Stage 12

The road

At the start

Mende, and the Montée Jalabert

Nothing has moved: Schleck leads Contador by 41 seconds and Samuel Sánchez by 2:45. Mark Renshaw is on his way home, expelled for head-butting Julian Dean in yesterday's sprint, and Cavendish has lost the best lead-out man in the race. Today runs 210 kilometres through the Ardèche on heavy roads and four climbs to Mende's aerodrome, on top of the Montée Jalabert — a wall that suits one of these two far better.

How it was won

1. 1153 km to go

   Vinokourov digs on the Nonières

   The first hour covers 49.3 kilometres over broken ground. Near the top of the Col des Nonières Vinokourov puts in a dig and takes sixteen riders clear with him, Klöden and Hesjedal among them — men Saxo Bank cannot afford to let go.

2. 256 km to go

   Hushovd takes the points at Langogne

   Two minutes up the road the break sweeps the intermediate sprint, Hushovd taking the full quota to move back into green. Behind, Saxo Bank are chasing on their own and alarm bells are starting to ring.

3. 339 km to go

   Klöden's move

   Andreas Klöden launches out of the escape and only Vinokourov, Hesjedal and Kiryienka can go with him. Sandy Casar tries to organise a chase behind and finds nobody willing.

4. 44 km to go

   Contador explodes on the Montée Jalabert

   Near the top of the Croix-Neuve, on a wall of a climb that suits him and does not suit the man in yellow, Joaquim Rodríguez lights it and Contador comes past with an acceleration that opens five bike lengths in a second. Schleck, caught cold, throws himself after them and finds nothing there, and has to hand the chase to Van den Broeck.

5. 5At the line

   Rodríguez on the line

   Rodríguez holds Contador's wheel over the top, refuses to work in the last kilometre and comes around him on the line in Mende. Vinokourov takes third. Schleck is fifth at ten seconds, and the ten seconds matter far less than the way they were taken.

The result