2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10
(41,2 km / h)
Nicolas Edet (COF )
The first stage of the Tour de France 2012 took place on 1 July 2012. It ran completely on Belgian territory and led from Liege Seraing 198 km after. In the course of the stage there were five climbs of the fourth category as well as a sprint. This is one of the first stage after the prologue as a flat stage. All 198 registered riders took to the start.
Route
The neutralized start was located in the city center of Liege at the Parc d' Avry; on the Place Saint -Lambert in front of the prince-bishop palace there was a small opening ceremony. Outside the city center, the race was released. The drivers covered sections in Wallonia, which are known from various classics ago. The race resulted in a wide arc through the provinces of Liège and Luxembourg. The driver passed including the Baraque de Fraiture, one of the highest points in Belgium, where there was also the refreshment station. In Seraing the target was at the end of a moderate increase, so that was not to be expected with a sprint finish.
Race course
Immediately after the release of the race, a six riders breakaway from the field took off. It consisted of the French Maxime Bouet, Anthony Delaware Place, Nicolas Edet and Yohann Gène, the Spaniard Pablo Urtasun and the Dane Michael Mørkøv. Already at kilometer 10 they had a lead of more than two minutes. Although they lost due to a closed railroad crossing gate about a minute, they were still able to extend their lead continuously for almost five minutes. Three of the four following climbs Mørkøv decided to set up an Urtasun. The intermediate sprint in Érezée won Gène. In half of the race, the projection was a little over three minutes, and then declined steadily.
Eight kilometers from the finish, the six outliers were finally obtained from the field, which struck at a fast pace. At the beginning of the final ascent in Seraing the most frequently mentioned favorites were on the day's victory at the top. The Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel tried to settle, but was caught up by his pursuers soon. After half of the increase reached the Swiss Fabian Cancellara, winner of the prologue, and pulled away slightly. Only the Slovakian Peter Sagan and the Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen could catch up with him. Sagan put on the sprint and won ahead of Cancellara and Hagen; the fragmented field was the first three just not catch up.