Stage 12 of the Tour de France on Thursday was a rain/hail soaked stage that saw Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain win in thrilling fashion as he sprinted to the end unchallenged for nearly 7.5 km.

Towards the end of the 195 km stage, the rain turned into hail and offered up a brutal finish to a stage that is known for a 16 km climb to the finish.

Rodriguez was not fazed and coasted to his first stage win since 2010. Rodriguez said, “To win a stage of the Tour is so important to me. It’s a long time since I won my first stage in 2010, so a little like Atlético Madrid you don’t know what to expect from me. I was definitely feeling on that last climb that I was in better condition that [the other breakaway riders], and I know this climb well, so that is why I attacked.”

Letour summarized the complete stage below:

 Joaquim «the little cigar» (Purito) Rodriguez (Katusha) claimed his second stage win at the 102nd Tour de France after the Mur de Huy as he soloed to victory with 7.5km to go in the ascent to Plateau de Beille. Under the deluge, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) made the top three while the yellow jersey group crossed the line with a deficit of 6.46. Despite a few attacks by his adversaries, Chris Froome (Team Sky) kept the race under control and retained the lead in the overall ranking at the exit of the Pyrenees.

As for Aspen resident Teejay Van Garderen, he continues along in second place in the overall standings behind Froome. Still 2:52 behind Froome, time is running out for Van Garderen and his BMC Racing Team.

Team Sky has done a brilliant job overall and have made Froome extremely comfortable from stage to stage.

As we wait for surprises to shake up the Tour de France, Froome and Team Sky might not let that happen this year.

For now, Froome looks set to win the Tour de France, no questions asked. However, Stranger things have happened in cycling, currently Froome looks to be in total control as the Tour de France exits the Pyrenees.

Here is the updated overall standings after stage 12:

Stage 13 Friday is 198.5 km and will be a very decisive stage because after 3 straight stages in the mountains, a lot of riders will be feeling drained. This is an ideal stage for sprint specialists to make up ground on the leaders.

Sammy Mugharbil, a Mile High Sports intern and MSU-Denver student contributed to this report