There was plenty of celebrating on the line for Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff as he took a well-deserved victory in Thursday’s stage 12 of the Tour de France. Kristoff patiently waited for the perfect moment to begin his sprint, coming up the right side of the course along the white center line and holding off all others to claim a spectacular victory in Saint-Étienne. Aided by teammates Luca Paolini and Aleksandr Porsev, Kristoff earned his first stage win in the Tour de France. It was his tenth seasonal victory and first in a Grand Tour.
- It’s a great feeling. I’ve been dreaming about this day since I was a child. I’ve had some second places this year and also last year, but to finally achieve a first is fantastic. My teammate Luca did a great job keeping me in the front and then at the end I also had Porsev but we lost each other in the last corners so I was sitting on (Matteo) Trentin for the last 500 meters. I was waiting and waiting but then I saw (John) Degenkolb go and knew I had to go also. I was so happy when I saw no one could pass me. We will have some champagne tonight but tomorrow is a hard stage so we won’t have too much of a party, - said 27-year old Alexander Kristoff.
Claiming second and third behind Kristoff were Peter Sagan of Cannondale and Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr). With the sprint finish there was no change on the general classification and Vicenzo Nibali (Astana) still holds the race lead by 2.23 to Richie Porte (Sky) and 2.47 to Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.
Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez continues to ride in the polka dot jersey as the best climber and will look to extend his lead in the upcoming Alp stages on Friday and Saturday.
- The team was really fantastic today. The stage was hard with all these climbs and the team did an incredible job to protect me during the race, especially in the final climb, where the pace was very high. I want to thank all the team, who supported me and trusted in me. Yesterday was the day I took it easy. I had this stage in my mind, so I decided not to push yesterday and to save my legs. I knew today’s stage could suit me and maybe this strategy helped me. Today I was fresh. I felt the power in my legs and I had not one bad moment during the stage, - concluded Alexander Kristoff.
As the 2014 Tour de France crossed the halfway point on Thursday’s stage 12, blue skies and warm temperatures greeted the 178 riders still riding in the three-week Grand Tour, today in the Beaujolais wine region of the Rhône department of Southeastern France.
The 185,5 km stage began in Bourg-en-Bresse and ending in the city of Saint-Étienne, used 25 times as a finish point for the Tour de France. The champion from the Netherlands, Sebastian Langeveld, initiated a five man break that gained six minutes on the route. Giant-Shimano worked to cut down their advantage, bringing it back to three minutes as the first of four climbs helped break apart the efforts of the escapees. Eventually only Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) and Langeveld were still away with Clarke seizing the opportunity to attack with 25 km to go, but it was all brought back together in the finale and the mass sprint followed.
Stage 13 comes on Friday and brings the first of two days in the Alps and the high mountains. The 197.5km stage begins in Saint-Étienne and ends with the HC climb Chamrousse capping off the day.
Photo credit: (c) Tim De Waele
Tour de France Stage 12 Video Report
