Thursday’s stage 12 of Tour de France 2023 was a 168.8-kilometer ride from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. The terrain was hilly, and the stage featured three Category 3 climbs and two Category 2 climbs. The route looked very appealing to breakaway experts in the Tour peloton.

Roanne is known for its culinary delicacies and Michelin starred restaurants, while the Beaujolais department is known for its fine wines. The stage route would take the Tour peloton through eight of the twelve AOC Beaujolais appellations.

Weather forecasts were predicting dry weather and the racing was intense from the beginning. Mads Pedersen was first to launch an attack. The stage profile was too rough for him, but before today’s stage he announced he was hoping to join a breakaway in support of teammate Mattias Skjelmose.

Pedersen was caught, but others tried their luck. Riders active at the front included Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Skjelmose, Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), and Soudal-QuickStep’s Kasper Asgreen whose teammate Fabio Jakobsen had abandoned the Tour before the start of today’s stage.

With 137 kilometers left of today’s stage multiple attacks from the peloton were still being launched and no viable breakaway group had yet been established. Many riders, however, had been dropped from the main peloton because of the high speed and intense riding. Riders dropped included Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula), Sepp Kuss (Team Jumbo-Visma), Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers), and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost).

Jonas Vingegaard broke away with 132 kilometers left, but UAE Team Emirates’ main GC challenger Tadej Pogacar chased him down. 

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) attacked after 44 kilometers and established a small gap. With 117 kilometers left, Van Aert stopped and waited for the chasers.

Wilco Kelderman tried his luck together with Skjelmose. UAE Team Emirates’ Marc Soler joined the group. Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) and Dylan Teuns (Israel-PremierTech) countered.

One hundred kilometers from the finish line action was still intense at the front and no viable breakaway group had formed. Many riders, however, had been dropped from the front group.

A larger breakaway group featuring approximately fifteen riders finally established. With seventy-five kilometers left the breakaway group at the front featured Benoot, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost), Pedersen, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Teuns, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), and TotalEnergies’ Mathieu Burgaudeau.

Group two was approximately 03:30 minutes behind and featured the general classification favorites, including Pogacar and Vingegaard.

On the Cote de la Casse Froide (Category 3; 5.2 km; 6% incline) the advantage of the front group was reduced to approximately 02:30 minutes.

Amador and Van der Poel attacked on the descent from the Cote de la Casse Froide and built a lead of fifteen seconds. Amador was dropped from the front duo on the Col de la Croix Montmain (Category 2; 5.5 km; 6.2% incline) and Van der Poel soldiered on in solo fashion with Amador chasing behind him. Amador was later caught by the chase group.

Pinot and Jorgenson attacked on the Col de la Croix Rosier (Category 2; 5.4 km; 7.7 km) to bridge the gap to Van der Poel. They succeeded and formed a front trio. The trio was caught shortly thereafter.

Izagirre was first across the Col de la Croix Rosier followed by Jorgenson and Pinot. Jorgenson and Pinot were caught on the descent, while Izagirre increased his advantage thanks to his great talent for descending. With fifteen kilometers left he had a lead of approximately fifty seconds.

Izagirre was 57 seconds ahead of the chasers with five kilometers left. 

Izagirre soloed across the finish line to take the victory in stage 12 of Tour de France 2023 and would likely be celebrating with a nice glass of Beaujolais red wine tonight. Burgaudeau finished second, while Jorgenson completed the stage podium.

Pogacar is still seventeen seconds behind Vingegaard in the general classification. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) is in third place, 02:40 behind Vingegaard.

Noteworthily, Team EF Education-EasyPost is continuing to deliver weak and disappointing performances in this year’s Tour. Even small teams such as Uno-X Pro Cycling and Intermarche-Circus-Wanty have been more visible and dominant in this year’s Tour de France.

Check out our list of Tour de France sale offers and coupon codes from various shops to gear up for your summer bike rides.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for full coverage from Tour de France 2023.