Tour de Farce: Hail, Purito

It wasn’t close and there was a cigar as Purito pedalled clear of his fellow escapees to give his awaiting family something to show for their rainy day out up a mountain across the border.

The Spanish veteran hails from across the border in Andorra and often trains on the 16km climb of Plateau de Beille – although his last visit was anything but a success.

“I live about fifty kilometres away and have dreamed of winning her a thousand times. The last time I was here training with [Katusha team-mate] Alberto Losada I had a flat tyre but forgot to bring a spare one. So I called my wife and she came to pick us up,” Rodriguez revealed shortly after finishing over a minute ahead of Jakob Fuglsang of Astana to secure his second win of the Tour.

Of course, there was no way Rodriguez and Fuglsang were going to break today – no, siree...

Indeed, Rodriguez had been enjoying a torrid time in the Pyrenees after bonking on the final climb to La Pierre-Saint-Martin on Tuesday and then crashing in the neutral zone and hurting his hip on Wednesday stage to Cauterets.

It was a case of third time lucky for the 36-year-old – whose wife and two children were waiting for Rodriguez at the finish. Well, that’s if you can call ‘lucky’ having to ride through a storm of biblical proportions in nothing but a thin covering of spandex.

When Sean Kelly mentioned early on in Eurosport’s live coverage of stage 12 that there could well be storms on the cards, the general consensus was that he still had his iPhone weather settings roaming in his native Ireland.

But as the riders battled with a burning sun and temperatures in the mid-30s, news came filtering through from the finish at Plateau de Beille of the first showers.

Soon the torrential showers had been replaced with an apocalyptic hail storm, which no doubt had a certain Eurosport presenter worried for his latest pair of colourful chinos.

Given the strong French presence in the day’s main break – 11 out of 22 hailing from the host nation – there was a certain aptness to the Magnolia-esque outcome that was predicted by some...

And to think that earlier in the day we had seen the green battle competition hot up once again in bright sunshine with an intermediate sprint just 20km into the day’s 195km stage.

Andre Greipel picked up maximum points on his 33rd birthday to move within two points of Peter Sagan’s lead – although someone please tell the Gorilla’s Lotto-Soudal team-mates that you should never let someone fetch a round of drinks on their own birthday...

It was a rather undignified look for the only rider other than Rodriguez with a brace of wins to his name in this year’s race.

Thankfully, Sagan showed some solidarity with Greipel by going on domestique duties himself. At least Andre knows that the green jersey will fit him should he ever prise it from the Slovakian showman’s shoulders.

Once the rain came down, the riders didn’t only have that and the Bora kitchen sink to worry about. There was the small matter of the moon putting in an early appearance on the final climb of the day...

Having missed this spectacle, Purito was all smiles after his victory. The Spanish veteran will move back into the polka dot jersey for Friday’s transitional stage – although that looked far from guaranteed earlier in the day...

But the lingering image of the day comes from another Spaniard, Luis Angel Mate of Cofidis, whose creased fingers are something you’d expect to see after a long bath rather than a bike jolly in the Pyrenees.

In a nutshell: After the high mountains, an undulating stage that should prove the ideal springboard for a breakaway with three lower category climbs ahead of a downhill finish.

History: The race has had just one previous finish in Rodez - back in 1984 when Frenchman Pierre-Henri Mentheour took the spoils in a Tour won by his Renault team-mate Laurent Fignon. Both men have sadly since passed away of cancer.

Believe it or not: The world's first motorised flying machine took off from Muret in 1890 and was designed by the aviation pioneer Clement Ader. Now a suburb of Toulouse, Muret is welcoming the Tour for the first time.

Did you know: Jean Gauban - one of the most famous cyclists to hail from Muret - completed the inaugural Tour in 1903 but failed to finish another four. He was disqualified from the 1906 race for taking a train between Nancy and Dijon.

Look out for: The towering red brick cathedral of nearby Albi - the helicopters are bound to make a quick detour off route for something so spectacular. Also, Lance Armstrong, who continues his three-day charity ride shadowing the route of the Tour.

Plat du Jour: Aligot - a dish made from melted Tomme cheese and blended into garlicky mashed potato. Best served with a hearty Toulouse sausage.

Tour tipple: A glass of local Gaillac wine - thought to be one of the oldest wine regions of France. Try the Perlé Blanc - a subtle, refreshing semi-sparkling white wine made with the Sauvignon grape.