Friday, July 14, 2006
STAGE 12: DISCOVERY CHANNEL GETS A WIN
CAN YOU SAY "YAROSLAV?" The Disco boys missed out on the glory on Thursday's mountain spectacular, watching their Yellow Jersey hopes fade, but found something still to brag about at the end of Stage 12. Discovery Channel had riders in several big breakaways, including American George Hincapie in an early break that garnered him more than a few mountain climbing points. But, ultimately, it was Yaroslav Popovich who got clear with a small group in the last half of the race. The Ukranian then attacked his fellow escapees in the last 3 kilometers to take the stage victory over four minutes ahead of the peloton.
STAGE NOTES
POPOVICH RIDES INTO 10TH PLACE. Popovich's escape and finish ahead of the peloton moves him into the top ten for the General Classification or overall race leadership. He's 4:15 behind the race leader.
LANDIS STILL LEADS. American Floyd Landis wears the Yellow Jersey again after this stage. he arrived at the finish line with the peloton, along with all his rivals and they all--as usual--receive the same time. It is feasible for Landis to wear the Maillot Jaune all the way to Paris.
WHAT'S AHEAD. Saturday's Stage 13 and Sunday's Stage 14 cover relatively mild terrain. After the second rest day on Monday, the riders will face a triology of fierce mountain stages in the Alps. Any further shake-up in the race lead will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Friday is a "transitional" flat stage--one for the sprinters to charge to the line. Saturday's Stage 19 is a 56k individual time trial. If the Yellow Jersey is still close, this could determine the race winner. Remember, Landis placed second in the first individual time trial and the man who won it is out of the GC contention. If Landis is wearing yellow going into this stage, he'll come out the solid winner. If he's not wearing yellow at it's begining, he could be wearing it 56k later. Sunday, July 23, is a final drive to Paris, another one for the sprinters.
GREAT TOUR PHOTOS. Scroll easily through lots of pages of really great Tour photography at Yahoo!
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STAGE: OLN provides free video highlights and commentary wrap-ups of each stage by Bob Roll and Al Trautwig.
LISTEN TO THE NEXT STAGE LIVE. http://www.cyclingfans.com/ provides a link to Eurosport's live audio coverage of the Tour. Audio coverage usually begins at 6 or 7 AM each day. Limited Internet TV viewing is also accessible at this site.
STAGE NOTES
POPOVICH RIDES INTO 10TH PLACE. Popovich's escape and finish ahead of the peloton moves him into the top ten for the General Classification or overall race leadership. He's 4:15 behind the race leader.
LANDIS STILL LEADS. American Floyd Landis wears the Yellow Jersey again after this stage. he arrived at the finish line with the peloton, along with all his rivals and they all--as usual--receive the same time. It is feasible for Landis to wear the Maillot Jaune all the way to Paris.
WHAT'S AHEAD. Saturday's Stage 13 and Sunday's Stage 14 cover relatively mild terrain. After the second rest day on Monday, the riders will face a triology of fierce mountain stages in the Alps. Any further shake-up in the race lead will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Friday is a "transitional" flat stage--one for the sprinters to charge to the line. Saturday's Stage 19 is a 56k individual time trial. If the Yellow Jersey is still close, this could determine the race winner. Remember, Landis placed second in the first individual time trial and the man who won it is out of the GC contention. If Landis is wearing yellow going into this stage, he'll come out the solid winner. If he's not wearing yellow at it's begining, he could be wearing it 56k later. Sunday, July 23, is a final drive to Paris, another one for the sprinters.
STAGE RESULTS. Full results of Stage 12 (and all previous stages) by Cyclingnews. This gives you a rundown on overall rankings in each jersey category, too.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STAGE: OLN provides free video highlights and commentary wrap-ups of each stage by Bob Roll and Al Trautwig.
LISTEN TO THE NEXT STAGE LIVE. http://www.cyclingfans.com/ provides a link to Eurosport's live audio coverage of the Tour. Audio coverage usually begins at 6 or 7 AM each day. Limited Internet TV viewing is also accessible at this site.
# posted by John Franklin Hay @ 9:59 AM 
