Discovery Team Rider Wins Tour's 12th Stage

So far, this has not been a good Tour de France for America's Discovery Channel team. Their individual riders have been steadily dropping in the standings, and the team overall is now in tenth place after starting the Tour in first place. But today all that changed. Yaroslav Popovych [Ukraine-Discovery] became the first rider on the Discovery team to win a stage of this year's Tour de France. Popovych crossed the finish line about 4.5 minutes ahead of the Peloton for the 12th stage win. Alessandro Ballan [Italy-Lampre] finished second and Oscar Freire [Spain-Rabobank] finished third. Floyd Landis [USA-Phonak] finished in the Peloton, and is still the leader in the overall standings:

1. Landis [USA-Phonak]..........Yellow Jersey
2. Dessel [France-AG2R]..........0:08
3. Menchov [Russia-Rabobank]..........1:01
4. Evans [Australia-Lotto]..........1:17
5. Sastre [Spain-CSC]..........1:52
6. Kloden [Germany-Tmobile]..........2:29
7. Rogers [Australia-Tmobile]..........3:22
8. Mercado [Spain-Agritubel]..........3:33
9. Moreau [France-AG2R]..........3:44
10. Popovych [Ukraine-Discovery]..........4:15
11. Fothen [Germany-Gerolsteiner]..........4:17

14. Leipheimer [USA-Gerolsteiner]..........5:39
19. Azevedo [Portugal-Discovery]..........7:42
27. Vandevelde [USA-CSC]..........13:41
39. Hincapie [USA-Discovery]..........22:59

Popovych's great ride not only moved him up to tenth place in the overall standings, it also moved Discovery from tenth to eighth place in the team standings. Here is how the team competition stacks up at this point:

1. T-mobile
2. Gerolsteiner..........0:46
3. AG2R..........5:00
4. Rabobank..........5:21
5. CSC..........7:52
6. Saunier..........16:03
7. Lampre..........20:59
8. Discovery..........22:40
9. Balears..........23:45
10. Phonak..........24:58

Polka-Dot Jersey standings:

1. De La Fuente [Spain-Saunier]..........80 points
2. Dessel [France-AG2R]..........62 points
3. Wegmann [Germany-Gerolsteiner]..........61 points
4. Rasmussen [Denmark-Rabobank]..........61 points
5. Mercado [Spain-Agritubel]..........45 points
6. Boogerd [Netherlands-Rabobank]..........41 points
7. Landaluze [Spain-Euskadi]..........38 points
8. Flecha [Spain-Rabobank]..........36 points
9. Landis [USA-Phonak]..........35 points
10. Rinero [France-Saunier]..........35 points

Green Jersey standings:

1. McEwen [Australia-Lotto]..........232 points
2. Freire [Spain-Rabobank]..........207 points
3. Boonen [Belgium-Quickstep]..........204 points
4. Bennati [Italy-Lampre]..........183 points
5. Zabel [Germany-Milram]..........161 points

Tomorrow the Tour enters its 13th stage, and an American will be wearing yellow for the second day in a row. This is a 230 kilometer [143 mile] ride with five catagory 4 climbs.
The race will start in Beziers and will end in Montelimar. That does it for the Pyrenees. In a few days the Tour will reach the Alps.