David Millar won a cat and mouse battle with Jean-Christophe Peraud to take the victory at the end of the longest stage of the Tour de France.
Millar waited until Peraud made a move in the final 250 metres before coming around the AG2R rider at the end of the 226km 12th stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay Davezieux.
Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finished third.
The victory is Millar's fourth following successes in Futuroscope (2000), Bezier (2002) and Nantes (2003). It came in the wake of a disastrous Tour campaign for his team who lost several riders including team leader Ryder Hesjedal.
"It's massive. It's been a horrific Tour for us so far," said Millar. "I really wanted to do something... prove that we're still here and show that Garmin-Sharp are one of the best cycling teams in the world.
"It's great to win time trials but a road stage is much more fun.
"Two of my previous Tour wins have been in time trials but I won a road stage back in 2002 which was probably my proudest moment on the Tour so it was good to match that.
"Our team was going through turmoil so it was important to get a win. Joining the other Brits with a win bodes well for the Olympics too."
The general classification remained unchanged with Bradley Wiggins finishing safely in the bunch to hold on to the yellow jersey.
Wiggins' Sky team-mate Chris Froome remains second overall at 2 minutes 5 seconds with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) in third at 2 minutes 23 seconds and Australia's Cadel Evans (BMC) fourth at 3 minutes 19 seconds.
With a 12 minute advantage over a the peloton, Millar, Peraud, Martinez, Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) and Cyril Gautier (Europcar) were what was left of an original 19-man break that formed after the 15km mark.
Two early category one climbs, the col du Grand Curcheron and the col du Granier did their part to shake up and then determine the leading selection, with the Millar group leading for the majority of the stage and through to the finish.
"When it whittled down to the five riders I didn't expect to be at the front but I was feeling great," said Millar.
"Once we were in the group of five I knew I was the fastest sprinter there so I decided my tactics about 120km out, and that was to win the sprint."
Although there was little at stake for the yellow jersey challengers on this stage, Millar denied the peloton had sat up to let them race away.
"They didn't let us go, we really had to fight hard to build that advantage," said Millar.
After collaborating all day, Martinez began the hostilities with a brief attack 4km from the finish.
But it was Peraud's acceleration 2.7km from the slightly uphill finish that proved decisive.
"That was my best chance there," explained Peraud. "Because I knew that I wouldn't have the sprint finish to match Millar."
Millar fought hard to get back on the wheel, and his efforts allowed the pair to open up a decisive gap on Martinez, Gautier and Kiserlovski.
At the end, Millar collapsed on the ground to soak up a victory that comes 45 years, to the day, after the death of former British cycling giant Tom Simpson.
The battle for the green jersey continued on the road and closed out the stage with a controversial sprint decision by the race jury.
The intermediate sprint at 153km in Marcilloles was a routine affair with Australia's Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) taking the bunch sprint for sixth ahead of Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) and green jersey rival, Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale).
After Millar had taken his victory it was the turn of Goss and Sagan to again renew their battle for the points on offer at the end of the stage.
Goss led Sagan to the line just ahead of the peloton when Sagan made a move to go around the Australian. Goss countered by moving slightly off his line which drew an immediate protest from Sagan as the pair rushed to the finish.
Goss crossed ahead of Sagan but the race jury later decided the violation was too great and relegated Goss to last place.
"He didn't stay in his line. He changed his line then made quite a big mistake," said Tour spokesman Jean-Francois Pescheux, "it's clear to see. He has been relegated to last place on the stage."
The sanction means Goss keeps the points he won on the day but is hit with a 30-point penalty.
He now has 198 points, 56 shy of Sagan's 254.
Even before the ruling, Goss appeared to be anticipating a penalty.
"Whatever happens, happens," said Goss. "Sometimes it just depends on who's making the decision. Some commissaires are more lenient than others.
"It doesn't really matter. The rules are set out from the start. I'm not going to worry about it, I'm just going to focus on tomorrow."
Sagan later said, "If he had beaten me normally, I would have accepted it. I wouldn't have been happy, but I would have accepted it.
"If he's lost points, that's his fault not mine."
The Tour continues tonight (Saturday night AEDT) with stage 13, a flat fast 217km stretch from St Paul Trois Chateaux to Le Cap d'Adge, where a sprinters duel is expected.
Stage 12: 226km, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay Davezieux
1 David Millar (GBR) Garmin-Sharp 5hr 42min 46sec
2 Jean-Christophe Peraud (FRA) AG2R
3 Egoi Martinez (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:05
4 Cyril Gautier (FRA) Europcar
5 Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Astana
6 Matthew Goss (AUS) Orica GreenEDGE 0:07:53
7 Peter Sagan (SVK) Liquigas-Cannondale
8 Sebastien Hinault (FRA) AG2R 0:07:54
9 Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC
10 Luca Paolini (ITA) Katusha
General classification
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Sky 54hr 34min 33sec
2 Christopher Froome (GBR) Sky 0:02:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:23
4 Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC 0:03:19
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (BEL) Lotto Belisol 0:04:48
6 Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) RadioShack-Nissan 0:06:15
7 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC 0:06:57
8 Janez Brajkovic (SLO) Astana 0:07:30
9 Pierre Rolland (FRA) Europcar 0:08:31
10 Thibaut Pinot (FRA) FDJ-Big Mat 0:08:51
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