Similar to yesterday, Stage 12 of the Tour de France is a chance for the sprinters and the breakaway riders to win. Join The Roar for live commentary and a blog from 10:00pm AEST.
Last night saw the sprinters get blown away by the peloton as the last few climbs took their toll.
Tony Gallopin was able to break away with a few kilometres to go to take his first stage win at the Tour.
Tonight sees a similar stage with late climbs set to determine who will be in contention for the stage.
The Tour heads from Bourg-En-Bresse to Saint Etienne on a 185.5 kilometre journey featuring four categorised climbs and one intermediate sprint.
The sprint kicks proceedings off 39.5 kilometres into the stage. 20 points are on offer to the winner and expect Peter Sagan, Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel to all be involved.
The field then has two climbs, as they approach the halfway mark of the stage. The first is the Col de Brouilly at 58.5 kilometres and is a 1.7 kilometre category 4 climb. The second, tougher climb is the Cote du Saule-d’Oingt. It is 3.8 kilometres in length and has 4.5 per cent gradient.
Most of the peloton should comfortably clear these two climbs. The final two climbs though will decide the winner. Around 65 kilometres from the finish is the category 3 climb up Col des Brosses, at 15.3 kilometres in length with a gradient of 3.3per cent.
They follow that up with the category 4 climb of Cote de Grammond, 9.8 kilometres in length with a gradient of 2.9 per cent.
How the peloton climb these two mountains will be decisive as to who wins the stage. If the sprinters can survive, we will have a sprint finish at St Etienne. If they don’t then it becomes a battle between everyone else.
It all depends on how the peloton treat the race. If the mountains are attacked like yesterday though, the pure sprinters will all struggle to survive.
This stage suits Sagan, who leads the green jersey classification, and can climb hills like these. While other sprinters will fall away from the peloton, Sagan becomes the best rider in the pack if the other sprinters are not there at the finish.
If he can do this tonight, he is a big chance of winning his first stage for the year at the Tour.
It promises to be a great stage with the final 60 kilometres shaping up to be a battle between the sprinters and those who want to win the stage.
Look out for Australia’s Simon Gerrans and Michael Rogers, who will fancy their chances of winning tonight if they can shake the sprinters.
Prediction: Peter Sagan.
Rob McHugh
Roar Guru
To be fair his team got broken up. They led out very early and other teams were able to match the pace.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
So that is all from me in the live blog. Simon Clarke won plenty of respect for his work in the break away. Unfortunately for him it wasn't to be and Kristoff won in a bunch sprint. I'll be back in Stage 16 when I cover my third and final stage for the event. Until then, keep visiting the Roar, as we cover each stage of the Tour De France in 2014. Thanks for joining in on Stage 12 of the Tour. Bye.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
The overall standings stay the same. Nibali, Porte, Valverde, Bardet, Pinot are the top 5. No Aussies finished in the top ten for the stage.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
TOP 5: 1. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 2. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 3. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) 4. Michael Albasini (Orica) 5. Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin)
Jono
Guest
Great ride by Clarke today in a long breakaway. Alba also continues his impressive tour and finished with another top 10 and has been probably the best performer for OGE. Not sure who to feel more sorry for, Greipel for crashing or the rider who he blamed because the Gorilla doesn't look like the type of guy you want to piss off!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Peter Sagan finished in 2nd and just couldn't make up the gap between him and Kristoff at the end. He was too far back with 500 metres to go. The team set him up nicely but he attacked at the wrong time. Kristoff beat him to it and took the honours.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Alexander Kristoff wins the 12th stage of the Tour De France. The Norwegian wins his first ever stage at the Tour De France. It is his 9th win for the year in all Tours.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
1 kilometre to go - This is set up nicely for Peter Sagan.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Sylvain Chavanel is also involved in the incident. Andre Greipel lets him know that he was the one who caused the incident.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
3 kilometres to go - There is a crash in the peloton and Andre Greipel is involved in the incident. He would have been one of the favourites for the sprint and did well to climb the mountains. Big shame for him.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
4 kilometres to go - The field is together and a bunch sprint will happen.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
5 kilometres to go - That is the end of the day for Simon Clarke. He is caught with 5 kilometres to go. Brilliant ride by the Australian and he fell short of his maiden Tour De France win.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
8 kilometres to go - Just two remain in the lead group as one of the Europcar riders is overtaken by the peloton. The gap is still 17 seconds.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
10 kilometres to go - The peloton have the three riders in their sight. The gap is 17 seconds.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
12 kilometres to go - The riders are still descending and the margin is now 19 seconds between the three riders at the front and the peloton.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
15 kilometres to go - The three riders are holding on but the gap is becoming smaller. The peloton are now just 25 seconds behind.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
18 kilometres to go - Giant Shimano have come back to the front and are controlling the race again. They suddenly reduce the margin to 37 seconds. The break away have started the descent after three kilometres of straights.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
19 kilometres to go - The leaders extend the lead to 54 seconds. The teams of the overall leaders have made their way to the front to protect their leaders. As a result they have slowed the pace down. Giant Shimano needs to move back to the front.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
20 kilometres to go - Clarke waits for the two riders from Europcar. They join him. The lead though is reduced to 49 seconds.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
21.5 kilometres to go - Simon Clarke gets to the top first and leads by 12 seconds against the two riders from Europcar. He leads by just under a minute to the peloton. He needs to push on the descent.