By Emre Asikci
ISTANBUL (AA) - Ion Izagirre Insausti of the Cofidis team secured a victory at stage 12 of the Tour de France on Thursday.
The 34-year-old from Spain finished a 169-km (105-mile) route from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais in three hours, 51 minutes, 42 seconds.
"It's incredible. For the whole Tour so far I tried to break away and it didn’t work out but today yes. We were going well with Guillaume Martin all day," Insausti said after the victory.
"I attacked in the last climb from very far out and I could maintain the time difference to get the victory for myself. I was confident in my strength. I knew that if I earned enough lead, my adversaries wouldn’t have me in sight and it would play in my favor," the Spanish cyclist added.
Mathieu Burgaudeau of Team TotalEnergies came second while Matteo Jorgenson of Movistar team finished in third spot.
Jonas Vingegaard, a Danish rider from the Jumbo-Visma team, is currently leading the race with a total time of 50 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds.
The UAE Emirates' Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar is trailing leader Vingegaard by 17 seconds in the general classification standings.
The 13th stage, spanning 138 kilometers mountain route, is scheduled for Friday and will take riders between Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne and the Grand Colombier.