TOUR’21 Stage 12: Politt Powers to the Solo Win in Nîmes!

Stage Report: Stage 12 was a lumpy and hot day for the Tour de France and there were a lot of tired legs from the ascents of Mont Ventoux on Wednesday. The break of the day took a big lead, (13 minutes) to fight it out for the victory. BORA-hansgrohe’s Nils Politt was the strongest in the front group and went solo after softening up the opposition. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was happy to finish another day in yellow.

*** The full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ very soon. ***

Big win for Nils Politt

– The final kilometre of Stage 12 and read our full report and pics below:-

The twelfth stage of the Tour de France was won by Nils Politt. The strong German from BORA-hansgrohe was part of stage break, he managed to survive the first selection in the finalé and then rode away from his companions Harry Sweeny and Imanol Erviti for the win.

Stage 12 profile

Tour boss Christian Prudhomme describes stage 12: “After a journey along the magical Gorges de l’Ardèche that will for the first time be entirely visited by the Tour, this stage should end with a bunched sprint in Nîmes, like in 2019 with a similar finish. One will however have to be extra careful: the wind could be a key factor on wide open roads and echelons could occur.”

The fans were out to see the start presentation in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux

Grand-mère watching the start

Who’s shoes are these?

The top men line up for the stage

BORA-hansgrohe lost Peter Sagan as he didn’t sign on at the start of stage 12 – Knee problem

Nearly everyone wanted in the break of the day

The crosswind caused some echelons

The speed was high until the break managed to escape

Eventually the break did form

The peloton were pulled into a long line

The break had nearly 13 minutes at one point

Only one climb today, but the break went for it

The ubiquitous sunflowers seem to have been replaced by lavender this year

And here are the sunflowers

It was a strong group, but the peloton wasn’t too interested

Nils Politt wanted the win

Another day nearer Paris for Tadej Pogačar

Politt was the strongest in the group

A bit different from his Paris-Roubaix break

They won’t catch you now

The Tour stage win Nils Politt wanted

Stage winner, Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe): “This is unbelievable. It’s a dream to win a stage at the Tour de France. It was sad that Peter Sagan had to leave. We started the stage directly in the crosswind. I felt better those last few days. There were quite a lot of sprinters in our group, so I had to make the race hard and attack quite early. I made first attack. I gave everything. To finish solo is unbelievable. Cycling is my passion. For my whole family, I spend so much time away from home, it’s the biggest win I could have for them.”

Mark Cavendish won the bunch sprint for 14th place, nearly 16 minutes after Politt finished

Overall leader, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “I’m happy with how my legs turned today. I felt pretty good when we were going full gas due to the crosswinds. The first few kilometres were really crazy, but my whole team and me were at the front and feeling well. Matters became more relaxed from them on. We spent some energy at the front, because we pulled to control the bunch, but it’s been fine. I’ll better ride defensively from now on, because we saw yesterday at Mont Ventoux that there are many strong guys in the bunch. Anything can happen in the hot Pyrenees – because it is going to be hot! Anyway, my gap on the second-placed rider in the GC is big enough, so I’m not worried [about losing the Yellow jersey].”

Tadej Pogačar looks comfortable in the yellow jersey

Tour de France Stage 12 Result:
1. Nils Politt (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe in 3:22:12
2. Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar at 0:31
3. Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
4. Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ at 1:58
5. Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange at 2:06
6. André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
7. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
8. Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
10. Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Qhubeka-NextHash
11. Connor Swift (GB) Team Arkea-Samsic
12. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies at 2:09
13. Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo at 5:22
14. Mark Cavendish (GB) Deceuninck – Quick-Step at 15:53
15. Michael Matthews (Aus) BikeExchange
16. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
17. Carlos Barbero (Spa) Qhubeka-NextHash
18. Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
19. Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
20. Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
21. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
22. Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
23. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
24. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
25. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma.

Tour de France Overall After Stage 12:
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 47:22:43
2. Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo at 5:18
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma at 5:32
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) INEOS Grenadiers at 5:33
5. Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën at 5:58
6. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) BORA-hansgrohe at 6:16
7. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech at 6:30
8. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 7:11
9. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis at 9:29
10. Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious at 10:28
11. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick-Step at 15:35
12. Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën at 24:44
13. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma at 25:21
14. Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) BikeExchange at 25:53
15. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 30:51
16. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 32:20
17. Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Qhubeka-NextHash at 37:10
18. Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious at 38:49
19. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo at 39:13
20. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious at 43:54
21. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step at 45:46
22. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo at 47:37
23. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 49:17
24. Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo at 53:35
25. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana-Premier Tech at 54:35.