Tour de France 2023 Stage 12 recap: Ion Izagirre makes it two for Cofidis in pulsating stage

After all that, there is just the one change in the top 10 with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) moving into 10th place at the expense of Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma). Pinot is 6:33 down on Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) so he didn't quite catch his team-mate David Gaudu, who stays ninth at 6:01. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) meanwhile stays second at 17 seconds.

1. Ion Izagirre
2. Mathieu Burgaudeau +58
3. Matteo Jorgenson +58
4. Tiesj Benoot +1:06
5. Tobias Johannessen +1:11
6. Thibaut Pinot +1:13
7. Guillaume Martin +1:13
8. Dylan Teuns +1:27
9. Ruben Guerreiro +1:27
10. Victor Campenaerts +3:02

Pogacar didn't win the sprint for 11th place when the peloton came home - he was just pipped by Maxim van Gils of Lotto Dstny. Jonas Vingegaard was 16th. Phew, what a day.

Tadej Pogacar decides to contest the sprint - and it looks like he won it, but with Jonas Vingegaard on his wheel. Yellow and white were inseparable today as the pack comes home 4'15" down. Let's see what changes there are in the standings; Thibaut Pinot will rise up into the top 10 and could well be above his Groupama team-mate David Gaudu now.

The Frenchman gives TotalEnergies a second place ahead of Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) with Belgium's Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) coming home for fourth ahead of Thibaut Pinot and the remnants of the chase group.

A reborn Cofidis take their second stage win of the Tour through their Spanish climber. What a ride at the end of a truly chaotic stage in wine country...

Ion Izagirre darts under the flamme rouge and he'll be able to sit up soon and savour this one. Behind, Benoot has almost managed to bridge over to the chasing duo. Will Jorgenson miss out on a podium again - just as he did on the Puy de Dome?

But it's surely just a race for the final two podium positions... Still one minute for Izagirre.

They have given up the chase behind, allowing Teuns and Guerreiro back into the fold. Ion Izagirre is receiving encouragement from his DS behind the wheel of the car that draws up alongside him - and it will take a disaster for him to miss out now.

The Spaniard used to be a borderline GC candidate who went for top 10s in the GC battle. He's now a stage hunter who is about to deliver Cofidis another win in this Tour. Amazingly, their previous win on the Tour - Sylvain Chavanel back in 2008 - came on a stage that also started in Roanne. The gap is still 45 seconds and the heads have dropped behind.

The American hasn't given up yet and he's the driving force in this chase group as they negotiate one of those uphill segments. But the gap is still 50 seconds and Izagirre's team-mate Martin is there to mark the attacks and/or sit on accordingly.

The Spaniard now has 53 seconds on his six pursuers: Benoot, Jorgenson, Pinot, Burgaudeau, Martin and Johannessen. The rest of the break - including Van der Poel - are further back and surely out of it now. The gap back to the pack is 3'58".

It's not altogether obvious what they're doing - but it's Egan Bernal, who must have returned to the fold with Meintjes and Landa, who drives the tempo. Perhaps they are worried about Pidcock and Rodriguez losing places on GC what with Pinot up the road?

Torsten Traeen (Uno-X) rides off the road on the descent and falls into a ditch. His bike is thrown up, knocks against a telegraph pole and then almost takes out a Movistar rider when he passes. Amazingly, the rider in question stays up despite being hit by the bike. A close shave! Which is not what you can say for Traeen, who is already riding with a broken elbow after an earlier incident in the Basque Country...

The Spaniard won a stage on the 2016 Tour while he was at Movistar. Could he win a second stage seven years on - and a second for Cofidis on the Tour in just over a week, following a drought that lasted 15 years...?

Ion Izagirre really going for it on this descent, which is punctuated by three uphill sections before the finish, which itself comes after a ramp to the home straight. The stage is far from over, but the Spaniard will be pleased with his 30-second gap.

Ion Izagirre has a 20-second gap over the top of the final climb with Matteo Jorgenson leading the chasers over ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Tiesj Benoot. There were bonus seconds up for grabs - but that won't make any difference for the Cofidis lone leader.

Cofidis have two cards to play and it's their Spanish climber Ion Izagirre who makes the first move - latching onto an acceleration from Van der Poel and Johannessen to open up a gap. Meanwhile, back in the peloton, it's Ineos Grenadiers who have come to the front to set tempo.