jobsanger: Rookie Wins Stage 12 On Brutal Final Climb

Friday, July 16, 2010

Rookie Wins Stage 12 On Brutal Final Climb

It looked for a long time that stage 12 of the Tour de France would be a day for a breakaway to win. A large 18-man breakaway led most of the race and looked like they might succeed since they had some strong riders and lots of people to help them. But it was not to be. At a little over 40 kilometers to the finish it became obvious that many of the riders in the breakaway were beginning to tire (after several category 3 and one category 2 climb).

That's when the four strongest riders in the breakaway stepped up the pace and left the others behind in the hope they could outrun the peloton to the finish line. But at the base of the last category 2 climb (only 4 kilometers from the finish) they were only slightly over a minute ahead of the peloton. That last climb proved to be brutal, especially after Alberto Contador took off in an attempt to make up time on race leader Andy Schleck. Schleck was not able to stay with him and Contador did pick up 10 seconds on the short but very steep climb.

Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha) was able to stay with his Spanish countryman Alberto Contador (Astana) on the climb and then out-sprinted him to the finish line to win the stage (in his very first year on the Tour). Alexandre Vinokourov, Kazakhstan (Astana), who had been in the breakaway, finished in third place.

Thor Hushovd was able to stay in the breakaway long enough to win most of the small number of sprint points available in stage 12 and has regained the lead in the battle for the Green Jersey (which is turning out to be an exciting competition this year). Another exciting competition is the battle for the team championship with Caisse D'Epargne and Radio Shack having raced themselves into being the favorites to win. Caisse D'Epargne entered the day with a 31 second lead, but after stage 12 Radio Shack has jumped into first place with a 21 second lead. Astana has third place, but is over 15 minutes behind the two leading teams.

American rider Tyler Farrar withdrew from the Tour today. He has been racing with an injury and it just became too much for him to continue. There have now been 22 riders who started the Tour this year but for one reason or another have had to drop out.

Stage 13 will be another pretty hilly ride that probably will favor the climbers over the sprinters and could be a good stage for a successful breakaway. It is a 196 kilometer ride from Rodez to Revel. It has three category 4 climbs and two category 3 climbs, with the last category 3 climb coming right before the finish. After stage 13 the race enters the Pyrenees for several days.

Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)

1. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Saxo Bank)

2. Alberto Contador, Spain (Astana).....0' 31"

3. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....2' 45"

4. Denis Menchov, Russia (Rabobank).....2' 58"

5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium (Omega-Lotto).....3' 31"

6. Levi Leipheimer, USA (Radio Shack).....4' 06"

7. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank).....4' 27"

8. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Katusha).....4' 58"

9. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....5' 02"

10. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Rep. (Liquigas-Doimo).....5' 16"