André Greipel had survived the climbs and was readying himself for a bunch sprint in stage 12 of the Tour de France when he went down in a crash. Luckily, he only sustained superficial injuries while his teammate Tony Gallopin dropped out of the overall top 10 due to a sore throat.

The victory of the twelfth Tour stage, from Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint-Etienne, was decided with a bunch sprint. Because of a crash at less than five kilometers from the finish André Greipel couldn’t defend his chances. The flowers were for Alexander Kristoff.
 
Five kilometers from the finish the final escapees were caught, also thanks to the work of Lars Bak. A few moments later André Greipel was involved in a crash. The German champion could forget his chance to get a second stage win today. Greipel has abrasions on his right elbow and knee and a minor bruise at the back of his knee. It won’t be a problem to start tomorrow.
 
Norwegian Alexander Kristoff was the fastest at the end. He beat green jersey Peter Sagan and French champion Arnaud Démare. Tony Gallopin lost time today because he had a sore throat. He fell out of top ten. That means Jurgen Van den Broeck gains one place and he’s now ninth at 4’18” of Nibali.