Tour de France 2024: riders take on tough stage 12 to Villeneuve-sur-Lot – live

The Dutch dsm–firmenich PostNL sprinter has been struggling badly all season and decides enough is enough on this Tour. He pulls into the side of the road, steps off his bike, waves ruefully at a nearby TV camera and gives an “OK” signal to the folks back home. He then climbs into a team car and is whisked up the road.

181km to go: Jonas Abrahamsen and three other riders have attacked off the front, while Fabio Jakobsen is now almost five minutes off the pace. There’s been a crash in the bunch and Tadej Pogacar has hit the deck but he looks fine. One of Alkpecin-Deceunick’s riders looks to have done themselves a mischief and is still lying on the road; I don’t think it is Jasper Philipsen.

186km to go: Our three-man breakaway has either been caught or have given up, but the peloton is seriously strung out. Belgian rider Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) rider is at the front, trying to launch another breakaway.

192km to go: It could be a very long afternoon for Fabio Jakobsen (dsm–firmenich PostN) who has already been dropped by the peloton and is currently riding solo 1min 45sec behind it.

196km to go: Quentin Pacher (Groupama–FDJ) tries to jump across from the bunch to join his teammate Geniets and his current travelling companion, Gachignard.

197km to go: Thomas Gachingard (TotalEnergies) has joined Geniets and the duo have opened a gap of 22 seconds on the bunch.

Race director Christian Prudhomme semaphores the signal to start racing with his yellow flag and Groupama-FDJ rider Kevin Geniets immediately attacks off the front of the bunch. Nobody else goes with him.

Today’s roll-out is under way. The peloton is 167 riders strong, after losing another two racers overnight. Bahrain-Victorious rider Fred Wright finished eight minutes outside the time limit yesterday and has been disqualified, while Astana-Qazaqstan’s Michael Morkov has been forced to pull out of the race after testing positive for Covid.

Stage 11 report: Jonas Vingegaard, the defending Tour de France champion, came back from what he described as life-threatening injuries to beat race leader and long-standing rival, Tadej Pogacar, in the toughest stage of the 2024 Tour de France to date. Jeremy Whittle reports from Le Lorian …

William Fotheringham’s stage-by-stage preview: Over “heavy” terrain where it will be hard for a team to organise a chase, this should offer a classic battle between the breakaway and the sprinters’ teams; the last two finishes here went the way of the break.

The lumpy profile will suit a Tour newbie: such as 22-year-old Belgian Arnaud de Lie. “The bull” comes from the Ardennes, can get over a climb, and has won classics such as the GP de Québec and the Tro-Bro Léon.