Tour de France 2023: Cofidis toast another win as Ion Izagirre takes Stage 12 on frantic day

Just like the proverbial London buses – you wait an eternity for one, then two come in quick succession. So it has proved for Cofidis in this year’s Tour de France – the French team now swooping for two stage wins in two weeks, having previously experienced a drought stretching back 15 years.

Spanish veteran Ion Izagirre delivered Cofidis their latest triumph after attacking from a breakaway on the fifth and final climb in a beautifully anarchic Stage 12 through the rolling hills of the Beaujolais wine region. Ad Eleven days after team-mate Victor Lafay won in San Sebastian, and 15 years after another Frenchman, Sylvain Chavanel, won in the 2008 Tour in a stage that also started in Roanne, Izagirre proved the strongest of a 15-man move that also included his French team-mate Guillaume Martin.

Tour de FranceStage 12 highlights: Attacks galore with Izagirre last man standingAN HOUR AGO After an unrelentingly fast and furious opening half to the 168km stage, the day’s breakaway eventually came together until shortly before the intermediate sprint – with wave after wave of attacks turning the race on its head and forcing yellow jersey rivals Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to ride aggressively from the outset to put out fires their team-mates could not. When a select breakaway finally came together with around 75km remaining, Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) made the first decisive move with an attack on the penultimate climb with Costa Rica’s Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost).