Defending champion Alberto Contador cut into Andy Schleck’s overall Tour de France lead here on Friday, as Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez celebrated his maiden race victory in the 12th stage.
Rodriguez held off the challenge of his compatriot Contador, who launched a late charge on the gruelling 3km climb towards Mende that caught his rivals cold and allowed him to cut Schleck’s advantage to 31sec.
It was Rodriguez first stage win in the race, in which the Katusha rider is competing for the first time. Schleck recovered to cross the line in fifth place alongside Belgium’s Jurgen Van den Broeck, 10sec behind Contador.
Third place went to Contador’s Astana team-mate Alexandre Vinokourouv, a survivor of a breakaway that started after 60km of this rolling 210.5km stage from Bourg-de-Peage. Vinokourouv was not reeled in until the final 2km, as Contador surged past him in a bid to gain as much time on Schleck as possible.
Breakaway attempts by Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, Portuguese Alberto Rui Costa and Pierrick Fedrigo, Sylvain Chavanel and his French compatriot Sandy Casar all failed early on, although it was only a matter of time before all peloton capitulated.