The Milan-San Remo winner and Katusha rider emerged from the pack at the perfect time to defeat Slovakian Peter Sagan - finishing second for the fourth time - in the 185.5-kilometre stage that ended near the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.

"I've always dreamt of winning a stage on the Tour de France," Kristoff said.

"It's the second biggest win of my career."

Arnaud Démare of France rode home in third place.

Meanwhile, Italian Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

He is 2min 23sec ahead of second placed Richie Porte of Australia and 2:47 over Spaniard Alejandro Valverde.

Tomorrow's 13th stage will cross 197.5km and takes the race to the Alps, with a mountaintop finish in Chamrousse but Nibali is confident of his Astana team's ability to conquer.

Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leader's yellow jersey with a 2 minute, 23 second lead ©Getty Images


"It's surely the second stage in the Alps that scares me the most because on the first one everyone has energy, and it's always the second one that requires more energy - and where you pay for your efforts," he said.

Elsewhere in the 12th stage, Spain's David de la Cruz crashed out in a curve in Le Bois-d'Oingt as he suffered a punctured front wheel.

The collision, in which Dutchman Sebastian Langeveld also went down but managed to get back on, left De La Cruz with a broken collarbone, forcing him to pull out of what was his first Tour de France.

German Andre Greipel also crashed after tangling with France's Sylvain Chavanel and could not take part in the final sprint.

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