Stage 12

The road

At the start

Evans is fourth now, and Froome is second

La Toussuire rearranged everything behind the yellow jersey. Chris Froome is second at 2:05, Nibali third at 2:23, and Cadel Evans has slipped to fourth at 3:19, unable to follow a Sky rider who was riding for somebody else. Fabian Cancellara has gone home. Today is the longest stage of the race, out of the mountains to Annonay, with two first-category climbs inside the opening eighty kilometres.

How it was won

1. 1191 km to go

   Seventeen away, and Moncoutié gone

   A seventeen-man break forms on the way to the Grand Cucheron with Kiserlovski taking the points. David Moncoutié tries to bridge across, crashes on the descent, and leaves the Tour with a broken collarbone.

2. 250 km to go

   Twelve minutes for five men

   Once Sagan's counter-attack is shut down — Orica riding with Sky to keep him behind Goss until the intermediate sprint — the peloton simply stops. With fifty kilometres left the five leaders have more than twelve minutes.

3. 325 km to go

   A flare on the last climb

   Twenty-five kilometres from Annonay a roadside spectator holds a flare into the peloton and burns the yellow jersey. Wiggins will describe it afterwards as more frightening than painful.

4. 4At the line

   Millar, and a relegation

   The five toy with each other for four kilometres before Péraud jumps at the two-kilometre banner and Millar chases. Péraud comes up the Scot's right at two hundred metres and gets alongside — and then Millar turns the gear over and there is only one winner. Eight minutes later Goss leads the bunch in and is relegated for shutting the door on Sagan.

The result