106th Tour de France 2019 - Stage 12
106th Tour de France 2019 - Stage 12

Aussie triumph as Tour hits the mountains

MITCHELTON-Scott has won for the second time in four days after Simon Yates saluted on Stage 12 of the Tour de France.

Yates, who had been conserving energy at the rear of the peloton all Tour with the aim of helping twin brother Adam in the third week, exploded as the race entered the Pyrenees.

The Brit outsprinted Pello Bilbao and Gregor Mühlberger to the line after the trio attacked an initial 42-man break on the final climb of the 209.5km stage, the Horquette d'Ancizan.

"So far I've been saving energy until we got here in the mountains. This was my first chance to try something," Yates said.

"Normally I'd be back in the peloton helping Adam, but today I had my own chance and I grabbed it with both hands.

"I wasn't very confident of beating either of them, but I just knew from the directors in the car that I needed to be in front coming around the last corner, so I made sure to do that and luckily I held on to win."


Yates' triumph comes after Daryl Impey's emotional victory on Stage 9 of what has so-far been a tremendous Tour for the Australian team.

"My main priority here is to help Adam. Today was one of my chances to get up the road," Yates said.

"We're having a fantastic Tour, and long may it continue."

The climber was hugged by ecstatic owner Gerry Ryan, who only arrived at the race hours before the start of the stage.

"To arrive on day one and to see how he won it, it's like Daryl the other day, it's not only a great ride, but the strategy played out perfectly," Ryan said.

"We go every third year we have a good one. We've had two stage wins and there's more to come and hopefully I can be celebrating in Paris."

The peloton averaged a searing 52kmh over the first 40 minutes of the stage as a stack of riders fought to get in a breakaway most thought would stick.

Aussie Simon Clarke was in it before launching a bold bid for solo glory 60km out at the top of the Col de Peyresourde.

He established a one-minute advantage, but was soon reeled in.

"I'm never going to be able to hold Simon Yates on a 12km climb so although it might have been questionable to go so early, with myself and (teammate) Alberto Bettiol in the group it was no use sitting back and waiting to get smashed by the climbers," Clarke said.

"One of us had to gamble. I thought i'd have a crack… you never know if you don't try. "

But the general classification hunters kept their powder dry on the first high-mountain day of the Tour, with a long descent to the finish and Friday's individual time trial discouraging any attacks.

Richie Porte cruised home with the main group.

"There were a lot of guys who didn't want to have too hard a day with the time trial tomorrow," Porte said.

"I was pretty happy with that. There's such a long downhill to the finish, there wasn't much to gain."

Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan survived in hostile terrain, looking like he'd done a full day landscaping after crashing.

"I crashed into a ditch, but other than that it was all good," Ewan laughed.

"It was on the first big descent, it was quite fast and there was a hairpin and I didn't know it was coming."





1. Simon Yates, Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, 4:57:53.

2. Pello Bilbao, Spain, Astana Pro Team, same time.

3. Gregor Muhlberger, Austria, Bora-Hansgrohe, same time.

4. Tiesj Benoot, Belgium, Lotto Soudal, 1:28.

5. Fabio Felline, Italy, Trek-Segafredo, same time.

6. Matteo Trentin, Italy, Mitchelton-Scott, same time.

7. Oliver Naesen, Belgium, AG2R La Mondiale, same time.

8. Rui Costa, Portugal, UAE Team Emirates, same time.

9. Simon Clarke, Australia, EF Education First, same time.

10. Jasper Stuyven, Belgium, Trek-Segafredo, same time.

11. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium, CCC Team, same time.

12. Dylan Teuns, Belgium, Bahrain-Merida, same time.

13. Serge Pauwels, Belgium, CCC Team, same time.

14. Mathias Frank, Switzerland, AG2R La Mondiale, same time. 15. Nicolas Roche, Ireland, Team Sunweb, same time.

=Simon Yates of Mitchelton-Scott wins stage 12
=Simon Yates of Mitchelton-Scott wins stage 12

16. Maximilian Schachmann, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, same time. 17. Tony Gallopin, France, AG2R La Mondiale, same time.

18. Michael Valgren Andersen, Denmark, Dimension Data, 1:33. 19. Imanol Erviti, Spain, Movistar Team, 5:13.

20. Alberto Bettiol, Italy, EF Education First, same time.

27. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Team Ineos, 9:35.

28. Egan Bernal, Colombia, Team Ineos, same time.

31. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceuninck-QuickStep, same time. 35. Enric Mas, Spain, Deceuninck-QuickStep, same time.

39. Thibaut Pinot, France, Groupama-FDJ, same time.

44. Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar, same time.

45. Emanuel Buchmann, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, same time.

50. Steven Kruijswijk, Netherlands, Jumbo-Visma, same time.

60. Dan Martin, Ireland, UAE Team Emirates, same time.

68. Adam Yates, Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, same time.



1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DQT) 52hr26min9sec

2. Geraint Thomas (WAL/INS) 1:12

3. Egan Bernal (COL/INS)1:16

4. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/TJV) 1:27

5. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOH) 1:45

6. Enric Mas (ESP/DQT) 1:46

7. Adam Yates (ENG/MTS)1:47

8. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 2:04

9. Daniel Martin (IRL/UAD) 2:09

10. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/GFC) 2:33

11. Patrick Konrad(AUT/BOH) 2:46

12. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EF1) 3:18

13. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) same time

14. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 3:20

15. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 3:22

16. Warren Barguil (FRA/PCB) 3:26

17. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/TDD) 3:28

18. Xandro Meurisse(BEL/WGG) 3:42

19. Richie Porte (AUS/TFS) 3:59

20. Mikel Landa (ESP/MOV) 4:15

21. Bauke Mollema (NED/TFS) 4:25

22. David Gaudu(FRA/GFC) 4:32

23. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/AST) 4:34

24. Fabio Aru (ITA/UAD) 5:57

25. Guillaume Martin (FRA/WGG) 5:59

26. GregVan Avermaet (BEL/CCC) 6:18

27. Nicolas Roche (IRL/SUN) 9:50

28. George Bennett (NZL/TJV) 11:20

29. Rudy Molard (FRA/GFC)12:47

30. Giulio Ciccone (ITA/TFS) 14:35

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