to claim the first Tour de France win of his career. After the stage Kristoff spoke of his delight:
“I still believe Milan-San Remo is a bigger win. It's a one-day classic. Here at the Tour there are twenty one stages. But I've always dreamt of winning a stage at the Tour de France, so it's the second biggest win of my career today. I knew this morning there was a possibility to win. Yesterday, I took it easy because I wanted to be in full capacity today. I saved my legs. I tried absolutely nothing yesterday and I still felt good in the climbs today. I never reached my limits. However, I was a bit nervous before the sprint. I was afraid of being boxed in. In fact, I lost my team-mates Luca Paolini and Alexander Porsev. Many teams tried to go to the front but I realized that Matteo Trentin had the best lead out, so I took his wheel. That was a good move. I started my sprint exactly where I wanted. I did the right thing. I hope it's crazy in Norway tonight and it's party time in the whole country.”
The profile was somewhat similar to yesterday’s stage with a relatively gentle start followed by a hilly second half of the stage, ending with a descent from the final climb towards a finish in Saint Etienne. However the climbs were less taxing and a reduced bunch sprint finish was always likely, the sprinters lasted well today and it wasn’t until the final climb of the day, the Côte de Grammond, that Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) was dropped.
A five man break formed early in the day as David de la Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Simon Clarke (Orica GreenEDGE), Sebastian Langeveld (Garmin-Sharp), Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), and Florian Vachon (Bretagne-Séché) were allowed to escape the peloton. Giant-Shimano took up pace setting duties in the peloton, John Degenkolb had finished strong the previous day and fancied his chances again today.
By the time the break reached the Côte de Grammond it was down to just Clarke and Langeveld, Rast and Vachon had been dropped and the unfortunate de la Cruz had crashed out of the race. Clarke moved clear of Langeveld on the climb, while two Europcar riders, Cyril Gautier and Perrig Quemeneur, attacked from the peloton and bridged over to Clarke. However the terrain just wasn’t punchy enough for them to hold on and they were caught in the run-in by the Giant-Shimano and Lotto Belisol led peloton.
Neither Lotto Belisol nor Giant Shimano enjoyed much luck in the finale. As he is wont to do, Andre Greipel, had made it over the hills in good shape, however Lotto Belisol’s star sprinter was taken out of contention when caught up in a crash with Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) inside the final 4km. Giant-Shimano’s Degenkolb was a little further back than he’d like in the run-in and opened his sprint slightly early, he looked to be gaining ground rapidly against the barriers on the left-hand side, however Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) swung into his path forcing him to slow and killing his momentum. Degenkolb rolled in 13th while Trentin was relegated to the rear of the bunch as punishment for his manoeuvre. It left the door open for the other fast men, and it was Kristoff who capitalised, ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ).