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

The Spaniard David de le Cruz is unable to continue after his crash and he will become the third Astana Qazaqstan rider - after Luis Leon Sanchez and Mark Cavendish - to withdraw. De la Cruz has already been put in an ambulance. Let's hope he's okay but it looked like a collarbone fracture.

Van Aert is joined by Alaphilippe, Van der Poel, Neilands, Alex Aranburu of Astana and Lotto Dstny duo Victor Campenaerts and Pascal Eenkhoorn. They have a small gap ahead of the next climb, with many bridging over from the pack.

A nasty fall for David de la Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan) on a sweeping bend sees the Spaniard hit the deck hard along with Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ). Wout van Aert, meanwhile, is the driving force of the next push on the front - and a cluster of riders have gone with him on this short and fast descent.

Matteo Jorgenson of Movistar - the American who came so close on the Puy de Dome - takes it up after the climb and has Alaphilippe on his wheel. They are joined by De la Cruz, Skjelmose, Fraile, Izagirre, Tobias Johannessen and Kevin Vermaeke - but it comes to nothing. I say nothing: well, the peloton is pretty much riding in single file, such is the tempo, and we already have a big split with a second peloton around 50 seconds down and featuring the green jersey of Jasper Philipsen.

Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) is first over the top to pick up the 2 KOM points ahead of Neilands after Giulio Ciccone was pacing the pack up the final part of that climb. Nothing has stuck yet and the peloton is all strung out ahead of this next section, which plays out over a plateau and a small ramp before the short descent to the foot of the next climb.

De la Cruz was reeled in before the next wave of attacks from the likes of Alaphilippe, Neilands, Omar Fraile and Mohoric - you know, the usual suspects. Then a potential kaiser Soze pings off in the form of Mattias Skjelmose. The Danish champion is joined by Mohoric and Ion Izagirre - and behind, guess what? Van Aert and Van der Poel lead the chase...

We're onto the Cat.3 Cote de Thizy-les-Bourgs (4.3km at 5.6%) and Spain's David de la Cruz (Astana-Qazaqstan) has opened up a small gap. James Shaw of EF needs mechanical assistance, while Caleb Ewan of Lotto Dstny appears to be already off the back, ditto Peter Sagan of TotalEnergies.

Mohoric's move was neutralised by Van Aert, Skjelmost and Stefan Kung on the descent from the climb - and now it's the Uno-X team who have come to the front to string things out on this fast section ahead of the first categorised climb. They have caused a lot of damage - and the yellow jersey is one of the riders who is very, very far back for now.

The Slovenian is one of the best to pick his moments - and he snaps the peloton's elastic just as they're approaching the top of this opening unclassified hill, powering clear after a lull following an earlier flurry of attacks.

It's all over for Van der Poel, Bettiol, Wright and Pedersen - at least, for now. After Remi Cavagna and Michal Kwiatkowski tried their luck, Krists Neilands then rolls the dice but he's reeled in after Victor Campenaerts ups the tempo on the front of the pack. Ben O'Connor is also sniffing around, ditto Mattias Skjelmose and Van der Poel, again.

Van der Poel has made it a quartet out ahead with around a dozen riders in pursuit - but many, many more looking to join in from the peloton, which may reabsorb the chasers soon at this rate.

Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) ride onto Pedersen's back wheel - and they're being pursued by a raft of riders on the nose of the pack, including Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Christian Prudhomme finally waves the flag and we get going with an attack from the gun from... Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek. Not the rider you'd expect to solo clear on a stage with five climbs - but perhaps he fancies his chances of getting over these tests in the right kind of group before contesting a reduced sprint at the finish...

Michael Gogl of Alpecin-Deceuninck has a flat tyre and that has delayed the start of this stage. The peloton has actually passed kilometre zero and so the racing distance will be a little shorter today...

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been under the weather for a couple of days but hopes to be in the mix today.

"I felt pretty bad for two days. Yesterday, also, I was struggling a bit and I decided not to do the leadout. I hope I feel better from now on. It's not got worse. We see how the legs feel - I've got my voice back, so that's already better. I'm not sick, I just got a little infection I think. We'll see how it goes today."

Maybe we could see both Van der Poel and Van Aert united again in the breakaway? They gave it a go two days ago, but to little fanfare...

"Two days ago we saw it was a big, big battlefield and I personally will take it a bit less aggressive in the beginning to try and get in the break. But if a big group goes up the road, I will try and sneak into it. I guess it depends on whether the fight is a bit more normal than two days ago. I feel okay. I took some wrong decisions in the sprint yesterday but the good thing was that I was there."

The riders are currently part-way through a long 10km neutral section ahead of the official start. With the mountains coming up, there aren't going to be many more chances for the breakaway specialists - so that will only intensify the action from the gun.

There are also many riders who are clearly on very good for - notably the likes of Krists Neilands, Matej Mohoric, Esteban Chaves, Matteo Jorgenson, Pierre Latour and Mattias Skjelmose... I also expect the usual suspects Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel to get involved, perhaps the polka dot jersey of Neilson Powless, too, probably with a little help from team-mate Magnus Cort...

There are five categorised climbs along the 169km route between Roanne and Belleville-en-Beaujolais with bonus seconds up for grabs over the summit of the final climb, which comes around 28km from the finish. By my count, there are at least another five uncategorised climbs in a stage that really has very little flat roads.

While it's a route that plays into the hands of the breakaway, those bonus seconds may ensure that things come back together before the finish. The subplot, of course, is wine - with the route winding its way through Burgundy country, home to some of France's finest wines.

There was no change in the standings yesterday with the "Big Two" still separated by just 17 seconds as we approach the Alps...

1. Jonas Vingegaard
2. Tadej Pogacar +17
3. Jai Hindley +2:40
4. Carlos Rodriguez +4:22
5. Pello Bilbao +4:34
6. Adam Yates +4:39
7. Simon Yates +4:44
8. Thomas Pidcock +5:26
9. David Gaudu +6:01
10. Sepp Kuss +6:45