The official Tour de France results are in, and Alexander Kristoff from Norway, who is part of the Katusha Team, has won stage 12 with a time of four hours, 32 minutes, 11 seconds. Sky Sports reports that Vincenzo Nibali, representing Italy, still has the overall lead in the race, holding a two minute, 23 second lead over the man who is in second place overall and eagerly nipping at his heels: Australia’s Richie Porte.
Kristoff spoke with ABC News about his win in the 12th stage of the race:
I won, finally, and I am really happy. It was time to win. In Norway, there was a lot of pressure on me: I am the only Norwegian this year!
Kristoff took the win with a sprint with less than five miles or seven kilometers to go. His impressive sprint allowed him to blaze past Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who is now second, and Arnaud Demare of France, who is in third place. Celebrating his victory, Kristoff cheered and pointed skyward as he crossed the line to qualify for first.
Two of Kristoff’s biggest rivals were missing in action: Giant-Shimano rider Marcel Kittel, who has won three stages, was dropped earlier in the stage, and German countryman Andre Greipel, who won Stage 6, crashed within the last few miles; a factor that Kristoff was not aware of until he’d crossed the line in stage 12.
“I went at just the right time,” said Kristoff, “I was just thinking about myself.”
Here are the current rankings, as posted on Sky Sports, for the Tour after the stage 12 qualifying results have been tabulated:
Stage 12 result
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 4:32:11 2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale, same time 3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ, st 4 Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEdge, st 5 Ramunas Navardauskas (Lth) Garmin-Sharp, st 6 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, st 7 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo, st 8 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar, st 9 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC, st 10 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, st
General classification 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, 51:31:34 2 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +2:23 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +2:47 4 Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +3:01 5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr, +3:47 6 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, +3:56 7 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +3:57 8 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin, +4:08 9 Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol, +4:18 10 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, +4:31
The American rider, Andrew Talansky, pulled out of stage early citing severe back pain related to a previous crash during stage 11. His return is questionable.
[Photo credit: Bicyclist Perspective Magazine]
