Tour de France 2025 Stage 12 recap - Tadej Pogacar soars back into yellow after destroying Jonas Vingegaard at Hautacam

Here’s how the world champion hit the deck yesterday – a clipping of handlebars as Tobias Johannessen followed the moves on the right-hand side of the road as the very moment Pogacar was on the radio and had one of his hands free.

It could have been worse – Ben Healy may have not used his status as the yellow jersey and urged everyone else to knock it off while Pogacar rode back on – and UAE will have counted their lucky stars last night. Tests showed that Pogacar has no significant injuries – just a bump to the hip and some road rash on his left arm. But it remains to be seen whether the fall has a negative effect on him today in the Pyrenees.

For his part, Johannessen went to lengths to apologise for his unwitting part in the incident – and it’s nice to see that the Norwegian’s apology was graciously accepted by Pogacar, who insisted it was nothing but a race incident.

The Pyrenees await in a slow-burner of a stage that kicks off with around 120km of largely flat roads before the climbing really begins.

Ascents of the Cat. 1 Col du Soulor (11.8km at 7.3%) and Cat. 2 Col des Borderes (3.1km at 7.7%) are a mere amuse-bouche before the main course: the Cat. 1 climb to Hautacam.

If Simon Yates buried his demons on the Colle delle Finestre to take the pink jersey in May on the same climb where he so sensationally lost it eight years previously, then Tadej Pogacar will be presented with his own opportunity for a bit of redemption.

The Slovenian conceded over a minute to Vingegaard on the 13.8km long 7.8% climb to Hautacam in 2022 to all but relinquish his hopes of winning a third successive Tour.

Victory put the Dane 3’26" clear of the then double champion two days before he put the final nail in Pogacar’s coffin in the time trial to Rocamadour.

Three years on – with Pogacar now 3-2 up in his head-to-head with Vingegaard, but licking his wounds after yesterday’s crash – the world champion has the chance to make amends on what is the first major summit showdown of the 2025 race.

Can he do it – or will today be the day Visma-Lease a Bike’s aggressive racing finally puts their two-time Tour champion into pole position?

Were you not entertained? Has your pulse returned to its normal level yet? Are you still taking stock with what happened on the road to and from Toulouse?

Yesterday, there was a classy truce at the Tour de France on Stage 11 as Tadej Pogacar's rivals refused to take advantage of the Slovenian crashing late on. With Pogacar scrambling up off the tarmac after a heart-in-mouth touch of wheels with Uno-X Mobility’s Tobias Johannessen, the world champion looked certain to lose time in the yellow jersey battle until his rivals displayed remarkable sportsmanship and waited for his return.

A wild day was won by Johannessen’s team-mate Jonas Abrahamsen from the breakaway, the Norwegian pipping Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) to the line despite Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) closing in. And to cap it off, a protestor ran onto the home straight and had to be pinned to the barriers just as Abrahamsen lunged to the line.

What a day – ridden as if it were a one-day Classic in the heart of the Tour, with a relentless pace, non-stop attacking, and a feel-good ending for a man who, lest you forget, broke his collarbone just weeks before the start of the Tour.

Oh, and Ben Healy retained his 29-second lead in the general classification after his EF Education-EasyPost team eventually managed to find some control amid the madness.

Read all about the day’s action in the Stage 11 report here:

Or watch the highlights here:

It’s taken a while but the riders – after 11 chaotic stages that have seemingly torn up the rule book since the Grand Depart in Lille – now tackle the first major summit finish of the 112th edition of the Tour de France. It’s the first of six summit finishes that come thick and fast between now and the finish in Paris in 10 days’ time. The ski resort of Hautacam is where the action concludes today – and we should have a solid idea of who will end up in yellow on the Champs-Elysees.