Friday, July 20, 2007

Stage 12: Montpellier to Castres

168 riders started today, with no overnight abandons noted. There are some smaller climbs today, a single category two about 3/4 of the way through the stage, and then a long downhill finish. It is unlikely that there will be many big changes in the general classification unless there are some strong winds splitting up the peloton (like yesterday) or some crashes that take riders out.
Speaking of crashes, Alberto Ongarato, an Italian rider for Milram, crashed at the 7 km mark and after checking with the race doctor, abandoned the Tour. He was in 159th place in the general classification. The peloton is now down to 167 riders, and Erik Zabel has one less leadout man.

Most riders finished within 7 minutes of the winner, but four riders came to the finish line in a grupetto, 9:27 after the stage winner:

163. MERCADO Juan Miguel 131 AGRITUBEL 4h 34' 59" + 09' 27"
164. BURGHARDT Marcus 22 T-MOBILE TEAM 4h 34' 59" + 09' 27"
165. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 4h 34' 59" + 09' 27"
166. VENTOSO Francisco 209 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 4h 34' 59" + 09' 27"

Stef Clement, a Dutch rider for Bouygues Telecom, was over the time limit at the finish line and will not be starting tomorrow. He crashed at about 117 km into the stage.

Geraint Thomas seems to be riding better in the temperatures of southern France (finishing 19th for the stage), so we have the following five at the end of the general classification now, with no change in the Lanterne Rouge:

162. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 59h 28' 18" + 1h 51' 08"
163. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 59h 28' 38" + 1h 51' 28"
164. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 59h 29' 24" + 1h 52' 14"
165. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 59h 31' 20" + 1h 54' 10"
166. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 59h 34' 20" + 1h 57' 10"

Vansevenant has a 3:00 gap now until the next-placed rider. His placing earns him the right to roll down the ramp first at the individual time trial tomorrow. Anything can happen over 54 kilometers of roads!

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