Following stages won by sprinters and breakaways, the otherwise flat stage 12 ended with a short, steep climb to Mende, opening up the possibility for changes to the overall standings. Kreuziger and Basso both lost time in this stage, with Kreuziger ceding 15 seconds to stage winner Joaquim Rodríguez and to Alberto Contador, while Basso lost 31. They switched places in the overall standings as a result, with Basso falling to 11th and Kreuziger moving up to 10th. In the high mountain stage 14, Basso was just 21st at the finish, but due to attrition of other riders, he again moved back into 10th place overall with this result. Kreuziger was 28th, and fell to 12th overall. Both leaders rode poorly in stage 15, on the Port de Balès. Kreuziger was 19th on the day, losing a little over a minute to the race's elite. Basso was 32nd, nearly three minutes off the pace. Vandborg, however, was tenth on this stage after having been part of the morning breakaway. Two stages later, in the summit stage finish at the Col du Tourmalet, Kreuziger again returned to the top ten overall, taking tenth on the day. He finished in that position upon the Tour's conclusion. Basso, for his part, had come down with bronchitis upon the Tour's entry to the Pyrenees, ceding time in each of the mountain stages in the final week. Antibiotics given him by race doctors also weakened his form. His most dramatic time loss came in stage 16 to Pau, when he was 35 minutes back of stage winner Pierrick Fédrigo, finishing with the last group on the road. He nonetheless finished the race, coming in 32nd, just under an hour back of Tour champion Contador. The squad was ninth in the teams classification.