2012 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20
Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France was contested on 12 July and the race concluded with Stage 20 on 22 July. The second half of the race was situated entirely within France; starting with a mountain stage from Albertville to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles – incorporating two hors catégorie climbs during the stage – before the customary race-concluding stage finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Team Europcar's Pierre Rolland (pictured in 2013), the winner of the eleventh stage
Stage twelve winner, David Millar of Garmin–Sharp (pictured in 2014)
The day's breakaway at Pic Saint-Loup just over halfway into the stage. Jérôme Pineau leads Jimmy Engoulvent, Maxime Bouet, Roy Curvers, Michael Mørkøv, Mathieu Ladagnous, Samuel Dumoulin and Pablo Urtasun.
Luis León Sánchez of Rabobank (pictured in the previous stage) was the victor of stage fourteen
2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10
The 2012 Tour de France began on 30 June, and stage 10 occurred on 11 July. The 2012 edition began with a prologue – a short individual time trial stage – where each member of the starting peloton of 198 riders competed against the clock – in Liège, Belgium with two more stages held in the country before moving back into France. The race resumed in Orchies for the start of the third stage; also during the first half of the race, the peloton visited Switzerland for the finish to the eighth stage in Porrentruy, and contested another individual time trial stage – having returned to France – the following day.
Prologue route
BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans, the defending champion, warming up before the stage. He eventually finished the stage in thirteenth place, seventeen seconds down on stage winner Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Nissan).
The peloton passing through Hotton, Belgium, in the first stage. Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Nissan) can be seen wearing the race leader's yellow jersey.
Team Sky's Mark Cavendish (pictured in stage eighteen) won the second stage from a bunch sprint.
