 Despite being without any team support for most of the stage, Froome was able to defend his lead by following several attacks by Quintana and Valverde.Froome then finished second in the individual time trial on the twelfth stage, twelve seconds behind Tony Martin, to put further time into all of his rivals.However, on stage thirteen Saxo-Tinkoff caused a split in the peloton due to strong crosswinds, which Froome missed.