Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Michal Kwiatkowski placed 16th in the 185.5km Tour de France Stage 12 bunch sprint finale on Thursday. OPQS had four riders on the front going into the final kilometers of a race where several pure sprinters lost contact due to a Category 3 and 4 climb toward the end of the race.
The race came back together with 5km to go. The original breakaway escaped early, gaining a 1'05" advantage just 19km into the stage. Only one rider — Simon Clarke (ORICA-GreenEDGE) remained away inside the final 10km, but was unable to keep pulling with Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar), who bridged to Clarke with a teammate earlier in the stage.
Tony Martin led the OPQS leadout train to the front of the peloton with 3.8km to go. OPQS still had three riders on the front inside the final kilometer, with Michal Kwiatkowski leading out Matteo Trentin. However, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) was able to come around to win the stage. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) was 2nd, and Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) was 3rd.
Trentin was relegated after initially placing 6th for impeding the sprint of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano). Kwiatkowski became top finisher for the team after the adjusted result.
OPQS looks next to 197.5km Stage 13 on Friday. This will be one for the climbers as it features Category 1 Col de Palaquit (14.1km, 6.1%) with the summit at km 152, and a summit finish on HC Chamrousse (18.2km, 7.3%).
"I'm really sorry for what happened with John," Trentin said. "It was a mistake, but not intentional. I was focused on Kwiatkowski in front of me, and then swung on the left side to launch my sprint and didn't look behind me. I didn't realize I made a move that affected the sprint of John until I watched the images once we arrived at the hotel. Again, I apologize for what happened in today's sprint. I'm sorry also for the team because they did a great job and Kwiato delivered me perfectly."