Tour de France – 12th stage live in the ticker today: hills and many curves – chances for Zimmermann and Geschke

After the fifth sprint finish at this year’s Tour de France and before the brutally difficult Alpine trilogy from Friday to Sunday, a difficult transitional stage awaits on Thursday. The second half of the race in particular will be really difficult. For top favorite Tadej Pogacar, today’s part of the day is even “a day that could change everything”.

The route profile suggests that a breakaway group will decide the victory among themselves. Georg Zimmermann and Simon Geschke are Germany’s greatest hopes.

With the mountains in front of their chests, it can be assumed that Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar will hold back in the fight for the yellow jersey on the way to the Beaujolais – but at the same time the stage would be made for a large-scale attack if it were to be different in the overall route plan Pogacar, who likes the short climbs better than the Dane.

A hot candidate for the day’s win is also Wout van Aert. Will the Belgian from Jumbo – Visma go on the offensive again right after the sharp start?

Eurosport.de accompanies the 12th stage of the Tour de France live in the ticker.

3:12 p.m. – 13 men 45 seconds ahead of the favorite field

85 kilometers before the end and ten kilometers before the intermediate sprint, 15 men form the leading group: Benoot (Jumbo – Visma), Pinot (Groupama – FDJ), Amador (EF Education – EasyPost), Pedersen (Lidl – Trek), van der Poel ( Alpecin – Deceuninck), Martin, Izagirre (both Cofidis), Guerreiro, Jorgenson (both Movistar), Teuns (Israel – Premier Tech), Campenaerts (Lotto – Dstny), Johannessen (Uno-X) and Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) have 30 seconds Ahead of Alaphilippe (Soudal – Quick-Step) and Stuyven (Lidl – Trek) and 45 seconds on the favorite field.

3:08 p.m. – Leading group continues to grow

Vingegaard and Pogacar are now trying to calm the big group, but some riders are not satisfied yet because they want to be in the front group. One after the other they run away and each time the men from Jumbo and UAE eye each other: do we leave that one out as well? ok yes That too? Yes fits.

3:00 p.m. – Situation in the Saone valley

We have arrived in the valley after a long downhill run and now we have an overview: Benoot, Teuns and Pedersen are 15 seconds ahead of the 60-strong field of favourites. The second field with Sepp Kuss, Louis Meintjes and Ben O’Connor is now more than three minutes behind.

2:53 p.m. – Pedersen jumps ahead to the duo

100 kilometers to ride and in the current descent Mads Pedersen has closed the gap to the top. So we have three breakaways 17 seconds ahead of the first 60-man field with all the important classification drivers.

2:49 p.m. – Benoot and Teuns the next duo

The Kelderman trio has been set and the next duo has broken away: Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo – Visma) and Dylan Teuns (Israel – Premier Tech) have a 15-second lead with 105km to go.

2:41pm – Soler jumps forward to Kelderman and Skjelmose

Marc Soler has now also attacked and drives up to Wilco Kelderman and Mattias Skjelmose. With 100 kilometers to go, we have three leaders ten seconds ahead of the first field, in which even Vingegaard himself had just twitched.

2:38pm – Powless group already 1:55 back!

There are still 113 kilometers to go and Mattias Skjelmose and Wilco Kelderman have now pulled away at the front. The duo is around ten seconds ahead of the first field, but the second field is already 1:55 minutes behind!

14:33 – Van Aert back in first field

Wout van Aert has been caught again and the first field of around 60 men is now 1:40 minutes ahead of the trailed group around Powless and Ben O’Connor.

2:26 p.m. – Van Aert starts to solo

With 122 kilometers to go, Wout van Aert (Jumbo – Visma) attacks again and this time nobody can keep up. The Belgian starts the solo.

2:24pm – 1:15 behind second field – but Yates brothers back in front

The pace at the top remains extremely high and that hurts those who are left behind a lot! The second field is smaller than the first and it is constantly losing ground – but the Yates brothers have made the connection to the front again!

2:18 p.m. – Ciccone takes second mountain prize

Giulio Ciccone leads the race over the Col des Ecorbans – and behind the Italian there are only around 35 men left, including the top 3 in the overall standings. 130 kilometers to go, 38 have driven and there is still no breakaway group, still no peace!

2:16 p.m. – Hindley steps on the gas!

At the top of the first field, the attack continues. Van Aert has just accelerated again and about 20 men pull away. That’s where Jai Hindley jumps too! The Bora captain goes on the offensive because two competitors, the Yates brothers, lost out in the fight for the podium. Of course, Vingegaard and Pogacar also follow him immediately.

2:13 p.m. – 30 seconds for the Yates group

Jayco – AlUla and Groupama – FDJ set the pace in second field. David Gaudu is also back there. The gap to the first field is half a minute!

2:08 p.m. – Field divided – Yates brothers left behind!

The Van Aert quartet were quickly caught again, but they continued at breakneck speed and now the field has divided. Around 60 men are together at the front and the Yates brothers as well as Emanuel Buchmann and Vingegaard’s noble helper Sepp Kuss are missing. There are still 136 kilometers to go.

2:03 p.m. – De La Cruz has to retire from the tour

Fall of two men at the end of the field: Quentin Pacher (Groupama – FDJ) and David De La Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan) are on the ground. The Frenchman drives on quickly, but the Spaniard holds his shoulder. This looks strong after the Astana team’s third broken collarbone of the Tour, following Luis Leon Sanchez and Mark Cavendish. And as I write this comes the confirmation: De La Cruz will be taken away by ambulance.

2:01 pm – Van Aert attacks!

With 143 kilometers to go, Wout van Aert launches a hard attack and three men follow him immediately: Pascal Eenkhoorn, Maxim van Gils (both Lotto – Dstny) and a Movistar rider.

1:59 p.m. – Philipsen group 45 seconds behind

The man in the green jersey is no longer in the peloton either. Jasper Philipsen fell behind at the mountain prize with numerous companions, mostly sprinters and their helpers.

1:54 p.m. – Martinez takes the mountain points

Daniel Felipe Martinez attacks beyond the mountain classification and takes the two climbing points with him. But the Colombian cannot tear a hole. The main field stays together. However, the first sprinters have now lost touch on the incline – first of all Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan.

1:51 p.m. – Full throttle on the first mountain

The next three attackers: Matej Mohoric, Mattias Skjelmose and Ion Izagirre break away 150 kilometers before the end of the climb to the first category 3 mountain prize. But even as I write this, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are closing the gap at the front of the field.

1:41 p.m. – The sprinters are still on

1:36 p.m. – The group is not standing yet

The first four attackers have long since been found again and the attacks continue happily. So far, however, there is no top group. Today, very, very many drivers want to look for their chance to win the day.

1:31 p.m. – Strong quartet with a lead of a few meters

Alberto Bettiol (EF Education – EasyPost) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) have leapfrogged Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek) – and now Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) is following suit. The four of them are a few meters ahead of the main field, but there is still a long way to go in the back.

1:27 p.m. – Clear to take off and Pedersen attacks!

The starting flag is lowered and, as expected, the first attack begins immediately. Mads Pedersen drives off, but first alone.

1:25pm – Delays at start

Michael Gogl (Alpecin – Deceuninck) has a defect and therefore Christian Prudhomme does not release the race when kilometer 0 is passed. It will take a moment, but then there should be immediate attacks.

1:20 p.m. – Runaway candidates gather

There are still three kilometers to go until kilometer 0 and the drivers, who are hot for the breakaway group today, are slowly gathering at the front of the peloton behind the race control car.

1:05 p.m. – The peloton begins to move

The 12th stage is running – even if only neutralized at first. It’s a good ten kilometers to the sharp start at kilometer 0. We’re supposed to be there in 15 minutes.

Tour de France: Weather forecast for the day

The weather is also kind to the cycling pros this Thursday. On the way to the destination of Belleville-en-Beaujolais, a maximum of 26 degrees awaited the peloton. The sky appears cloudy. The chance of rain is zero percent.

Tour de France: 5 climbs as a challenge

Five mountain classifications are on the program, two category 2 climbs await on the last 50 kilometers of the day. But it is also uphill right at the beginning of the stage. A total of more than 3,100 vertical meters have to be mastered. So there were enough opportunities for a breakaway group to gain a sufficient lead on the field. The difficult end of the stage could then bring Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Co. onto the scene again.

Tour de France live: Chances for breakaways