I am not sure if anyone still reads this, but I will keep it up anyway, just for good times.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Stage 12: Briancon to Digne-les-Bains - 187km
- The points leader (sprinter): Tom Boonen did not start today because of injury.
- Today's stage wasn't very eventful as far as the overall rankings go. There were break a ways but most of these included riders that were not in contention for the Yellow jersey.
- There were 13 riders that finished ahead of the peloton, of those riders, the riders with the closest time to Lance was Sandy Cesar at 17'29".
- As you can see from the stage map, there were 5 climbs for points. Michael Rasmussen was the king of the mountain after 11 stages with 160 points, 71 more than his closest competitor, Christophe Moreau.
- David Moncoutie won today's stage, second was another Frenchman Sandy Cesar. This is another deserved victory for the French riders on Bastille Day.
David Moncoutie raced the final 38km of the 12th stage on his own. The Cofidis rider has given France its first victory in the 2005 Tour. The top 10 is:
1. David Moncoutie (France) COF - 187km in 4h20’06" (43.137km/h)
2. Sandy Casar (France) FDJ at 57"
3. Angel Vicioso (Spain) LSW at 57"
4. Patrice Halgand (France) C.A at 57"
5. Jose Luis Arrieta (Spain) IBA at 57"
6. Franco Pellizotti (Italy) LIQ at 57"
7. Axel Merckx (Belgium) DVL at 57"
8. Juan Manuel Garate (Spain) SDV at 57"
9. Thor Hushovd (Norway) C.A at 3’15"
10. Stuart O’Grady (Australia) COF at 3’15"
No significant change to the overall classification.