Yellow jersey holder Bradley Wiggins finished nearly eight minutes behind a leading group of five to retain his race lead after the 226 km 12th stage between Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne and Annonay in the Ardeche. Wiggins’ Sky teammate Chris Froome stayed second overall at 2min 05sec with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) in third at 2:23 and Australia’s Cadel Evans (BMC) fourth at 3:19.

David Millar at the finish line. Pic/AFP