Stage 12

The road

At the start

Healy in yellow, Hautacam ahead

Ben Healy rolls out of Auch in the yellow jersey with twenty-nine seconds on Tadej Pogačar, who went down in the run into Toulouse yesterday and lost skin rather than time. Remco Evenepoel sits at 1:29, Jonas Vingegaard at 1:46. After eleven days of hills the race finally has a mountain: Hautacam, hors catégorie, 13.5 kilometres at 7.8% — the climb where Vingegaard broke Pogačar in 2022.

How it was won

1. 1164 km to go

   A 51-man break

   After a ferocious fight a huge 51-rider breakaway escapes on the run into the Pyrenees.

2. 254 km to go

   Evenepoel cracks on the Soulor

   On the Col du Soulor, Visma turn the screw and Evenepoel is spat out the back, 54km from home and seemingly out of the GC fight.

3. 327 km to go

   Evenepoel claws back

   Evenepoel drags himself back to the GC group with 27km to go, a remarkable solo chase across the valley.

4. 413 km to go

   UAE light the fuse

   At the foot of Hautacam, UAE go to the front, Wellens then Narvaez drilling a Classics-style lead-out for their leader.

5. 512 km to go

   Pogačar explodes

   Twelve kilometres from the summit Narvaez swings over and Pogačar erupts off his wheel. Vingegaard has no answer; the world champion, still bandaged from his stage 11 crash, rides clear into the mist of Hautacam, taking back everything he lost here in 2022.

6. 6At the line

   Pogačar reclaims yellow

   Pogačar wins alone on Hautacam by 2:10 over Vingegaard and reclaims the yellow jersey.

The result