Although our Dutch Tour rookie was aiming for better than the 13th that is now beside his name on the stage 12 results sheet, his first concern after the finish was to check on his teammates. Neilson Powless, Sean Quinn, and Richard Carapaz all crashed during today’s 204-kilometer run from Aurillac in the Massif Central southwest to Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

Neilson and Sean were caught in a mass pile up after 24 kilometers of racing. Neilson fell on his wrist, but was able to get back on his bike and rejoin the peloton. X-rays taken after the stage showed that he has a small non-displaced fracture in his wrist. He has been cleared by our team doctors to continue racing tomorrow.

Sean banged his elbow in the fall. After being bandaged at the medical car, he was able to ride on and finish the stage as well. It was a tough day for our two Americans, who bravely pushed on in the 35-degree celsius heat, while the peloton tore across the countryside at an average of 47 km/hr.

Richard’s fall came later in the race in another big pile up that split the peloton with 12 kilometers to go. He was able to jump right back up and ride to the finish alongside Sean Quinn and Rui Costa who were caught behind the crash and waited for him.

Marijn and Stefan Bissegger were able to avoid the fall. The two moved up to the front of the peloton and freelanced the final kilometers together. Stefan did a huge pull through the final corners to drop Marijn off onto the finishing straight with one kilometer to go.

Our Tour rookie pushed forward, bumping elbows with the fastest men in the race, but found himself boxed in against the barriers a few hundred meters from the finish and couldn’t start his kick until too late.

He was relieved to come across the line unscathed and learn that all of his teammates are okay.

Tomorrow, we go again. Stage 13 will take us from Agen to Pau in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It will suit our attackers.

I have a small fracture in my wrist but thankfully there's not too much risk with me continuing. I’m going to keep going and as long as it doesn’t get any worse I should be fine.

I wanted to go for it, and I tried, but I got boxed in on the right and I didn’t want to risk crashing into the barriers. Some guys are a bit crazy, I guess. It is a shame that Neilson and Sean crashed. They touched my rear wheel. I felt sorry for them.