Friday's stage: The sinewy route featured five mid-grade climbs on a 130.8-mile trek from Bourg-de-Peage to Mende, finishing with a short but punishing Category 2 ascent up Cote de la Croix-Neuve.
Winner: Joaquin Rodriguez of Spain won in 4 hours 58 minutes 26 seconds. Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain was second in the same time, and Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan was four seconds behind them in third.
Yellow jersey: Andy Schleck of Luxembourg kept the yellow jersey, but his lead over Contador was trimmed to 31 seconds. Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez is 2:45 back in third.
Quote of the day: "I'm happy I lost only 10 seconds in the end." — Schleck
Next stage: The 13th stage Saturday takes riders 121.7 miles from Rodez to Revel, over five low-level climbs. On Sunday, the race enter the Pyrenees and four punishing mountain stages.
— Associated Press
