Tour de France Stage 12 LIVE - Pidcock wins on Alpe d'Huez as Vinegaard and Pogacar mark each other out

1. Jonas Vingegaard
2. Tadej Pogacar +2:22
3. Geraint Thomas +2:26
4. Romain Bardet +2:35
5. Adam Yates +3:44
6. Nairo Quintana +3:58
7. David Gaudu +4:07
8. Tom Pidcock +7:39
9. Enric Mas +9:32
10. Aleksandr Vlasov +10:06

... to become the youngest ever winner on this mythical climb. With teammate Geraint Thomas rising onto the podium, it was a good day for Ineos Grenadiers.

"Even if I get dropped every day now, I don’t care, that’s made my Tour de France. A stage win in my first Tour – that’s not bad. The idea was to get into the break and I lost enough time yesterday to get some freedom. If I had gone up the climb the Galibier I don’t think I would have got away, but on the descent I don’t think people would have risked chasing me. The gap was small enough to go across and it worked out perfectly in the end. That was certainly one of my best experiences in cycling – that was unreal. When you’re literally slaloming through people’s flags, fists and God knows what else, you can’t experience that anywhere else but Alpe d’Huez. It was pretty nice getting across with Froome. We worked well together. He’s a legend and I just beat him up Alpe d’Huez. Maybe he’s not quick as he once was, but he’s still Chris Froome, isn’t he?"

Here's the top 10 from today with a magnificent victory for the British 22-year-old...

1. Tom Pidcock
2. Louis Meintjes +0:48
3. Chris Froome +2:06
4. Nielson Powless +2:29
5. Tadej Pogacar 3:23
6. Jonas Vingegaard s/t
7. Geraint Thomas s/t
8. Enric Mas +3:26
9. Sepp Kuss s/t
10. Giulio Ciccone +3:32

Tadej Pogacar puts in one last dig on the home straight but Jonas Vingegaard holds his wheel and they cross the line with Geraint Thomas and just ahead of the others. Romain Bardet was not far back after battling to the finish, with David Gaudu and Nairo Quintana in turn not too far behind.

And it's a brilliant third place for Chris Froome of Israel-Premier Tech who comes home around 2'15" down and ahead of fourth place Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost. And here come the favourites... with Mas and Kuss back in the frame as they sweep past Ciccone from the break.

The 22-year-old Tour debutant punches the air with both fists as he wins one of the most prestigious prizes in cycling. What a win from the Ineos Grenadiers rider - who comes home around 50 seconds clear of runner-up Louis Meintjes of Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert.

But Jonas Vingegaard is sticking to his back wheel like glue. Thomas and Kuss, who had fought back on, have been dropped again, but there's simply nothing separating yellow and white - with Pogacar even smiling at his rival as they swing around one of the final bends. The Slovenian just loves racing! And as things ease, Thomas steadily returns to the fold. Such a Steady Eddie is our Geraint.

But he really won't care about that! He's after the stage win - and in doing so he would become the youngest ever winner on Alpe d'Huez. He has 36 seconds on Louis Meintjes with just over 2km to go. It's in his hands and the GC riders won't catch him now - they're still 3'40" back.

And here we go! Just as the quintet battles its way through the sea of supporters, the white jersey launches the first attack and the man in white goes clear with only Vingegaard able to hold his wheel. Thomas, Mas and Kuss drop back so it's going to be yellow and white going at it mano-a-mano over these final three or so kilometres. Ah, I spoke too soon - here's Thomas, the Welshman has returned. This is our current virtual podium...

It's not a good day for the French on Bastille Day - Romain Bardet is the latest to be distanced from the yellow jersey group, which could see Geraint Thomas go back onto the podium. Adam Yates is still here with Mas on the back. Kuss leads for Vingegaard, who has Pogacar and Thomas in his back wheel. They are four minutes down on the lone leader Pidcock. And now Yates is distanced, leaving just five in this group of favourites...

The Yorkshireman has just experienced Dutch Corner for the first time in his career - and so they might cheer: his lead on Meintjes is up to 22 seconds now with Froome at 42 seconds. Meanwhile, off the back of the main field go Vlasov, then Lutsenko, Quintana, Gaudu, with Mas now clinging on for dear life as Primoz Roglic takes up the pacing on the front.

The Briton has edged ahead now with a second wind. He's 10 seconds clear of Meintjes, who in turn is 10 seconds clear of Froome. When will the attacks start to come from behind? That will be an indication of whether any of these escapees can stay out...

The Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert rider is getting nearer to lone leader Pidcock while Froome, a little bit further back, has not given up yet either. It's going to be fascinating watching this play out. The green jersey Van Aert peels to the side of the road after his big shift for Jumbo-Visma. The gap is down to 5'10" for Pidcock with Kruijswijk and Kuss on the nose of the yellow jersey pack ahead of their leader Vingegaard.

No sooner had Neilson Powless ridden back into contention than Tom Pidcock put in a big acceleration to drop his fellow escapees. Ciccone and Powless suffer the biggest hit with Meintjes digging deep to return to Pidcock and Froome sticking to his tempo behind the South African.

The American is the first to be dropped from this break although he's doing his best to limit the losses. Froome is pedalling on the back and letting the gap in front of him get a dangerously wide... He may be next to go, unless he's just finding his rhythm. Behind, Benoot has gone but Vingegaard still has four teammates with him - Roglic, Kuss, Kruijswijk and Van Aert. It's such a strong team. Pogacar has Majka and that's it.