(Belleville-En-Beaujolais) Ion Izagirre emerged victorious from a difficult stage in uneven terrain which was marked by numerous attacks on Thursday at the Tour de France.
The Cofidis team cyclist signed his second career stage victory, on the occasion of the 12e chapter of the Tour de France.
The 169 km route crossed the legendary Beaujolais vineyards, before taking the cyclists to two passes in the second part of the stage. The first two hours were spent at high speed, and a few dozen participants were dropped during the first 25 kilometers.
Izagirre broke away from a breakaway made up of experienced cyclists as they approached the final pass – a brutal 5.3km ascent to the Col de la Croix Rosier.
Crouching in an aerodynamic position, the Basque cyclist took enormous risks during the descent, before exploiting his great talent in the individual time trial to surprise his rivals during a 31 km solo breakaway.
Mathieu Burgaudeau finished second in the stage, ahead of Matteo Jorgenson.
A 56e place for Hugo Houle
Hugo Houle, of Sainte-Perpétue, was the best Canadian cyclist by virtue of his 56e place, 11 minutes and 25 seconds from Izagirre. His compatriots Michael Woods of Ottawa and Guillaume Boivin of Montreal followed in the 66e and 132e ranks.
Izagirre scored his previous stage victory at the Grande Boucle in 2016, having triumphed in the Alpine village of Morzine. He also signed stage victories in the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain.
The overall standings remained virtually the same. Jonas Vingegaard held on to his cushion of 17 seconds ahead of two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar after his main pursuers opted to remain in the main peloton for most of the day.
Woods now points to 30e echelon in the cumulative ranking, ahead of Houle (77e) and Boivin (132e).
The fight for the yellow jersey should resume on Friday, during the ascent of the Grand Colombier, a monstrous pass located in the Jura which will crown the 13e stage.
The Tour de France will end on July 23 in Paris.
Jakobsen was second to last overall, more than two hours and 45 minutes behind Vingegaard.
THE top 10 of the 12e stage
- Ion Izagirre (ESP / COF) the 168.8 km in 3 h 51: 42. (average: 43.8 km / h)
- Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA / TEN) at 58.
- Matteo Jorgenson (USA/MOV) 58.
- Tiesj Benoot (BEL/TJV) 1:06.
- Tobias Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 1:11.
- Thibaut Pinot (FRA / GFC) 1: 13.
- Guillaume Martin (FRA / COF) 1: 13.
- Dylan Teuns (BEL/IPT) 1:27.
- Ruben Guerreiro (POR/MOV) 1:27.
- Victor Campenaerts (BEL/LTD) 3:02.
THE top 10 of the general classification
- Jonas Vingegaard (DAN/TJV) 50:30:23.
- Tadej Pogacar (SLO / UAD) at 17.
- Jai Hindley (AUS/BOH) 2:40.
- Carlos Rodriguez (ESP/IGD) 4:22.
- Pello Bilbao (ESP/TBV) 4:34.
- Adam Yates (GBR/UAD) 4:39.
- Simon Yates (GBR/JAY) 4:44.
- Thomas Pidcock (GBR/IGD) 5:26.
- David Gaudu (FRA / GFC) 6: 01.
- Thibaut Pinot (FRA / GFC) 6: 33.