 Kittel took his second stage of the Tour win from the bunch sprint in the tenth stage, with his compatriot Greipel second. Stage eleven's individual time trial between Avranches and Mont Saint-Michel was taken by Omega Pharma – Quick-Step's Tony Martin. Froome came second with a deficit of twelve seconds, over two minutes ahead of the second placed overall Valverde, extending his lead to over three minutes. Two flat stages ending with bunch sprints then followed; the first, stage twelve, was won by Kittel, ahead of Cavendish, who came back to win the next. The stage saw Valverde suffer a punctured tyre and lose almost ten minutes, struggling to match the pace set by Cavendish's Omega Pharma – Quick-Step team at the head of the race. Stage fourteen was taken by Omega Pharma – Quick-Step's Matteo Trentin from a large breakaway that held off the peloton. Stage fifteen, finishing on Mont Ventoux, saw all of the leading contenders, with exception of Froome and Contador, dropped on the early part of the final climb. Froome then moved away from Contador and caught Quintana, who had attacked earlier in the climb. The pair worked together to put time into their rivals, before Froome attacked with 1.2 km (0.7 mi) remaining and soloed to the finish. This gave Froome a lead of four minutes and fourteen seconds over Mollema in second place, with Contador a further eleven seconds back. Froome regained the lead in the mountains classification. The following day was the Tour's second rest day.
