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8:03 am | July 19, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

11:50 AM ET

Geraint Thomas won Stage 12 of the Tour de France and retained the yellow jersey in a thrilling finish in Alpe d’Huez.

Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk led the Tour for most of the day and was over four minutes ahead of Thomas and the peleton before the 13.8 kilometer, eight percent gradient final climb to Alpe d’Huez, in a virtual lead of the General Classification.

Thomas, along with Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, closed the gap during the ascent and with only one km to go, five riders were in contention of taking the stage as Tom Dumoulin, Romain Bardet and Mikel Landa joined the Team Sky riders in the lead.

But it was the yellow jersey wearer who pulled away to win the iconic Alpe d’Huez stage, delivering another emphatic statement of his General Classification credentials.

In the 175.5 km stage starting in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Kruijswijk was one of the riders to break from the peleton early on along with Julian Alaphilippe, who extended his lead in the King of the Mountain standings by winning the first climb of the day at Col de la Madeleine.

Along with several other riders, Alaphilippe dropped off after the second climb of the day at Lacets de Montvernier, leaving Kruijswijk alone at the front of the race with 73 km to go.

Kruijswijk continued to set an impressive pace and was all alone as he reached the top of the penultimate climb at Col de la Croix de Fer.

With Thomas and Froome leading the peleton, the Team Sky riders started to close in on Kruijswijk as they entered the twisting, 21-turn ascent to Alpe d’Heuz.

With only nine km to go, Thomas and Froome had cut the gap to three minutes, meaning Kruijswijk was barely ahead in virtual General Classification.

In the final of three stages to take place in the Alps, several riders abandoned the Tour after being dropped by the peleton. Dylan Groenewegen, the winner of stages 7 and 8, André Greipe and Fernando Gaviria all quit during Stage 12, joining riders such as Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel who were dropped during Stage 11.

More to follow