Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin safely through another crash-hit Tour de France finish

Team Sky and Chris Froome held the Tour yellow jersey again today as the race nudges towards a brutal final week.

Gavin McLoughlin

Ireland’s Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche emerged unscathed as yet another crash marred the final kilometres of stage 12 of the Tour de France today, Thursday.

The pile-up occurred just inside the final 3 kilometres, and a Garmin-Sharp rider was among those who came down. For a nerve-wracking period it appeared as if it might be Martin, but the Irishman’s luck was in and he was not a faller today.

Those held up by the crash were awarded the same time as eventual stage-winner Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), and so the general classification battle is unaffected. Martin will start tomorrow in 13^th, 5:52 behind race leader Chris Froome (Sky Procycling).

Saxo Tinkoff’s Nicolas Roche also stayed upright, as did his team-leader Alberto Contador. Roche is 41st overall, 34:13 behind Froome.

The Irish duo have been fortunate to avoid coming to grief thus far, and with tomorrow’s stage looking certain to finish in a bunch sprint it is to be hoped that this trend continues.

Today the riders were asked to complete a 218km leg from Fougères to Tours. On paper, the route looked perfect for the fast men.

With two 90-degree right-hand bends situated in the final 650 metres, positioning would be of crucial importance in determining the day’s winner. But crashes were certain to be a danger and so luck would also be a factor.

Early in the day a quintet consisting of Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM), Francesco Gavazzi (Astana), Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun) and Romain Sicard (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were allowed to ride up the road.

The pace was high in the first hour, with an average speed of 47.2 kph. The breakaway’s lead had reached 9 minutes with 60 kilometres covered, but then the sprinters’ teams assumed formation at the front of the bunch and the advantage began to melt away.

The intermediate sprint arrived with 52 kilometres remaining and after the escapees passed through, the contenders for the green jersey duked it out.

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was fastest of the big names and he crossed the line first, with Peter Sagan (Cannondale) left gesturing in anger at Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM) in the belief that the Belgian had unfairly blocked his sprint.

Shortly thereafter, Sicard was dropped from the breakaway and the remaining four kept working. Juan Antonio Flecha was strongest and the last to survive, holding out alone for a long time as the bunch rode into a headwind.

Flecha was finally swallowed up with 6 kilometres to go and Orica-Green Edge led the way. The Australian outfit’s lead-out man Svein Tuft slipped and hit the deck as the bunch came through a roundabout, and before long the Aussies were nowhere to be seen.

Argos-Shimano and Omega Pharma-Quick Step set up their trains on opposite sides of the road and then came the heavy crash, with Lotto-Belisol quick man André Greipel among those caught behind.

Into the final straight and Gert Steegmans gave Cavendish the perfect lead out, but Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) latched onto the Manxman’s wheel and powered past to take his third stage victory of the race by half a wheel. Cavendish was again left frustrated, staring over at Kittel in disgust as the German crossed the line ahead.

Tomorrow’s stage is 173 kilometres long and runs from Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond. It looks certain to end in a bunch gallop. Roche and Martin’s priority will be to keep out of trouble.

@gavmcloughlin