Tour de France

Stage 12:  Bourg-de-Péage to Mende, 210.5km/131mi

By Cathy Mehl

It was a fast and furious stage on Friday as the peloton of 177 riders rode a difficult route at almost 3000 feet for much of the day on an undulating course that offered a steep category two climb to Mende for the finish.   At an average of 10%, the snappy climb made a perfect launching pad for defending Tour champion Alberto Contador (Astana) who rode away from race leader Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and gained a valuable ten seconds to put him within 31-seconds of the lead.  The stage was won by Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) in his first time riding the Tour and his fourth season win.  Second and third went to teammates Contador and Alexander Vinokourov.  Team RadioShack’s Andreas Klöden put himself in the day-long break, earning seventh place for the day.  Teammate Levi Leipheimer performed well, too, taking 11th on the day.  For the classification Schleck spent a third day in the yellow jersey but lost ten seconds on a tough climb, with the high mountains of the Pyrenees still to come. Team RadioShack took over the lead in the classification for Teams and lead in that competition by 21-seconds.

"It was a hard day,” explained Klöden after the stage.  “The problem was that with Vino and Hesjedal we had two GC riders in the front. The peloton was riding the whole time and we never had three minutes. With 40 K to go we were four riders and I thought maybe it was possible to go for the stage win but then I heard the split times and the peloton came closer and closer. We only had 50 seconds before the start of the climb. I was sure then that we could not take the stage win."

Andreas continued with his strategy on the stage, once he came back to Vasili Kireyienka (Caisse d'Epargne) with Vinokourov just ahead.  "I tried but in the beginning Vino is so explosive. I preferred to do it in my own rhythm. I always saw Vino 100 meters in front of me but then Alberto passed me at 500 meters from the top. On the top the rest of that group passed me. The only thing I could do was to stay in that group and finish the race."

While things started a little roughat theTour for Klöden, things are slowly coming around for our German rider.  "The first week I felt ok but the first mountain stages I didn't feel so good. I hope for the Pyrenees I will have better legs but today was a hard day being the whole day in the breakaway. The first hour was so fast, almost 50k average. I hope for good recovery for tomorrow and then the next hard days are coming.”

A large break of 18 riders went away early and contained plenty of firepower to create concern in the peloton.  Klöden was part of the group, as was Caisse d’Epargne’s Kiryienka, Ryder Hesjedahl  (Garmin) and  Vinokourov.  With no one in the break, Saxo Bank were forced to work at the front of the main field to keep the gap under control.   At 40km to go the four riders split the race into a smaller racing group and left the others behind, building a more substantial gap that created more concern in the peloton.  Hesjedal was the best-placed rider on the general classification at 5:42 behind Schleck.  Cervelo lent help to Saxo Bank too, hoping to move Carlos Sastre up on the GC as did Liquigas for Ivan Basso. 

At the start of the climb to end at the airstrip above Mende, Klödi’s group held a gap of less than one minute and soon enough the fireworks began.  Vinokourov launched a solo attack but was soon aggressively chased by Rodriquez and then Contador.  Schleck tried to respond but couldn’t immediately close the gap and had to work his way back as the climb continued.  He did well to limit his losses to keep it at ten minutes and stay in the yellow jersey, but if the Luxembourger thought today was difficult, the days to come are going to be difficult in deed.

Stage 13 on Saturday edges the peloton closer to the Pyrenees on Sunday as the route moves 196km southwest from Rodez to Revel.

Beyond the Finish Line:  A tall steeple of this magnificent cathedral casts a shadow across the small town of Mende and is one of the most recognizable sights in the local area. Built by one of the Avignon popes in the 14th Century, the church has grown and expanded in the centuries since that time. Many parts of the church were damaged in the Wars of Religion, but all the damage was repaired quickly afterwards. Internally are some marvelous wood sculptures and carvings from the 17th Century. 

Top Ten Results

1              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha                  4:58:26                   

2              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                                  

3              Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana        0:00:04  

4              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:00:10  

5              Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank                         

6              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           

7              Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack                                 

8              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                

9              Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                 0:00:15  

10            Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo

Team RadioShack Results

11           Levi Leipheimer (USA)   0:00:17

17           Christopher Horner (USA)   0:00:31

55           Jani  Brajkovic (Slo)   0:03:35

57           Lance Armstrong (USA)

67           Sergio Paulinho (Por)

79           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) 0:05:25

100         Gregory Rast (Swi)

157         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)   0:10:51

General Classification after Stage 12

1              Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank        58:42:01                

2              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 0:00:31  

3              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi          0:02:45  

4              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:02:58  

5              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:03:31  

6              Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack               0:04:06  

7              Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                 0:04:27  

8              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:04:58  

9              Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne       0:05:02  

10            Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:05:16

Team RadioShack on General Classification

20           Andreas Klöden (Ger)   0:09:0

24           Christopher Horner (USA)   0:11:56 

32           Lance Armstrong (USA)   0:21:16              

36           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)   0:25:08        

56           Sergio Paulinho (Por)   0:52:57

68           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)   0:58:29

124         Gregory Rast (Swi)   1:32:19

173         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)   2:07:51