[Tour 2004]Stage 12 - Castelsarrazin to La Mongie

[tour-junkie]

We are in the heart of the Pyrenees.  Riders will ascend from around 250
feet above sea level to the height of 5550'.  A day when the contenders will
be separated from the pretenders. Everyone seems a bit cagey though,
Armstrong has repeatedly said that today won't be a big attacking day for
him, and Tyler Hamilton feels that the topography is not condusive to making
a big effort for less substantial gains.

What has seemed like considerable time gaps on the flat roads - the 55
seconds to Ullrich, the 5 and a half minutes to Iban Mayo - may look
remarkably tenuous after the day's efforts.  Whether the latter will howl
forward in attack is almost a foregone conclusion, but what will happen to
the former is anyone's guess.  Ullrich is clearly on form, but how that
engine will fire when the road pitches upward.

The sun is out, but skies are not the pure blue of the past two days.
Clouds threaten on the horizon and we may just see some rain on the roadway
before we reach the dizzying heights of today's stage.

Thousands of orange shirts have been distributed, and the crazed Basque fans
have been camped out on the side of the roadway. No word on weather they
have unlimbered the snowplows to get through the crowds today.

Stage 12 - Castelsarrazin to La Mongie - 197.5 km
Things are heating up in the pain skillet, and everyone is going to get a
helping. A long steady gain in elevation for the first 150 odd kilometers
will let the riders duke it out for the two sprint points, and then things
kick up.  The Category 1 Col d'Aspin gains a couple thousand quick feet,
averaging 6.5% for the 12.3 km ascent.  Then as soon as the riders drop down
from that peak, they dive for the low gears as they climb La Mongie - the
"Hors Categorie" 1715 meter climb goes upward for 12.8 km at an average of
6.8%.  Though this may not be a decisive stage for the leaders, there will
be nowhere to hide for the pretenders.

Mikel Pradera of Illes Baleares did not start today.

Right at the start of today's stage, at the 1 km mark a group of 4 have
moved away from the bunch:

46 - Kim Kirchen - Fasso Bortolo
136 - Marin Ljungqvist - Alessio-Bianchi
187 - Wim Van Sevenant - Lotto
206 - Frederic Finot - RAGT

With both of the finish climbs looming ahead and 48 miles to go before the
finish, they remain 3:45 off the front after being out at 4:20.
Voeckler's La Boulangerie teammates find help from a few USPS riders in the
chase.  The shadows have disappeared from the roadway, and they are
reporting strong thunderclaps at the finish.  The chase have nipped a minute
back from the gang of four.

Rains have hit the finish line, and as some of the riders take an
opportunity for some "natural breaks", it's slightly concerning to ponder
the treacherous switchback descent from Col d'Aspin.  The riders' breaks may
not be related to their concern about the potentially glacially slippery
drop between the two climbs, but you never know.

When the race last visited La Mongie in 2002, a certain Lance Armstrong was
the winner of the stage (the other time here, it was when Bernard Thevenet
escaped to beat Eddy Merckx on the stage and ultimately, the Tour).
Armstrong had escaped with Joseba Beloki and at-that-point-teammate Roberto
Heras.  Although they put a 7 second nail into the coffin of Beloki, Lance
commented at the end of the stage that there were a couple of times on the
climb when he had to ask Heras to slow his climbing speed.  This year, Heras
has quietly been tucked into the bunch, but you know he's been waiting for
topography such as this - the fact that it is near his home country will be
even more inspiration.

A lull seems to hit the peloton, which spreads out across the roadway as
domestiques fetch food and rain jackets, the gap hovers at 2:50, where it
has held for the past kilometers. Up front, the first spots of rain begin to
hit the camera lens as the foursome approach the Col d'Aspin.

With 32 miles to go, the gap has been squeezed down to 1:39, and the rain
explodes off of the roadway.  The tamac has a serious layer of water upon
it, and it had not been raining for the past 8 or 10 days. The bunch have
strung out under the pressure of USPS and La Boulangerie.  Tucked in just
behind them is at least one orange jersey.

The Yellow Jersey pulls over to the side of the roadway suddenly and swaps
out his bike - so to does teammate Sylvain Chavanal.  It is a move which
Iban Mayo and Tyler Hamilton have both executed - whether a spate of
technical problems or, more likely, they have switched to the bikes which
hover just at the UCI weight limit.

Almost forgotten is the second sprint point on the day - now just 2 km away
from the leading four.  Hopefully for Robbie McEwen, his teammate can keep
them off the front until they pass through that, as only the first three
riders gain points in the Green Jersey competition.  They do exactly that as
Kim Kirchen attacks off the front in what may be the butterfly stroke to
cross through first.

But such things are quickly forgotten - the main pack now screams through
the narrowing roads to position themselves properly before the climb -
despite its imposing presence, the climb over the Col d'Aspin does not
distinguish itself with exceptionally wide tarmac.  All of a sudden, all the
teams realize that (A) there is less room, and (B)they need to be at the
front.  Potentially a distasterous combination under these weather
conditions.

The riders make the sharp right turn onto the climb - Bettini leads the
bunch, matched quickly by USPS who move to the front once the climb begins.
Immediately, T-Mobile's Santiago Botero drifts back with a huge group of
sufferin' B's who will become the "autobus" today.

Up front, the boys in blue have opened the throttle, with Benjamin Noval and
Manual Beltran setting the pace and littering the slopes with the wreckage
of the bunch.  

At mid-climb, it is a USPS team photo at the front across the roadway.
Though small bunches of riders continue to fall away, of interesting note is
the inclusion of yellow jersey - Voeckler remains in evidence as they move
along up the mountain.
  
Domina Vacanza's Fillippo Simeoni whips up his effort to get off the front
of the trundling pack.  He's sitting 15 or 20 seconds ahead of the bunch of
50 or 60 semi-select riders.

Credit Agricole's French hope, Christophe Moreau kicks up and moves away
smartly - he's been hovering around the front of all of the polka dot jersey
points.  Moreau rolls up to Simeoni, but there's suddenly a third banana in
the bunch - none other than the Mountain Jersey leaer Richard Virenque, who
will not let his adversary get away.

This in turn wakes up the GC leader Voeckler, as Virenque currently sits in
4th position overall.  After the La Boulangerie riders kick up things a
notch, Michael Rasmussen moves away wtih Euskatel's Egol Martinez.  The pair
immediately rope in the threesome and move away as the pack engulfs the
three.

The pictures go immediately to heck, but through the digital snow, it is
evident that Hamilton, Voeckler, Gilberto Simoni and Iban Mayo all sit much
closer to the rear of events than they should be.

Up front, Rassmussen has clipped off the assistance of Martinez, who
literally rides his rippling wake back to the bunch.  Hincapie notches up
the pace of the chasers again, followed by Lance and four other teammates,
with Ullrich is just off their back wheel with a couple of his riders. The
big German rides with a determined scowl on his face, grinding over the big
gear he favors.

Rasmussen climbs well - not bad for an ex-World Champion Mountain Biker.
He's sitting comfortably 13 seconds off the front of events.

2 km from the top of the climb, the yellow jersey strains to hang onto the
wheel of Michele Bartoli.  Unfortunately, the wheel he's following is
becoming unstuck from the bunch, so Voeckler hikes up his bib and moves
around him to regain contact with the pack.  Voeckler, as others before,
seems to find something extra from the wearing of the Yellow Jersey and
somehow moves up to the front of events again. He has been "bungie-climbing"
his way through this stage, falling back and springing forward. Still stuck
at the back of the bunch are Hamilton and Mayo - perhaps not finding the
engine firing quite perfectly in the cold, wet weather.

Despite the sensationally bad weather at the summit of the Co d'Aspin, the
crowd is insanely huge - 30 or 40 deep on either side.  They move with the
thick motions of the overly waterlogged.  Smelling the polka-dot points,
Virenque and Moreau again fly off the bunch and pummel one another for the
second points on the climb. Richard hears something to his left as the
tenacious Moreau slips up and probably past him on his right.

Hellish hairpins mark this descent, and while the rains have lessened, the
roadway is still sodden.  Rasmussen  drives along hoping to hold his gap to
the finish.  He's a decidedly solid bike-handler, and he'll need all his
skills as things head down.

20 km to go.

A gap has appeared on the descent, and a group of nine riders including the
yellow jersey move away from a string of chasers.

The escaping group does not include Lance Armstrong.  Hincapie realizes it
immediately and sits up and looks behind to find his team leader.

Jan Ullrich and Iban Mayo _are_ in the group - have they risked all to put
Armstrong in trouble, or did the 5-time winner of the Tour pull in his horns
so as not to risk things needlessly? You'd feel really silly needlessly
leaving a pound of flesh on the roadway today.

You can hear a serious sigh of releif as five blue jerseys drive up to the
escaping bunch as sunlight hits the roadway here and again. Just as
suddenly, the descent ends and the bunch begins to climb again.

Euskatel rider David Etxebarria leads the serious competitors on to the
beginnings of the ascent.  Up ahead a naked-headed Rasmussen has doffed his
helmet as he has begun the final climb (of more than 5 km - on which the
riders can take their helmets off.

Rasmussen has 13 seconds on the chasing pair of Quick-Step rider Juan
Mercado and the last-mullet-in-the-peloton, Ag2R's Laurent Brochard, but
their effort is eclipsed by the tempo-tapping of the USPS. Chechu Rubiera
has positioned himself at the front of the events raised the pace, and the
bunch find themselves maybe 25 seconds away from Rasmussen in a group of
maybe 30 riders.

Landis now sets pace with 10 km to go.  The 10 km is, of course, all uphill.
Despite the heartrate raising descent conditions, the USPS have 5 riders in
this group - I think the largest number of team members in this bunch.

The riders climb in ever-increasing sunlight which has followed in the lee
of the earlier storm.  Voeckler again finds himself at the end of events and
wonders if he can continue to stay in touch.  The USPS all hurl their $200
helmets toward the mechanic at the side of the road and focus upon the task
now at hand. 

Tyler Hamilton dos not look good - he seems to be trying to find a
comfortable pace, but in doing so does not move with exceptional power.

His ex-teammate, CSC's ace climber Carlos Sastre clips on the afterburners
and moves away from the bunch.

Somewhere down the roadway, Virenque and Voeckler ride side by side,
Virenque looking like he's making small talk at a dinner party while the
other "V" is turning his lips inside out with his efforts.  Virenque
encourages him onto his wheel and the two move together.  Leipheimer drifts
away from a bunch, although things are beginning to break up so it's hard to
tell where he's become unstuck from.

Rassmussen's shaved pate glistens in the full as he becomes absorbed by
Sastre and the accellerating chasers.

A chill goes through the air as Armstrong rises up out of the saddle to find
a little nudge more.  Rassmussen has gone through that group like cheese
through a sharp grater. Ullrich has now begun to drift back, his huge diesel
not suited to the steepening incline.

USPS rider Jose Azevedo ticks out the pace, leading now Armstrong at the
front of events.  CSC rider Ivan Basso sits smartly in Armstrong's left
pocket, finally beginning to show his face at the interesting end of events.

Ullrich is now 25 seconds back from the Armstrong group, with teammate
Guiseppe Guerini helping him to set pace.

Interestingly, Andreas Kloden from T-Mobile has remained in the lead group
with Armstrongmatching pedal strokes and positioning himself well in the
bunch.  This former Olympic Gold Medalist should not be underestimated.
Somewhere in the increasingly spread group of riders, Tyler Hamilton seems
to be rolling smoothly, and he may be finding a rhythm that will work. His
group of 10 now tows along Leipheimer and Gilberto Simoni.

In the group with Armstrong is Mayo, Mancebo, Denis Menchov and Sastre.
Sastre moves again at the 5 km to go mark and gains a minor opening

In the Ullrich group, the big German is again having some trouble.  His team
car moves up  and watches for a second.  But, there is little they can tell
him. What do you say?  "Pedal harder"?

Kloden finally looks around as if to see where his leader has gone.  He does
look to be riding within himself.

An accelleration comes from Mancebo, Azevado drifts away and Armstrong finds
himself at the head of events by himself. He opens his lungs slightly,
moving easily out of the saddle.

Voeckler shows all sorts of agony as he tries to remain in contact.

Sastre continues upward ahead of the bunch.  Although it's difficult to see
the gradiant, they shift of a fixed camera position at the side of the road
for a few seconds to see Sastre sail around a turn.  The incline is hellish
and Sastre is probably going faster than you would drive it in a car.

Again Mancebo moves up and away taking Ivan Basso - who is marking Mancebo
as it is his teammate who is up the roadway. Now Armstrong hikes it up and
he moves up on those two riders. Suddenly they catch the pair and riders
simply melt away behind him. Basso responds and is the only one who can stay
with the charging Texan.  Basso remains sitting and ticks over his gear
while Armstrong moves easily out of the saddle.

Although Armstrong has made an accelleration, it lacks the dynamic
full-afterburner intensity that marks his most serious efforts.  He's raised
the pace after looking around and seeing that no other serious competitor is
in his bunch.  Now he is closing down the gap to Sastre while some idiot
American in a red, white and blue clown suit runs alongside.

Sastra is in his sights and they immediatley form a troika.  It's a CSC
sandwich - Armstrong is outnumbered two to one which may mean it's a fair
fight. They roll along together with seeming ease, all riders seemingly
within themselves.

Mancebo and Kloden are somewhere in arrears, clearly suffering to a much
higher degree.

The cameras now find Ullrich, who looks absolutely like hell, with a strange
fold of skin appearing under each eye and his short hair pasted down agains
his scalp. The curse of rainy weather seems to again have found Jan.

The leaders have opened a 2:08 now to the Yellow jersey. Basso and Armstrong
move into a tunnel and away from Sastre. When they reappear, Basso leads
Armstrong through an absolute sea of Orange t-shirts - who are probably
slightly saddened to not see their man Mayo up with the leaders.

Voeckler again snaps back up to a group of riders.  Or maybe they slid back
to him.

Armstrong lets Basso roll to the front and then they slide even to be side
by side. 

Mancebo drags himself up to Kloden and Sastre - they have lost a serious bit
of real estate on this climb.

The lead pair are under the final 1 km to go banner, and they both begin to
think about the 20 second time bonus which goes with 1st place on the stage.

800 m to go. Basso takes a quick look behind to make sure no one is sneaking
up and remains seated.

500 m to go
Armstrong continues out of the saddle and finally Basso finally raises up
and torque things for a few pedal turns before he sits again.  I've always
been a fan of this Italian rider, and he again shows the class that took him
to a Best Young Rider Jersey a few years back.

Armstrong ticks it out of the saddle, Basso just behind to his right again.
They match pedal strokes, but Basso has moved ahead  with a last gasp
accelleration.  Armstrong seems content to gain the 12 second bonus for
second, and he clearly is happy with the damage he has done to everyone else
- on a stage that was supposed to be "wait and see".

Basso takes the stage win - his first stage victory in the Tour - he punches
the air with elation!

Popping around the last corner is the first German - not the one who you
might think - Andreas Kloden comes through 17 seconds back - is there a new
T-Mobile leader?  This is reminiscent of the year after Bjarne Riis took his
Tour victory - tapped as the leader the following year but clearly not
firing on all cylinders, they finally gave the nod to a certain Jan Ullrich
who went on to victory.

Mancebo crosses the line at 23 seconds back, while Sastre rolls in behind.

The damage to the other riders clearly shows, as Mayo rolls in with some
Phonak riders who are not Tyler, and then Leipheimer finishes over 2 minutes
back.

Now Ullrich finally rolls into view - finising the day exactly 2 and a half
minutes back.

Cheers go up for Frances's favorite - Thomas Voeckler's tendons seem to have
popped out of his skin layer as he brings the Yellow Jersey home for the
day.  A quick calculation shows that he will get enough yellow jerseys to
give one to each team member.

Hully Mully! What wreckage has occurred.  And what will happen tomorrow?

Stage 12 - Results 
1 - Ivan Bass - CSC - 5:03:58
2 - Lance Armstrong - USPS - s.t.
3 - Andreas Kloden  - T-Mobile - @:20
4 - Francisco Mancebo - Illes Baleares - @:24
5 - Carlos Sastre - CSC - @:33

Other riders' gaps:
Michele Scarponi - Domina Vacanza - @ 1:02
Iban Mayo - Euskatel - @1:03
Gilberto Simoni - Saeco - @1:32
Christophe Moreau - Credit Agricole - @1:59
Levi Leipheimer - Rabobank - @1:59
Bobby Julich - CSC - @2:28
Jan Ullrich - T-Mobile - @2:30

General Classification -
MJ - Thomas Voeckler - La Boulangerie - 51:51:07
2 - Lance Armstrong - USPS - 5:24
3 - Sandy Casar - FDJeux.com - 5:50
4 - Richard Virenque - Quick Step - 6:20
5 - Andreas Kloden - T-Mobile - 6:33
6 - Ivan Basso - CSC - 6:33
7 - Francisco Mancebo - Illes Baleares - 6:43
8 - Jakob Piil - CSC - 6:53
9 - Santos Gonzalez - Phonak - 7:23
10 - Carlos Sastre - CSC - 8:11
11 - Jose Azevedo - USPS - 8:35
12  - Levi Leipheimer - Rabobank - 8:50
13 - Joe Gutierrez - Phonak - 8:51
14 - Oscar Sevilla - Phonak - 8:57
15 - Jose Luis Rubiera - USPS - 8:58
16 - Jan Ullrich - T-Mobile - 9:01
17 - Booby Julich - CSC - 9:11
18 - Michele Scarponi - 9:25
19 - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano - Liberty - 9:42
20 - Tyler Hamilton - Phonak - 9:46

Tomorrow's Stage - Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille - 205 km
Ugly.  
If you needed a recovery from today's dip into the room of whirling knives,
you are simply out of luck.  Seven categorized climbs lie before the riders.
The toughest will be the finish climb of Hors Categorie Plateau de Beille,
which will see the riders toss their helmets 16 km before the finish and
then average 7.8% for the remainder of the course.  Tough you say?
Consider it comes after  a Cagetory 1 climb at 146 km - the Col d'Agnes,
which is 9.8 km at 8.2% average.  Luckily, they will have a warmup before
that at 64 km - the 4.4 km Col du Portet d'Aspet - kicking upwards at 9.8%,
followed in pretty short order by the Col de la Core, which is a 14.2 km
pitch at a restufl 6%...  And I'm leaving out the category 3 climbs
altogether...
Blood is on the water, and toothy critters are about.

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