H💎ello and welcome back to the toughest bike race on earth. Today's stage 12 from Bourg-de-Péage to Mende has a few medium mountain climbs on the menu before finishing on the Mont&ea🌳cute;e Laurent Jalabert in Mende. This profile looks like anything could happen, so fasten your seat belts!

The ri🎶ders have gathered in the s🧜tart area of the old town of Bourg-de-Péage on the Isère river. They'll head out on a 7km-stroll in direction of Valence before the flag will be waved down by Race Director Christian Prudhomme.

Another hot day for the Tour peꦍloton begins. Today, the riders will cover 210 kilometres across the outskirts of the Central mountain range of France, crossing the country southwestwards from the Rhone valley to Mende. It will be an exciting stage for sure, as the profile looks inviting to all sorts of attackers. Let's see what they have in mind for today.

Today's climbs are the following:

km 31.0 - Côte de Saint-Barthélémy-le-Plain - 10.7 km climb at 3.1 % - Cat. 3
km 59.0 - Col des Nonières - 5.7 km climb at 3.8 % - Cat. 3
km 96.0 - Suc de Montivernoux - 13.7 km climb at 4.4 % - Cat. 2
km 133.0 - Côte de la Mouline - 3.9 km climb at 5 % - Cat. 3
km 208.5 - Côte de la Croix-Neuve (Montée Laurent Jalaber🦩t) - 3.1 km climb at 10.1 % - 🦂Cat. 2

Plenty of KOM points up for grabs for Jérôme Pin🙈eau (Quickstep), who leads the classification by a mere 2 points over Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)!

The🥃 day could also see Thor Hushovd (Cerv&e🗹acute;lo) going out for more intermediate sprint points to re-claim his green jersey from Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre). There are two sprints on the menu, one in Mariac (74.5 km), and another one in Langogne (158.5 km).

The Tour has lost another rider this morning: Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis has decided to abandon the race as a result of his injuries from the first week, and accumulated fatigue. The Frenchman will be happy to return ho𓃲me to his family; he has a newborn baby with his wife Magali Lavenu, daughter of AG2R manager Vincent Lavenu.

Enough unnecessary trivia, back to the race: they're off! Fabian Wegmann (Milram) has triggered a reaction by the bunch as he jumpe🎀d away. Look out for Ardennes Classics riders on this stage, it's their territory!

Lars Boo♏m (Rabobank) is next to try. He's reeled in at km 3.5.

The first 17 kilometres of the stage look flattish, before the Cat.3 Côte de Saint-Barthéꩵlémy-le-Plain begins. They might have to wait until there to launch a proper attack...

They're racing hard, not letting anyone get away. This might be a fast stage - many riders will want a go and even the GC contenders cou♔ld battle it out on the final climb to the🦩 Mende aerodrome.

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🧸Alberto Contador (Astana) has already won twice on today😼's last climb. Both times, it was during Paris-Nice, once in 2007 and once this year, when he distanced Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel).

It's a short, but very steep ♒hill, 3.1 kilometres at 10.1 percent average gradient.

191km remaining from 210km

The bunch is still driving it hard as the first cl🌠imb of the day begins.

Ouch! This climb already makes a lot of guys suffer, including Lance Armstrong (Radio Sh൩ack), who has fallen out the back...

Armstrong is with teammate Andreas🍌 Klöden, Alessadro Petacchi (Lampre) and Robb𝓰ie McEwen (Katusha).

180km remaining from 210km

OK, we have a breakaway trio with Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin), Rui Costa (Caisse) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues). They have about 22 seconds ove🔥r the bunch now as they approach the summit of the Cat. 3 climb.

Pineau has crashed back in the bun༺ch! The Quickstep rider went down together with Geraint Thomas (෴Sky).

174km remaining from 210km

But both riders have jumped on their bikes again and contniue🌞d the race.

The leading trio is still out there, but their advantage has shrunk to 15 seconds. Hesjedal will not be given the go toඣ really 🍎get away, he is 12th overall at 5'42" off race leader Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

Hesjedal knows this. He sat up andܫ is waiting for the bunch to catch him. Two riders still in the lead with Fédrigo and Costa.

171km remaining from 210km

Wow. Radioshack are driving the bunch now a✱nd have just caught the two escapees. First, Armstrong and Klöden fall back on the climb, and now they have taken over control of the race!

They are on a fal✨se flat descent now, approaching the next Cat. 3 climb Col des Nonières, a 5.7 km ascent averagin﷽g 3.8 percent.

167km remaining from 210km

Ah, we have a new break. Three riders again: Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep), Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ). Chavanel started the move - how෴ come this doesn't surprise us?

They have 12 seconds.

Chavanel literally can't get no satisfaction at this Tour. He's alrea♑dy won two ꧑stages and worn the yellow jersey for two days.

This is also the right territory for Cunego. The 'Piccolo Principe' is still looking for a stage win at the Tour, after winning the white jersey ꦫof bes🦄t young rider in 2006.

The bunch are on the second climb now, the Col des Nonières. The first hour of racing was super ꦓfast, as 49.3 kilometres were covered even though the region is really undulating.

We awaited confirmation to tell you - the trio was🔯 caught at the foot of the climb. What a hard-raced stage!

Sorry a✱bout not being able to update there - the CN blimb had a mechanical!

The🌼 riders have passed the summit of the climb now, aon their way to the next one. We have an 18-rider group off the front, includ🅠ing Vinokourov and Charteau. They have one minute over the bunch. Let's sort out their names.

Here is our rider list:

A. Vinokourov, A. Klöden, R. Hesjedal, S. Casar, T. Hushovd, M. Aerts, K. Sivtsov, M. Santambrogio, C. Barredo, V. Kiryienka, A. Charteau, M. Perget, C. Kern, A. Moinard, R. Pauriol, G. Verdugo, G. Bole, R. Valls Ferri
 

134km remaining from 210km

Quite an interesting group. They have 1'45" after the first intermediate sprint of the stage, where Lampre's Grega Bole took maximum points over Hushovd. Points leader Petacchi and Hushovd are thus even now, both🅺 having 61 points on their accounts.

The group is riding well anꦗd increases its advantage to 2'15".

Let's see if Pineau's te🍒am-mate Barredo will battle it out with Charteau on the next climb. Polkadot jersey wearer Pineau didn't make this group but Barredo could see to it that Charteau doesn'🎃t score too many points...

They are half way up the Cat. 2 climb of Suc de Montivernoux now. We'll see how this break will develop. Definitely there are many team srepresented but the bunch won't let it take too much time - riders like Hesjedal, Vinok🌠ourov or Klöden are just too high-profile to be giv🍒en too much of a lead.

Cofidis is well-represented with three riders in the bre💧ꦐak. Maybe the young French riders can capitalise on that.

38.2 kilometres were covered during the second half of the stage. That's an average speed of 43.8 km/h since th📖e sta🐬ge start.

The final climb up the Montée Laurent Jalabert in Mende is perfect♛ly suited for short, explosive efforts for climbers such as Contador, Schleck, Joaquin Rodriguez or Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez. Astanaꦦ manager Yvon Sanquer said that Sanchez "moreover needs to gain some time on a climb like this one," - so don't be surprised to see the Euskaltel rider on the front of the bunch in a few hours time.

The gap is stable around 2'15" in the 13.7km-climb. At the top, the riders will gr💃ab their food bags ℱto re-charge their batteries.

Vinokourov has alrea🙈dy won at the aerodrome of Mende 11 years ago, in 1999 at the GP du Midi Libre. Will he repeat his feat here today? It's interesting that he has been given the green light to ride a stage for himself instead of continuing his support of Contador. Goes to show how much influence the Kazakh still has in his Astana team...

They're on top of the climb now. Casar took the points in front of Charteau,🌄 with Barredo third. Ca🐠sar might still have a plan for the KOM jersey at this race, with the Pyrenees still coming up.

Charteau has thus re-conquered the plokadot jersey from Pin💃eau, who crashed early in the stage and didn't make the breakaway.

Saxo Bank are driving the bunch at around two minutes from the escape. That'll be a ꦬlot of work for them throughout the stage.

The crowds have flocked atop the climb - so hav🔯e the cows!

The lan๊dscape around this region is quite spectacular, with steep rocky peaks in the middle of the hills. The riders are now munching away their rice cakes and energy gels.

Will Klöden be able to follow Vinokourov if the Kazakh gears up in Mende later on? We can't see it happening, bearing in mind the recent performances of the German. 'Vino' loo🧸ks ver꧑y strong here today.

They are riding through a forest now - a bit of shade and a cool breeze would make everybody happy, no doubt! Tempreatures are again in their thirties today, the sun🎃 relentless.

Kanstantsin Siutsou from HTC got some medical assistance at the race doctor's car 🍷and now gets back on.

Andy Schleck is having a well-known blac🧜k-coloured soda drink, banned in other teams for its high acidity... If it h♏elps!

95km remaining from 210km

Saxo Bank is in a hurry, the bunc🔥h is strung out on a descent. The gap is 1'51"🔴.

Of course, having Klöden and Vinokourov in the break means that S🐈axo Bank will have to do a🥀ll the chasing by itself.

🐼Only a few more kilometres before𒁏 the break reaches the start of the fourth climb of today. They are on a rolling descent through the woods right now.

The riders and followers of the Tour de France are still in shock over the exclusion of Mark Renshaw (HTC-Co🔯lumbia) yesterday. The Australian was accused of irregular sprinting and head-butting Julian Dean of Garmin-Transitions. It was a ꦏcontroversial decision, a little too heavy for many observers.

79km remaining from 210km

The riders are crossing a bridge over the river Loire. The water is a꧑bsolutely still, there is no wind at all𝓀 today...

Lampre has engaged in the chase together 🅰with Saxo Bank. They want to catch the escape 🦂before the intermediate sprint of Lagogne with 58 kilometres to go to protect Petacchi's green jersey. We'll see if they succeed.

There are a few riders celebrating their birthdays today, by the way. Stefano Garzelli turns 37 today, Andr&ea🌺cute; Greipel 28 - and Miguel Indurain 48! Happy birthday from here!

The break has passed the Cat 3 La Mouline climb𝓡. Charteau took the points in front of Casar and Barredo, but the Frenchman was really suffering to do so. We wonder if he's going to be up front still on the last ascent in Mende, especially since there are still a few climbs on the road prior to that - even if they are not counting for KOM points.

73km remaining from 210km

Instead of shrinking, the gap has actually increased since Lampre joined Saxo Bank at the fr🅰ont of the bunch... It is now 2'40".

🍌In 20 kilometres, we'll have the second intermediate sprint.

French farmers are continuing their artwork on this Tour de France, with this year's theme being the hexagonal shape of France🌱 outlined in the fields. We were just able to spot another beautiful "Hexagone" down there.

The break's advantage is still 2'10" with the group doing a great job. Saxo Bank has help of Danilo Hondo of Lampre but it seems unlikely thatt the bunch will catch the escape any♏ time soon. Perhaps for the final climb in Mende...

Now it's Cancellara again at the front of the bunch. Ah, it works! The bunch is strung꧅ out now that Spꦐartacus puts on his motor...

The black parts of the jersey of Footon's Valls Ferri show lots of white transpiration marks, the ride💝rs are losing plenty minerals in the heat.

Cyclingnews' Brecht Decaluwé has just reported from the aerodrome in Mende, where we'll land our blimp later on on💮ce the crowds have gone home.

"There are a lot of people already on the Montée Jalabert," he said. "It's really a steep nasty climb. A good position at the foot will be all important because if you're too far back and the pace is set in front you'll have a hard time to move up - especially if you have a mechanical. There's also a short drop toward🦩s the runway which is quite steep."

52km remaining from 210km

We're at t෴he sprint. This time, Hushovd gets the points in front of Bole, who started his spr🍷int too soon. Hushovd is pleased with himself.

꧒The riders pass the artificial lake of Laussac. No time for a swim, but the water sure looks inviting!!

48km remaining from 210km

And the Tuhdergod Thor sits up, jo🔯b done for today. It's 167 points for him, so he takes the green jersey back from Petacchi.

Vinokourov tries to make a selecti💯on iꩵn the break. Hesjedal, Kiryienka and Klöden can follow him, but the others are dropped.

Casar missed the move. He must feel bummed.

It's quite uphill again here after the sprint, even t📖hough the climb doesn't count for the KOM classificatioꦅn. The remainder of the break splits up.

The gap to the front is growing. May🐈be Bjarne Riis is thiꩵnking about leaving the race lead to Garmin to protect his riders from too much efforts in the coming days? 3'30" is the gap now.

Casar is fighting to make i🍸t back on, inciting the others not to give up.

The Hesjedal group has 🌟35 seconds over its chasers, led by Casarꦺ.

The Canadian 🅺is 5'42" back from Schleck on GC, Vinokourov 6'31".

Ah: Liquigas an🍌d Cervélo are now lending a leg in the chase to protect their leader's places. This will help Saxo Bank.

The group around Casar is trying hꦚard but the others seemও stronger.

Brett Lancaster is leading 🍰the bunch out, with Cancellaౠra on his wheel.

In front, Hesjedal is suffering but follows 🎐the pace cranked out by Vinokourov. Kiryienka still looks really good even after this long breakaway.

34km remaining from 210km

Klöden has now been asked to take a turn in front. The gap to the peloton is stable at 3'40" right🏅 now, but we are still waiting to know the gap between the leaders and the chase group.

The gap between the four lea꧟ders and their chasers hasn't changed, it is still about 35 seconds. If they can keep up their pace then they should be able to defend their lead until the finish against the peloton.

But we still expect fireworks also back in the bunch as som𒅌eone like Samuel Sanchez will surely want to make up some time on GC today.

Vino's Specialized bike kas golden Kazakh motives all over it; ಞwhat a distinguished sight.

They rideꦏ as hard as they can towards Mende, preparing for that final climb that got its name after the famous French climber Laurent Jalabert, who won here on July 14, 1995.

22km remaining from 210km

The gap is do🐠wn to 2'50 for the escape, so no yellow jersey for Hesjedal today if everything goes to plan. The four of them will battle it out for the victory in all likelihood, as the last climb is just 3.1 kilometres long - not long enough for Contador et al. to come back.

Klöden grabs a bottle from his team car in a descent around a corne🌄r. Not an easy task.

Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) is cooked at the ܫback of the bunch. He'll be glad to reach the finish tod🍸ay.

It's con♐firmed: T𒀰yler Farrar has just abandoned the Tour de France. Too bad for him.

The leaders pass under the 15km to go banner. Cervélo is working hard in front of the bunch to bring the gap down, 🅷it's now 1🐠'45". Perhaps they're hoping that Carlos Sastre can make up some time, or maybe Hushovd is looking to take more points in the finish?

10km remaining from 210km

It's pretty open roads in the downhill run to Mende and the gap is com𝓡ing down. It'll be a tight finish if the climbers go full gas on the last cl🅷imb. 1'20" now.

The chase 🐓group in between ꦰis 33 seconds adrift. They'll be caught.

Yellow🗹 jersey wearer Andy Schleck is near the front of the bunch, while Vinokourov is taking another turn in the lead, clearly wanting this stage victory badly. The Kazakh wants to come back to 🦋fomer Tour de France glory...

Contador is on Schleck's wheel, as the gap drop𒆙s to under a minute. The overall favourites and climbers have all m🥂oved up. The tension is on.

5km remaining from 210km

The remainder of the break is caught.

The Vinokour𝓰ov group is still out there, though. They are starting to climb. Here we go for the 10 percent climb...

Hesjedal is dropped, he's cooked right way.

Klöden also lets go of Kiryienka and Vinokouorv. We can see Petacchi as one of the first riders of the bunch to hit the climb. W𒆙hat does he think?

AG2R's John Gadret gives it a dig out of the bu🍷nch.

Kiryienka leads Vinokourov off the front.

Armstrong is out the back.

The GC favourites mark each other, noa 🍸attacks there. Gadret can't hold his tempo and the bunch moves up on him again.

Vinokourov attacks! Kiryienka drops back a bಞit. The Kaz൩akh is going for it, suffering like he's able to.

2km remaining from 210km

Wiggins hangs on Sastre's wheel, but lo𒅌ses it. This climb is naasty.

Contador and Schleck look to par. No attack thꦦough from anyone in the GC group.

Ah - there goes Katusha's Rodriguez!

Contador chases 🔴him up, and Schleck has trouble following. Contador pushes through. Schleck canno๊t respond!

Con📖tador bridges up to Vinojkourov. Ah, the Kazakh won't lik🅺e that. Contador gives it everything now. The gap is getting bigger.

But Contador has Rodrigu൲ez in tow. They𝔉're on the flat part to the finish now. If Rodriguez takes it, Astana has really lost out!

Rodriguez sucks Contador's wheel. The Katusha rider waits. He comes round🤪... and takes the victory!

Only ten seconds or so gained on Schleck for Contador. Does that match a stage win for the Kazakh? Uh - seems likely to us in the blimp that 𒐪Vinokourov won't be very happy about his teammates' tactics. As they say, sh** hಞappens!

 Armstrong gets in at 3'35" and immediately 🌠turns around, back 𝓡to the bus.

Thanks for having joined us again today. Look out for full results, report and pic꧅s coming up soon on Cyclingnews, and we hope to entertain you again tomorrow for stage 13 from Rodez to Revel, where a breakaway will certainly try to hold off the bunch again.

Situation

- A. Vinokourov (Astana), A. Klöden (RadioShack), R. Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions), V. Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne)
- S. Casar (FDJ), M. Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto), K. Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia), M. Santambrogio (BMC), C. Barredo (Quick Step), A. Charteau (Bouygues), M. Perget (Caisse d'Epargne), C. Kern, A. Moinard, R. Pauriol (all Cofidis), G. Verdugo (Euskaltel), G. Bole (Lampre), R. Valls Ferri (Footon) at 35"
- Peloton at 2'25"