Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team had a chance to recover its legs a bit in the 226km Stage 12 of Tour de France, where, after members of the peloton battled to not get dropped or make what could be the key move of the day, a group of five riders finally stuck and saw their gap double to more than 12 and a half minutes.
David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) won in a two up sprint against Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R - La Mondiale), where the two played cat and mouse until the final 200 meters. Peraud attacked after sitting on Millar's wheel, and Millar beat him to the line with a quick reaction. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was 3rd out of the remainders of the break. Peraud attacked in the final kilometers, and Millar was the only one able to stick to his wheel.
Peter Velits was once again the top finisher for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team in 35th place.
Sylvain Chavanel, who is ill, did what he could to get through the stage.
"It was a hard day" Chavanel said "I lost contact on the mountain twice, but then I managed to come back. I'm a little bit sick, I've been taking antibiotics since Wednesday night. I can't breathe very well when the rhythm of the race becomes high. But that's cycling, and that's the Tour. I'm not the only one in the Tour with these kind of problems. I will take it day by day. In the last week there are beautiful stages. I hope to recover well for that time."