ENGLAND’S SIMON YATES prevailed in a three-man dash to the finish as he claimed victory in stage 12 of the Tour de France today.
The Mitchelton-Scott rider was alongside Gregor Muhlberger and Pello Bilbao in surging well clear of the rest towards the end of the 209.5-kilometre route from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
With no danger of being caught by the chasers – who finished nearly 90 seconds adrift – the trio were able to conserve their energy for the final sprint, with Yates making his move inside the closing 200 metres.
Yates snuck on the inside of his rivals, ensuring he reached the last corner in front, and held off both Muhlberger and Bilbao to cross the line in first place and complete the hat-trick of having won an individual stage at each of the three Grand Tours.
The 2018 Vuelta a Espana champion is not a contender for the general classification, and the yellow jersey remains firmly in the possession of Deceuninck Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe, who came safely home amid the peloton, nine minutes and 35 seconds behind the leading trio.
Simon Yates pushes ahead to win stage 12! #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/pTn4KqZy9e
— #TDF2019 on NBCSN (@NBCSNCycling) July 18, 2019
All of which means Alaphilippe retains his 72-second advantage over Team INEOS’ Geraint Thomas, whose colleague Egan Bernal sits in third, four seconds further adrift.
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche finished 15th today in a time of 4:59.21 while Dan Martin was 60th, clocking 5:07.28. 32-year-old Martin sits ninth in the general rankings, with Roche in 27th.
Stage 11 victor Caleb Ewan did not enjoy such a fruitful day this time around, crashing with around 45km remaining, although the Lotto Soudal rider did manage to get back on his bike.
UAE Team Emirates’ Jasper Philipsen did not start the stage due to fatigue, meaning Bernal is the youngest rider remaining at 22 while there seemed to be confusion regarding Rohan Dennis, who abandoned mid-stage without any reason being given by Bahrain-Merida.
They tweeted: “Our priority is the welfare of all our riders so will launch an immediate investigation but will not be commenting further until we have established what has happened to @RohanDennis.
“Meantime we continue to support our riders who are mid-race.”
Friday’s 13th stage sees a change of pace as riders take on a 27.2-km time trial in Pau, which makes the mysterious withdrawal of reigning world TT champion Dennis all the more curious.
You can find the classifications here.
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