Tour de France Stage 12 results amazingly change the perspective of the contenders as Alberto Contador found himself in a situation that’s new to him and to his rivals. Contador couldn’t keep up with the attacks of Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck in the last five kilometers of the the finish to Luz-Ardiden. It is the first time that he showed that he is not impregnable at all in this Tour de France 2011.

Experts thought before the stage 12 starts that Contador would make the move because he was behind by over a minute on the Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans. However, the three time Tour de France champion never did make a move in the last 10 km of the stage that Andy Schleck first hit the pedal as he accelerated. Though Contador bridged the gap too quickly, Frank Schleck went on for attack also yet Ivan Basso was on his wheels then Contador followed.

In the last three km, Frank Schleck accelerated again and nobody followed him even Contador. The first that would come into the minds of the fans is that Frank Schleck is not that much of a threat but his brother Andy is that Contador let go of Frank. Surprisingly, Contador was left behind by the group of Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso, and Cadel Evans in the last km with a 13 seconds gap. It is now very clear that Contador is not the strong man that he used to be. It might probably the crashes that he suffered in the first week of the tour.

On the other hand, Thomas Voeckler who wears the yellow jersey kept up with the big boys and he retained the overall standings for another day. Because of the tough Luz-Ardiden finish, there was a shake up in the Tour de France individual overall standings. Frank Schleck by finishing third in the stage is now second to Voeckler in the standings.

Tour de France Stage 12 was won by Samuel Sanchez as he kept his poise despite knowing the fact that the peloton was near chasing them.

Here is the Tour de France 2011 general classification overall standings after stage 12: