German Gorilla holds off Peter Sagan to match Slovakian champion's win tally in a less than conventional stage finish
André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) took his third victory in the 2012 Tour de France, as he won a less than conventional sprint stage between Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Le Cap d'Agde. The German Gorilla managed to come around Norwegian champion Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) - who had been led out by teammate, Maillot Jaune Bradley Wiggins - in the final hundred metres, and held off a late charge from Slovakian champion Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), to match the green jersey wearer’s stage toll so far.
The peloton was less than 45-strong as it arrived at the finish of stage thirteen after crosswinds from the Méditerranéen coast, and a late climb, had decimated its numbers, with Greipel, Sagan and Boasson Hagen three of the few sprinters to manage to stay at the front.
“It was close until the end," explained Greipel afterwards. "I was dropped on the climb but I was going full gas on the way up and I had to do a sprint at the top to get in a small group and Lars Bak brought me back and then the team chased Vinokourov and Albasini. Then, when Luis Léon Sanchez attacked I thought, ‘Okay, now it's over...' but I was happy that Sky was still there and I could work out how to win this stage because I think my team deserves it.
“I think this was a really nice victory for the team. Jurgen van den Broeck was pulling to get the move by Vinokourov back and so I think I can only be happy with this team.
“I chose the wheel of Boasson Hagen and it was a really crazy sprint with that last corner but I'm happy that I could stay in front," the German explained. "There was a bit of a headwind but I think Sagan is a really fast guy and that's why he has the green jersey; but we deserve this because we worked really hard for this victory."
The stage-long attack came from Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadu), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Roy Curvers (Argos-Shimano), Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun), Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Jérôme Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), who got away in the first kilometres. The eight riders managed to open up a maximum lead of 9’40” over the peloton after just 35km, before the Orica-GreenEdge team began to slow process of pulling them back.
Mørkøv attacked the group with 65km to go and managed to open up a minute’s lead as he tried to solo to the finish. As the peloton began to accelerate in the crosswinds of the final 40km however, he was steadily closed down, and was caught on the steep climb of Mont Saint-Clair with just over 23km to go.
Attacks from Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) tried to put Maillot Jaune Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) under pressure on the climb, but the British rider pulled them back himself and still had much of his team around him as they hit the windy coastal final 20km.
There was an attack from Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) as the race hit the coast road, then another from Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) and Matthieu Sprick (Argos-Shimano) after they were caught in the closing kilometres.
Wiggins himself closed down this last attack as he led out teammate Boasson Hagen, but Greipel came around the Norwegian on the line and managed to hold off the late charge from Sagan.
Despite massive splits caused by crosswinds and the late climb, all of the riders at the top of the general classification managed to finish in the front group and there were no changes overall.
An unconventional transition stage sees a conventional eight-man breakaway
With an almost flat profile, the 217km stage between Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Le Cap d'Agde - which transported the race from the Alpine areas to the region of the Pyrénées - looked, on paper to be one of the easiest of the race. Although the roads would be mostly flat however, the final 40km, as it followed the Méditerranéen coast, and the short, but very sharp 3rd category Mont Saint-Clair with 23 to go, would likely make it far from simple.
The crosswinds that were almost inevitably going to hit the peloton in the closing kilometres would make the finish to the stage complicated for both sprinters and general classification riders alike. Those caught behind any splits in the peloton could have their day, or even their race, ruined and so everybody would want to be at the front.
Urtasun, Dumoulin, Ladagnous, Mørkøv and Curvers attacked as soon as the flag was dropped. After just a few kilometres they were chased, then joined by Engoulvent and Bouet, with Pineau jumping across alone shortly afterwards. The eight were all together after 20km, and by the 35km mark were 9’40” ahead of the peloton before it began to pull them back.
Five of the eight were Frenchmen, out for glory on Bastille Day - the national day of France - but Mørkøv was there for different reasons, as he had explained to letour.fr before the stage began.
“It's been exactly five years since my father passed away,” he explained. “I want to win this stage to honour him.”
Orica-GreenEdge was leading the peloton, apparently out to make a point after Matt Goss’ 30-point penalty for irregular sprinting the previous day. Slowly, but surely the gap to the eight leaders began to close.
Urtasun led over the intermediate sprint, in Mas-de-Londres after 90.5km, as the eight riders simply rode through, but the peloton would approach the line differently. Sagan preempted the sprint of Matt Goss by going early, before the Orica-GreenEdge sprinter was ready. The Slovakian champion cruised over the line ahead of André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Goss, extending his lead in the competition further still.
Mørkøv goes alone and the peloton has trouble closing him down
Inside the final 65km, and with the gap down to less than two minutes, Pineau attacked the break in an attempt to get away alone. The Frenchman didn’t get far, but his move was countered by Mørkøv, who did manage to escape, quickly opening up a lead of 25 seconds over his seven former companions.
With 55km to go Mørkøv had opened up his advantage to 37 seconds, with the peloton still two minutes behind the others. The race currently had a powerful tailwind however, which was assisting the breakaway riders as much as the peloton and, despite the Orica-GreenEdge team stringing it out at around 70kph, the gap was no longer closing.
The entire Australian team was line up on the front of the peloton, but Mørkøv was still pulling out time. With 50km to go, he was 43 seconds ahead of his seven former companions - who were still working well with one another - but the gap to the peloton had pulled out to three minutes once more. As the tailwind continued, the Dane’s advantage continued to grow and, with 47km to go his lead over the seven chasers was up to a minute.
Orica-GreenEdge eased its pace on the front, as a number of the team’s riders took on drinks, and BMC Racing, Team Sky, and Liquigas-Cannondale found themselves sharing the front of the peloton. This saw the gap to Mørkøv rise sharply, to 3’33” as the Danish rider approached the coast.
As the wind began to change however, the peloton began to close down the seven-rider group once again. With 35km to go, Mørkøv was still a minute clear, but the peloton was within a minute and a half of the chase group, but the pace was not yet up where it had been previously.
BMC Racing hit the front though, and began to cause groups to split from the back of the peloton. Among the big names to miss out on the first split were Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), but none of the overall contenders, or big sprinters had been affected yet.
Mont Saint-Clair arrives and the peloton is smashed to bits
Mørkøv was just under a minute clear as he hit the bottom of the Mont Saint-Clair. As the peloton arrived they immediately began to pick up the chase group, and there was an immediate attack from Romain Zingle (Cofidis). BMC Racing and Lotto-Belisol were increasing the pace and, as they caught Zingle, an attack from Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) was followed by Cadel Evans and Jurgen Van Den Broeck.
They caught and passed the exhausted Mørkøv before he could reach the top, but Wiggins came forward and steadily pulled the peloton up to the attackers and the general classification leaders were all together as they plummeted back down to the Méditerranéen once more.
As the splintered peloton began to reform at the final 20km banner, the teams began to look around to see who had managed to stay at the front. Present was Sagan, but many of the other sprinters were not there in the group that numbered no more than 25 riders. Goss and World champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky), who many expected to see battling for the stage victory, were both in a large second group, which was 1’25” behind the leaders.
With 16km to go Vinokourov attacked, and was quickly joined by Albasini, and after a kilometre they had a 15 second lead. Lotto-Belisol was lined up in front of the chasing peloton, with André Greipel one of the very few sprinters to have managed to stay with the front runners.
Vinokourov and Albasini were increasing their advantage over the chase though, and with 12km to go had opened their lead to 22 seconds. Lotto-Belisol was calmly going about the business of bringing them back however, and that was as bit as their lead was to get; wth ten kilometres to go it was down to 19 seconds, and with eight to go it was just 13.
Under the five kilometre banner the two leaders still had nine seconds, but Lotto-Belisol still had four riders lined up on the front, with Greipel in fourth wheel. Behind him though, was Sagan, but the Slovakian champion had Norwegian champion Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) right behind him.
Lotto-Belisol was inching its way up to the two leaders, and were also splitting the peloton to pieces behind them. As they changed direction with 2.5km to go though, the two exhausted attackers were caught, but Luis León Sánchez immediately attacked.
This time it was Team Sky that took up the chase, but Sprick jumped across the the Spanish attacker, and joined him with 1.3km to go. It was Wiggins himself that put paid to the two riders’ ambitions however as the Maillot Jaune - with Boasson Hagen tucked in behind him - suddenly burst forward. With the leg speed that brought him so many victories on the track, the British rider made short work of the gap up to Sánchez and Sprick and, almost seeming to take the final sweeping bend too fast, pulled over to let the Norwegian champion open up his sprint.
Unluckily for Boasson Hagen however, Greipel was right on his wheel and pulled around him with ease. Sagan was right behind the German, and he too was coming round, but Greipel threw his bike as they hit the line, and this was the difference as he took it by half a wheel.