The 17th stage of the Tour de France 2012 took place on July 19, 2012 and led from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes . With a distance of 143.5 kilometers, there were two mountain classifications in the 1st category, one in the 2nd category, one in the 3rd category and one in the Hors Catégorie .
The third stage in the Pyrenees was almost in the form of a circuit. She changed several times between the Haute-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées departments . From Bagnères-de-Luchon ( 612 m ), the route initially led northwards to Saint-Béat ( 508 m ). The ascent to the Col de Menté ( 1349 m , 1st category) followed in an easterly direction . After Juzet-d'Izaut ( 1349 m ) had been reached, we continued west over the Col des Ares ( 797 m , 2nd category). The route then led north to the Côte de Burs ( 592 m , 3rd category). After this ascent in the foothills of the Pyrenees, it went south back towards the high mountains. On the way there, the intermediate sprint was held in Loures-Barousse ( 446 m ), followed a little later by the refreshment zone in Aveux ( 503 m ). The biggest obstacle of the day was the Port de Balès ( 1755 m , Hors Catégorie). This was followed by the descent to Saint-Aventin ( 863 m ), which is only a few kilometers from the starting point of the stage. This is where the ascent to Col de Peyresourde ( 1566 m ) began, which had already been conquered the day before from the opposite side and was not part of the mountain classification. After a short intermediate descent, the stage ended with the mountain arrival in the winter sports station Peyragudes ( 1605 m ).
Race course
153 of the original 198 drivers were still at the start; the weather was foggy for most of the stage, with a few short rain showers. During the first few kilometers there were several attempts to break away, but all of them were unsuccessful, so that the field reached the first incline as a whole. A top group of 23 formed, which was caught up again in the second half of the ascent to the Col de Menté. Below the top of the pass, Alejandro Valverde and Pierre Rolland first attacked , shortly afterwards Thomas Voeckler , who overtook them and won the mountain classification before Kessiakoff. In the downhill, a top group of seven formed with Voeckler, Kessiakoff, Valverde, Egoi Martínez , Jean-Christophe Péraud , Sandy Casar and Rui Costa . For a short time the third overall Vincenzo Nibali was one of them, but dropped back again.
Another group formed between the top and the main field. Voeckler also prevailed over Kessiakoff at the Col des Ares. After 68 kilometers, the pursuers caught up with the front. At the front, 17 drivers were now three minutes ahead of the field. Voeckler also overtook Kessiakoff in the sprint for the mountain classification on the Côte de Burs. The intermediate sprint classification was won by Blel Kadri , while the drivers in the field were left empty-handed. After several unsuccessful attempts to break away, the leading group gradually broke up on the climb to Port de Balès. About three kilometers from the top of the pass, Valverde was finally able to pull away and tackled the descent with a 50-second lead over his closest rivals Martínez and Costa.
At the beginning of the ascent to the Col de Peyresourde, the group of the best placed in the overall classification was about two and a half minutes behind Valverde, while Voeckler and Kessiakoff fell far behind. After an unsuccessful attack of Jelle Vanendert stringent Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome the pace in the meantime, so that the group was gradually smaller; and Cadel Evans could not go more nine kilometers from the finish the pace. Five kilometers before the end of the stage, Valverde was 1:20 minutes ahead of the group around the yellow jersey, which was further reduced by an attack by Thibaut Pinot . In the final climb to Peyragudes, Wiggins and Froome set out in pursuit of Valverde, who just managed to save his lead.
Mountain ratings
Col de Menté Category 1 after 27.5 km at 1349 m 9.3 km at 9.1%
