Le Tour 2016 – Stage 12

Montpellier to Mont Ventoux

Distance: 184 kilometers.

The first two-thirds of this stage are totally flat, but then things get interesting. The first climb is the Cat 4 Côte de Gordes followed quickly by the Cat 3 Col de Trois Termes, then a short bit of level ground before the HC climb to a summit finish on Mont Ventoux.

Race officials have announced a change: “Due to the weather conditions forecasted by Météo France atop the Mont Ventoux with gusts of wind likely to exceed 100km/h, Tour de France organizers have decided to modify the finale of stage 12 in order to guarantee optimal safety conditions.”

Thomas De Gendt had a good day: he won the stage, the Polka Dots, and the Red Numbers.

Chris Frome did not: “What a final. In the final kilometre, the moto braked suddenly in front of us, and Richie [Porte ( AUS – BMC – 091 )], Bauke [Mollema ( NED – TFS – 061 )] and I crashed into it, and then the moto behind me ran over my bike and broke it,” Froome said. “I said to myself ‘I have no bike’. And I knew the car with my bike was 5 minutes behind on the road, so I need to run.”

The decision of the race officials was to award the riders their time before the accident, which kept Frome in Yellow. The fans are causing a lot of chaos this year.

Christopher Froome ( GBR – SKY – 001 ) [Yellow] 57h 11′ 33″
Peter Sagan ( SVK – TNK – 032 ) [Green] 309 points
Thomas De Gendt ( BEL – LTS – 163 ) [Polka Dot] 89 points
Adam Yates ( GBR – OBE – 209 ) 2 [White]

Team: BMC Racing Team ( BMC – 091-099 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Thomas De Gendt ( BEL – LTS – 163 )
Combative: Thomas De Gendt ( BEL – LTS – 163 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Christopher Froome ( GBR – SKY – 001 )
2 Adam Yates ( GBR – OBE – 209 ) + 00′ 47″
3 Nairo Quintana ( COL – MOV – 011 ) + 00′ 54″
4 Bauke Mollema ( NED – TFS – 061 ) + 00′ 56″
5 Romain Bardet ( FRA – ALM – 041 ) + 01′ 15″
6 Alejandro Valverde ( ESP – MOV – 012 ) + 01′ 32″
7 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 099 ) + 01′ 32″
8 Fabio Aru ( ITA – AST – 021 ) + 01′ 54″
9 Daniel Martin ( IRL – EQS – 184 ) + 01′ 56″
10 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( ESP – KAT – 141 ) + 02′ 11″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Richie Porte ( AUS – BMC – 091 ) + 02′ 22″
12 Louis Meintjes ( RSA – LAM – 157 ) + 02′ 29″
13 Sergio Luis Henao ( COL – SKY – 002 ) + 02′ 36″
14 Roman Kreuziger ( CZE – TNK – 036 ) + 03′ 14″
15 Warren Barguil ( FRA – TGA – 111 ) + 04′ 28″
16 Geraint Thomas ( GBR – SKY – 009 ) + 05′ 51″
17 Pierre Rolland ( FRA – CDT – 081 ) + 07′ 35″
18 Sébastien Reichenbach ( SUI – FDL – 126 ) + 08′ 02″
19 Damiano Caruso ( ITA – BMC – 094 ) + 11′ 20″
20 Mikel Nieve ( ESP – SKY – 005 ) + 14′ 15″
21 Emanuel Buchmann ( GER – BOA – 131 ) + 14′ 33″
22 Frank Schleck ( LUX – TFS – 065 ) + 21′ 44″
23 Tanel Kangert ( EST – AST – 025 ) + 23′ 07″
24 Alexis Vuillermoz ( FRA – ALM – 049 ) + 25′ 29″
25 Wilco Kelderman ( NED – TLJ – 051 ) + 26′ 14″
26 Haimar Zubeldia ( ESP – TFS – 069 ) + 27′ 27″
27 Daniel Navarro ( ESP – COF – 191 ) + 28′ 54″
28 Stef Clement ( NED – IAM – 072 ) + 33′ 14″
29 Mathias Frank ( SUI – IAM – 071 ) + 36′ 16″
30 Eduardo Sepulveda ( ARG – FVC – 211 ) + 38′ 32″

Did not start:

21 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( BEL – KAT – 147 )

Did not finish:

118 Angélo Tulik ( FRA – DEN – 178 )

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

Go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Le Tour” for all of the posts related to the race on this site.