Stage 12 ROANNE to BELLEVILLE-EN-BEAUJOLAIS, 168.8 km

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THE WINES

Examples of Syrah Cote du Rhone. by Lisa Kolick

​Racing through Beaujolais, the Tour de France skirted one of my favorite wine regions, the Cote du Rhone. Wines of the Cote du Rhone are characterized as middleweight red blends based on Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. The wines of the north Rhone Valley are more Syrah and lean more towards a cool-climate style. They show good structure and notes of black cherry and fresh pepper (examples include those from Guigal and Chapoutier). The southern Rhone Valley blends are more Grenache with a more warm-climate style. They are a bit fruitier with a softer structure. These are some of my favorite wines. I hope you will try a wine from Cote du Rhone. The wines can be of good value, with styles for many palates.

Stage 12, Tour de France. Race profile. by LeTour A.S.O.

​THE RACE
Today's race was designated a hilly stage, but as you can see on the profile graphic, there are numerous categorized climbs. This stage looks like it would be very challenging. But, at the beginning of the day, the pundits thought this would be a day for a breakaway and for the GC teams to save their strength before the Alps. The race did not play out as expected.
 
Stage 12 saw several attacks and accelerations before the peloton consolidated, with team Jumbo-Visma trying to control the peloton and breakaways. Despite Jumbo-Visma's efforts, numerous riders took off to establish breakaways on each climb. The chase group, with the race leaders, worked hard to keep the breakaways in check and not let them get too far ahead of the leaders' group. Watching this stage was exhilarating, with situations changing often, sometimes every 5km. The race also saw Thibaut Pinot out front in the last breakaway of the day. He has shown he's not done racing yet. Pinot has said he is retiring at the end of the season. Check out the highlights of today's fascinating stage. Today's winner was ION IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI (team Cofidis) from the Basque region in Spain.
 
These days in the middle of the Tour de France are difficult on a difficult course.  Team strategy and tactics are on full display, surprising the pundits daily.  The race continues tomorrow in the Jura Massif near Italy and Switzerland. The stages pass through the Jura and Savoie wine regions. Join me tomorrow. Sante!