Stage 12 of the Tour de France saw the first main mountain-top finish of the race with the famous climb of Hautacam. From the start there was a big battle for the breakaway but Team Picnic PostNL’s main focus of the stage was to look after Oscar Onley and bring him into the climbs in the latter part of the day in the best possible shape.
A large group of 50 plus riders went clear, but the team remained calm and within the bunch, fetching bottles and keeping each other fuelled and cool in the hot temperatures. On the climb of Col du Soulor, the breakaway fell apart as the stronger climbers pushed on, while the same thing happened in the peloton which began to thin out. Onley had Frank van den Broek and Warren Barguil with him, until the tempo increased even further and there was only a reduced GC group of around 15 riders.
The pace slowed a little over the top of the ascent and some riders caught up on the descent, but that didn’t last long as heading on the valley roads an infernal tempo was set. This continued onto the lower slopes of the Hautacam; which almost resembled a sprint lead-out before Pogacar launched what would be his stage winning attack. Riding a measured climb, Onley ended up in a group of four but as they progressed up the ascent, things became cagey. Following an attack from Lipowitz, Onley managed to bridge to his wheel but the German kicked once more and Onley had to ride at his own tempo. Eventually joining up with Halland Johannessen, the duo rode to the line where they sprinted it out; with Onley taking a strong fifth place on the stage. It’s a result that moves him and Team Picnic PostNL up to sixth place on the GC.
