Thibaut Pinot keeps top 10 finish a possibility at the Tour de France

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) used the breakaway to his advantage on stage 12 of the Tour de France, heading up the road and moving up five places in the general classification from the start of the day. Now 6:33 down on race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Pinot has leapt up to 10th on GC and sent Vingegaard’s teammate, Sepp Kuss, down to eleventh.

After a blistering start to the Tour de France where he finished fourth on the opening stage, Pinot had returned to a slumber throughout the first week and had French fans concerned over his form.

But they will fear no longer, as the home favourite has awoken and covertly manoeuvred himself into a favourable position heading into the summit finish atop Grand Colombier on stage 13.

Following an almighty battle for the breakaway that extended for nigh-on two hours of racing, Pinot established himself in the definitive move of the day alongside fellow notable riders such as Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis).

It is Martin who has become synonymous with the tactic of accounting for losses in the big mountains, by leapfrogging his way back into the top 10 through the means of a breakaway. Both he and Pinot had their eyes not only on a stage victory today, but also an opportunity to recover some of the time they had lost earlier in the race.

For the French sweethearts, it was not to be, but both men came away from stage 12 with something to show for themselves. For Martin, it was celebration in the form of teammate Ion Izagirre’s stage victory - with the Basque native picking up Cofidis’ second win of the Tour - and for Pinot, he ended the day just 32 seconds behind his teammate David Gaudu on GC.

The Groupama-FDJ climber was the most active of the French pair in the breakaway, but his hopes were ultimately dashed by a clever move from Izagirre on the final climb of the day. Pinot had over-extended himself in pursuit of Van der Poel’s solo move, and once the catch had been made, it was Izagirre who saw his chance to disappear up the road. The 34-year-old embarked on a solo attack of over 30km and would not be seen again until the finish, with Pinot finishing 1:13 down in sixth place on the day.

Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Thibaut Pinot has made a habit of over-contributing to the workload in breakaways, often causing his own downfall in the pursuit of stage success

With the presence of Martin and Pinot up the road, it caused a nervous spell to descend on the peloton, with teams quickly becoming fearful of losing their positions in the GC. It was AG2R Citroën who were the first to bite the bullet and put the majority of their team on the front of the peloton in order to set the tempo.

This move was scoffed at by GCN and Eurosport’s Sean Kelly on commentary, who noted that team boss Vincent Lavenu has been susceptible to poor tactical decision-making in the past. The French team informed GCN and Eurosport’s analyst Jens Voigt that they were protecting the GC position of Felix Gall, but beginning the day in 16th, questions were understandably raised over the importance of Gall’s position.

Nonetheless, AG2R Citroën continued to set the tempo alone, until Ineos Grenadiers and Bahrain Victorious joined the party, looking to protect Tom Pidcock’s (Ineos Grenadiers) seventh place and Pello Bilbao’s (Bahrain Victorious) fifth place from Pinot. Consideration may have also been given to Mikel Landa in 14th, with Martin starting the day in 18th.

Over the line in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, Pinot and Martin had gained 3:01 over the peloton, with Pinot moving above the likes of Kuss, Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) into 10th, and Martin finding himself 13th at the end of the stage.

For Pinot, he remained adamant after the stage that his position on GC remained of little concern.

“I’m not at all thinking about the GC and even though I’m in 10th now, David [Gaudu] is still a notch above me - today doesn’t change anything,” Pinot insisted, “plus I risk paying for my efforts tomorrow.”

Although his focus may well remain on stage success, Pinot cannot deny that cunning moves like today can lead to unexpected rewards in the GC. At the Giro d’Italia in May, the Frenchman moved from 13th to seventh following a stage 18 breakaway, and backed up his performance in the final days to finish fifth at the end of the race, the third-best result of his Grand Tour career.

But whilst his supporters may be starting to become excited once again, Pinot is keeping his feet on the ground as he looks ahead to the remainder of what will be the final Tour de France of his career.

“The next part of this Tour de France is very hard, it’s going to reach a peak. The plan remains the same: get in breakaways and help David.”