The team of Garmin-Sharp has had nothing but bad luck in the 2012 Tour de France. They came to the Tour with high aspirations for a final podium spot for Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal or Tom Danielson only to lose them to crashes in the first week of the Tour.

That luck changed today when David Millar won Stage 12. Actually luck had nothing to do with it – Millar got in the break early on in the stage, before the two category 1 climbs and then attacked on the descent of the 2nd climb paring down the break to a manageable 5 riders. They built up a 12 minute gap on a peloton of tired legs that was more than happy to let the break go so they could have a somewhat relaxing day after two harrowing days in the Alps.

Millar outfoxed the other 4 riders in the breakaway and outsprinted French rider, Christophe Peraud (AG2R) to the line claiming the first win for Garmin in the 2012 Tour de France and the 4th win for a British rider – 4 separate British riders (Wiggins, Froome, Cavendish and Miller). France is next with 3 wins thus far. For awhile it looked like Europcar might capture their 3rd consecutive win and 4th for France but their rider, Gautier played the cat and mouse game a little too long with Martinez and Kiserlovski while Millar and Peraud raced each other for the finish.

In what was a boring stage for the fans with the GC hopefuls content to ride tempo and rest as they head to toward the Pyrenees, ended with an exciting finish and well-deserved win for Millar and Garmin-Sharp.

The sprint by green jersey leader, Peter Sagan and the 2nd place Matthew Goss for the remaining sprint points led Goss to cut off Sagan stealing 6th place in a very unsporting and dangerous manner. The referees relegated Goss to the back which since there was a gap of one second between Sagan and Goss to the next finisher, Goss was actually only relegated back to 7th place from 6th. It did result in one more point for Sagan.

Yes, points (and seconds) are that important. The green, white and polka-dot jersey competitions sometimes come down to 1 or 2 points and Tour championships are won by seconds or a minute or two.

Phenomenal fact when you consider that the Tour lasts for 3 weeks – covers more than 2 thousand miles – and culminates in around 90 hours of total racing time for the winner.

Now do you see why I find it so damn exciting!

Stage results

• 1. David MILLAR, Garmin-Sharp, in 5:42:46
• 2. Jean-Christophe PERAUD, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 0
• 3. Egoi MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at :5
• 4. Cyril GAUTIER, Europcar, at :5
• 5. Robert KISERLOVSKI, Astana, at :5
• 6. Peter SAGAN, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 7:53
• 7. Matthew Harley GOSS, Orica-GreenEdge, at 7:53
• 8. Sébastien HINAULT, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 7:54
• 9. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at 7:54
• 10. Luca PAOLINI, Katusha, at 7:54

General classification

• 1. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, in 54:34:33
• 2. Christopher FROOME, Sky, at 2:05
• 3. Vincenzo NIBALI, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:23
• 4. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at 3:19
• 5. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, Lotto-Belisol, at 4:48
• 6. Haimar ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, RadioShack-Nissan, at 6:15
• 7. Tejay VAN GARDEREN, BMC Racing, at 6:57
• 8. Janez BRAJKOVIC, Astana, at 7:30
• 9. Pierre ROLLAND, Europcar, at 8:31
• 10. Thibaut PINOT, FDJ-BigMat, at 8:51

Stage 13 Preview:

Fast and flat, except for the category 3 bump near the finish. I’m thinking my man Sagan could take this one or maybe Sky’s Cavendish if their teams don’t mind burning a match or two in support. The only thing besides crashes that could shakeup the GC is wind and perhaps heat as the stage takes riders toward the coast of the Mediterranean.

I closed yesterday’s blog by saying I hoped there would be good racing today – and boy was there ever!

There was no change in the first five places in the General Classification – nor in time gaps but there was still plenty of exciting racing.

Almost from the drop of the flag a break of 3 riders formed followed with counter-attacks. A 25 man breakaway ended up forming with 15 teams represented. They were going hunting for points (Peter Sagan and Matthew Goss) and a stage win. In the break were riders who had previously won a stage at the Tour: Burghart (BMC), Popovych and Voight (RadioShack) Miller and Zabriskie (Garmin), Voeckler (Europcar), Casar (FDJ) and Sanchez (Rabobank). The highest ranked rider in the break was Scarponi (Lampe) at 10 minutes back. As the break started the first climb they had built up a gap of just under 7 minutes over the main field. The pace of the stage was the fastest of the Tour so far.

At the sprint Sagan, Goss and Hutarovich raced for points with Goss taking maximum, Hutarovich taking 2nd and Sagan 3rd. Sagan’s lead over Goss in the green jersey competition is now 27 points.

The lead group started the climb of Colombier with Europcar at the front. The gap to the peloton was 6:29. Almost immediately riders started falling off the back as the road kicked up on the long climb (17.4k). The lead group was reduced to just five riders: Voeckler, Scarponi, Sanchez, Peraud and Devenyns (Quickstep), then a second group of a handful of riders.

Voeckler did most of the work at the front of the small lead group. He seemed content to do it – and of course the others were happy to let him. To reward him for his efforts no one contested his race to the summit and the 25 points for the polka-dot jersey – which he got. The lead breakaway’s gap at this point was about 5 minutes over the peloton.

Once the peloton summited the climb, Vanden Broeck went off the front, and Evans and Nibali moved to the front, ahead of Wiggins. Team Sky was in control and Evans sat on letting them do the work. I thought he might go with Nibali but for whatever reason he didn’t.

Nibali caught up to teammate Peter Sagan who had been dropped by the breakaway and used Sagan to pace him through the descent until Sagan could no longer stay with him on the final climb of the day. It was a great effort by Sagan, helping himself to more points in the green jersey sprint and providing support to his team leader. Nibali increased his gap on the peloton to almost a minute before it started coming down.

With Sky driving a hard pace they caught Nibali on the final climb (guess that’s why Evans didn’t go). The 4 man lead group summits the last climb, Voeckler picks up a few more points giving him the “king of the mountains” jersey.

Once the peloton started the descent, Vanden Broeck and Voeckler’s teammate, Rolland took off the front and opened a gap. Van Garderen, in the white jersey, used the descent to catch up to the peloton, including the rider next in line for the white jersey, Taaramae, thus protecting his hold on the white for at least another day.

Meanwhile on the front the lead group of 4 becomes the lead group of 5 when somehow the old man of the Tour, Jens Voight, caught and then passed them. Voeckler chased him down, then Devenyns who had been conserving his energy at the back took off. No one wanted to chase but Voight finally does, then Voeckler. The gaps were about even and it looked like Devenyns would get himself the win. About that time he ran out of gas, and Voight closed in.

But lo and behold Voeckler, who didn’t panic with Devenyns attack, dug deep and quickly closed the gap to Voight and Devenyns and then passed them.  About that time it looks like Voeckler had the win, but the road kicked up and he started to slow and Scarponi started to close in.

At that point just meters from the finish – everyone loses gas and Voeckler managed to hang on for the win.  It truly was a brave and brilliant ride today by Voeckler. As you all know I’m a big Voeckler fan and seeing him take this stage and the polka dot jersey was thrilling!

As the peloton neared the finish Evans and Nibali attacked but Wiggins and Sky quickly shut it down. No gains today for Nibali or Evans but Vanden Broeck did reduce his deficit slightly.

Stage 10 Results:

• 1. Thomas VOECKLER, Europcar, in 4:46:26
• 2. Michele SCARPONI, Lampre-ISD, at :3
• 3. Jens VOIGT, RadioShack-Nissan, at :7
• 4. Luis Leon SANCHEZ GIL, Rabobank, at :23
• 5. Dries DEVENYNS, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at :30
• 6. Sandy CASAR, FDJ-BigMat, at 2:44
• 7. Egoi MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 2:44
• 8. Pierre ROLLAND, Europcar, at 2:44
• 9. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, Lotto-Belisol, at 2:44
• 10. Dmitriy FOFONOV, Astana, at 2:52

GC after Stage 10:

• 1. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, in 43:59:02
• 2. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at 1:53
• 3. Christopher FROOME, Sky, at 2:07
• 4. Vincenzo NIBALI, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:23
• 5. Denis MENCHOV, Katusha, at 3:02
• 6. Haimar ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, RadioShack-Nissan, at 3:19
• 7. Maxime MONFORT, RadioShack-Nissan, at 4:23
• 8. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, Lotto-Belisol, at 4:48
• 9. Nicolas ROCHE, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:29
• 10. Tejay VAN GARDEREN, BMC Racing, at 5:31

Stage 11 Preview:

Queen Stage of the Alps

Regarding Stage 11, a picture is worth a lot of words. Tomorrow offers riders no time to warm-up the legs and then will punish them the rest of the stage. It will be difficult for a break to get the kind of time on the Sky driven peloton like it did today. If any one in the break is a risk to GC, Sky will reel them in, which means only low GC placed riders who are also strong climbers will be able to stay away. Pierre Rolland, another Europcar rider comes to mind. He won Alpe d’huez last year so he’s capable.

Those riders protecting their spot on the podium (Wiggins) or looking to move up (Evans, Nibali, Menchov, Vanden Broeck, Zubeldia) probably will ride together more or less until the two HC climbs are behind them. I expect most of the fireworks between the contenders to be on the last climb, if there even are any. It could very well go like today with no changes in the top 5. If Wiggins gets isolated – which based on what we’ve saw today and Stage 8 is highly unlikely – sparks will fly. Otherwise, we’ll have to look for someone(s) in the break to make the race interesting.

I’ve enjoyed my day of rest from the Tour de France and blogging. Yes I recognize I’m blogging now, but this is the equivalent of an easy warm-up ride – just a short post to keep my Tour-mind sharp-ish and ready for the next two weeks of racing.

I did take a 32 mile bike ride this morning  – no rated climbs – a course more like Stage 9, but a nice ride. Watching the Tour always makes me want to ride more, in spite of the heat. July is always one of my highest mileage months. 

Rest Day News:

Remy Di Gregario, who rides for Cofidis was arrested for doping and suspended from the Tour. Not quite what the former Astana rider had in mind for his rest (arrest) day.

Tony Martin pulled out of the Tour to heal up and prepare for the Olympics. Lampre’s Matt Lloyd also abandoned due to a fractured elbow that occurred in a crash on Stage 8. Rumor has it that Fabian Cancellara might leave too to join his wife who is expecting their 2nd child soon.

Stage 10 Preview:

Tomorrow the Tour boys get to climb that beast of a climb, the HC rated Col de Colombiere, the first true alpine climb in the Alps – and what a doozy!

We may see Cadel Evans and/or Vincenzo Nibali attack tomorrow on the Colombiere and then take all kinds of chances on the descents to gain time on Wiggins, same goes for Jurgen Vanden Broeck. Or we may see Sky setting such a hard pace on the climb that it’s just Wiggins and Froome alone at the summit. We’ll for sure see a breakaway and depending on who is in it, Sky might just let them go.

Hopefully we will see some good racing tomorrow. If not tomorrow though, we are bound to see it on Stage 11, the toughest stage in the Alps – complete with a summit finish.

So, who do you think will get 2nd and 3rd?

I sent a tweet out after watching the stage that said: “Final podium – Wiggins, Froome, Evans.” Maybe that’s a bit premature but I’m not so sure.

As someone who loves the Tour de France I’m disappointed that the gaps now are so large for the yellow jersey – insurmountable barring some unforeseen catastrophe for Wiggins. I keep thinking back to the 2011 Tour and there was so much drama and excitement – stage after stage with the podium not being decided until the final time trial the day before Paris. Now except for the other two spots on the podium there is nothing left to compete. Wiggins has a secure hold on the yellow with 1:53 over Evans.

Evans lost 1:43 to Wiggins in a time trial – a gargantuan amount of time to make up. I thought Wiggins would likely win, but not gain that kind of time. The yellow jersey hunt ended today.

Wiggins will not lose 1:53 to Evans in the next 2 weeks as long as he’s on the bike. The bigger question for Evans is – can he hold 2nd place on the podium.

Did Evans have a bad time trial today or did Wiggins and Froome have extraordinarily great ones? And how about this – Sylvain Chavanel beat Evans time by :19!

Besides the Sky dynamic duo, Tejay Van Garderen, Chavanel, Cancellara, Nibali and Menchov had solid performances today. Nibali and Menchov are still in the hunt, particularly Nibali. With his ability to climb and descend he could secure the 2nd place spot before the Tour leaves the mountains. Evans will continue to fight and if there is an opening to gain time he’ll take it. So will Froome, so will Nibali as they all fight for the other two spots on the final podium. Stage 11 looms large.

Stage results:

• 1. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, in 51:24
• 2. Christopher FROOME, Sky, at :35
• 3. Fabian CANCELLARA, RadioShack-Nissan, at :57
• 4. Tejay VAN GARDEREN, BMC Racing, at 1:06
• 5. Sylvain CHAVANEL, Quick Step, at 1:24
• 6. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at 1:43
• 7. Peter VELITS, Omega Quick Step, at 1:59
• 8. Vincenzo NIBALI, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:07
• 9. Denis MENCHOV, Katusha, at 2:08

General classification:

• 1. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, at 39:09:20
• 2. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at 1:53
• 3. Christopher FROOME, Sky, at 2:07
• 4. Vincenzo NIBALI, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:23
• 5. Denis MENCHOV, Katusha, at 3:02
• 6. Haimar ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, RadioShack-Nissan, at 3:19
• 7. Maxime MONFORT, RadioShack-Nissan, at 4:23
• 8. Tejay VAN GARDEREN, BMC Racing, at 5:14
• 9. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, Lotto-Belisol, at 5:20
• 10. Nicolas ROCHE, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:29

TDF Fantasy Cycling Challenge:

In the TDF Fantasy Cycling Challenge, 4loveofbikes team collected 308 points with Sagan, Froome (how good of picks were those 2 guys), P. Velits, Van Garderen, Chavanel all scoring points in Stage 9.

Rest Day Preview:

Rest for this blogger.