Following his victory as a collective in the individual against the clock, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team was consistent again in a sprint finish. The stage may have ended in the defeat of Mark Cavendish by Marcel Kittel but the British champion's squad has once again earned another prize: first place in the team classification for stage 12.
Gert Steegmans and Tour's best young rider Michal Kwiatkowski crossed the line in 12th and 16th position as part of a combined attack.
More surprisingly, the best Movistar trio was also positioned well in this sprint stage that finished in Tours with José Rojas seventh, Nairo Quintana 17th and Alejandro Valverde 18th. The latter two are more concerned with GC but they obviously wanted to stay in the top positions of the pack to avoid possible crashes. They maintain the high standard and will race another stage with yellow ‘dossard' awarded to the leaders of the team classification. Their advantage over Team Saxo-Tinkoff is 4'34” and 6'06” over Belkin Pro Cycling.
