Alexander Kristoff won the 12th stage of the 2014 Tour de France on Thursday, while American rider Andrew Talansky decided to withdraw from this year's race.

Kristoff successfully edged out stage favorite Peter Sagan and Arnaud Demare in the final stretch to win the 185.5-kilometer race from Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint-Etienne.

French champion Demare looked poise to finish second, but Sagan found a space to take his spot when the Slovakian rider tried to chase Kristoff in the final sprint.

With the win, the Norwegian rider scored his first stage victory in this year's Le Tour, which was also Team Katusha's first in this year's tour.

Astana rider Vincenzo Nibali maintains his general classification lead and will continue to wear the yellow jersey in the 13th stage on Friday. The Italian is still two minutes, 23 seconds ahead of Team Sky rider Richie Porte.

Below is the top 10 finishers in the 12th stage:

Top 10, 12th Stage

  1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/Katusha) 4hrs 32mins 11secs
  2. Peter Sagan (Svk/Cannondale) same time
  3. Arnaud Demare (Fra/FDJ.fr)
  4. Michael Albasini (Sui/Orica)
  5. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu/Garmin)
  6. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
  7. Daniele Bennati (Ita/Tinkoff - Saxo)
  8. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Europcar)
  9. Daniel Oss (Ita/BMC Racing)
  10. Samuel Dumoulin (Fra/AG2R)

The top 10 riders in general classification are as follows:

Top 10, General Classification

  1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 51hrs 31mins 34secs
  2. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +2mins 23secs
  3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 47secs
  4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 01secs
  5. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ.fr) +3mins 47secs
  6. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing) +3mins 56secs
  7. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 57secs
  8. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Belkin) +4mins 08secs
  9. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel/Lotto) +4mins 18secs
  10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana) +4mins 31secs

Meanwhile, American rider Andrew Talansky decided to withdraw from the tour because of back pain, which almost led to his withdrawal in the 11th stage.

Talansky managed to finish Wednesday's 11th stage more than 30 minutes behind stage winner Tony Gallopin, but Team Garmin-Sharp doctor Kevin Sprouse declared that the 25-year-old can't continue in the next stages.

"Andrew is suffering the cumulative effects of multiple crashes during the first part of the Tour, in addition to battling an upper respiratory infection. The impact on his hip from the crash on Stage 7 has led to acute sacroiliitis, from which the pain has made it increasingly difficult for him to pedal," Sprouse said in a statement.

Highlights

Stage 12 highlights are now available on the official Tour de France 2014 website via this link.