Ineos Grenadier led the pack in the closing stages of stage 12 of the Tour de France in order to prevent Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) from getting back into the GC battle, team management explained.

Pinot, who was part of the day's breakaway and chased hard for the eventual winner and sole leader Ion Izazire (Cofidis), finished in sixth place, 3:01 behind the GC main group. He moved up to 10th place, 6:33 behind Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma).

Although a distant threat for now, Ineos Grenadiers, with the support of Bahrain Victorious, did the hard work to limit the Frenchman's advantage for about 20 km.

"It was about adjusting the gap, because two days ago we were in the same position as [stage winner and all-rounder] Pero Bilbao," Steve Cummings, sport director of the Ineos Grenadiers, told Cycling News after the stage. [They are really good riders and you can't give them five minutes because they might be off the podium. We were told to adjust the gap and they came at us pretty hard."

"I don't have a crystal ball, and with a rider like Pinot you never know if you're going to go up or down. Either way, it wasn't bad. I did the descent up front to be safe, and with Bahrain's help, it worked out in the end."

As Cummings noted, Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock, currently in fourth and eighth place overall, have a chance to finish in the top three.

"Ideally, we would have liked to have had another rider in front of us. He rode really well this morning and really smart. But we were there."

Cummings and Ineos Grenadiers, in any case, are already looking ahead to their next big showdown. As far as the three-day battle in the Alps is concerned, they are one of three teams with two riders in the top 10 in GC. The other two teams are UAE Team Emirates with Tadey Pogachar and Adam Yates, who are second and sixth overall, and Groupama-FDJ with David Gaudou and Pinot, who are ninth and tenth.

"This is Carlos' first Tour and Tom's second. So we need to pick some scenarios and see if we can go about it the right way."

Ineos divides the race into three segments, separated by rest days.

"While there are opportunities for stage hunters and GC contenders, the third week is GC or sprint, with not much in between. But there's still a lot of work to be done and plenty of stages where doing well can make a difference.

As for whether the team is concentrating on the two main GC contenders or the podium contenders, Cummings said the inexperience of the two top riders made the difference on Ineos' card.

Cummings never denied that Ineos would try to upset the two top GC contenders on the climbs, but said, "It's very difficult to do that because you need leg strength to do that." It is clear that Pogachar and Vingegaard are a step ahead of us, and it is important that we manage our efforts like G [Gelant Thomas] did so well last year."

"He kept up when he could and created his own high pace when he didn't. Really, that's what it's all about."

"He was a great coach,"

and "he was a great coach.

In terms of managing Pidcock and Rodriguez's relative inexperience, "First and foremost, you have to remind them to do the basics really well.

"But when they go on the road, they are excellent. They know how to trust their instincts. It's all about how we benefit each other as a team and as a group, and that's the big lesson that confirms what we've learned."