There were plenty of mischievous smiles, high-fives and pats on the back outside the Lidl-Trek bus in Châlon-sur-Saône. They hadn’t won the stage, but they had succeeded in throwing the cat among the pigeons on stage 12 of the Tour de France.
This was billed as the final overt bunch sprint opportunity of the race, and it was certainly heading that way until Mads Pedersen’s team first appeared at the head of the bunch with 35km to go. For the next 25km, they unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks, throwing the stage into an extended period of chaos.
