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2006 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 20

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These are the profiles for the individual stages in the 2006 Tour de France, beginning with Stage 12 on July 14 and ending with Stage 21 on July 23.

Tour de France - Stages

Stages

Stage 12, Friday, July 14: Luchon - Carcassonne, 212 km

Stage 12 started in the Luchon, which held big celebrations because this was the fiftieth time that the Tour de France visited the city. The stage end location was Carcassonne and in between those cities the course featured four categorized climbs:

There were also two intermediate sprints in Caumont (at 76.0 km/47.2 miles) and Mirepoix (162.0 km/100.7 miles).

This being the first stage after the Pyrenees, many riders were hoping to get an easy day, sitting at the back of the peloton; however, there were also a lot of riders who had lost a lot of time during those mountain stages and who knew that they were not going to get a good position in the general standings. Those riders all tried to get into the escape group which led to everyone chasing everyone for the first 100 kilometers and a extremely fast pace which caused the first riders already passing the 46-kilometre mark after just one hour. As a result, 4 riders dropped from the race during the first hour; among those were Paolo Savoldelli and Benjamin Noval from Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team and the sprinter Isaac Galvez. Another important fact for the large number of riders trying to escape was the fact that it was the 14th of July, in France known as Bastille Day. On this day the French are extra motivated as it is their national holiday, which shows in the results of the latest years with David Moncoutié winning in 2005 and Richard Virenque in 2004 on this day.

So a lot of changing situations during the first hours of this race, as there was always some team not happy with the current group of escapees. On the first climb of the day the first serious group formed, consisting of 15 riders:

This group looked to be getting away from the peloton at first, but suddenly Davitamon-Lotto started working for Robbie McEwen as sprinters Bennati and Hushovd were in this group. They were working hard to keep the gap between the peloton and the group reasonable, but of course the leaders tried to stay ahead too. This lead to the gap fluctuating between 45" and 1'15" for a very long time. From this group which formed after about 30 kilometres, six riders dropped as they waited for the peloton after 70 kilometres, knowing that they would not let the group go. Meanwhile Albasini, Bennati, Goubert, Guerini, Hincapie, Millar, Moncoutié, Verdugo and Voigt pushed on. Bennati then won the intermediate sprint and Davitamon-Lotto stopped working, but now the teams from Bouygues Télécom and Team Milram were trying to close the gap as they did not have any riders up front. Finally they succeeded at kilometre 94. As soon as the breakaway group was caught, a new group formed which now consisted of only four riders:

Robbie McEwen was not happy again with Óscar Freire among this group, but when he tried to start up the chase again, almost the whole peloton was mad at him as they had been now riding at a huge pace for over 100 kilometres, just one day after a heavy mountain stage. It took him a few kilometres to settle down and give in and so the group did get away. Phonak Hearing Systems was now maintaining a moderate pace just to keep the riders within a reasonable distance but without wasting too much energy. Most riders were happy to catch a break and at that time it was almost sure one of the 4 leaders was going to win the stage.

Looking at the leading group, it was reasonable to think that Ballan, le Mevel or Popovych was going to attack sooner or later, as Freire is a top-class sprinter and would probably beat them all if they went to the finish line together. Yaroslav Popovych was the first to attack and immediately the French got disappointed as Christophe le Mével dropped and never managed to came back. Alessandro Ballan however closed the gap and brought Óscar Freire back in his wheel. It was then Freire's turn to attack, but again Ballan closed the gap and now brought back Popovych. Popovych and Freire both took turns in attacking but Ballan seemed to be the strongest as he closed the gap every time. However, after a while he was also getting tired and could not respond to yet another attack by Popovych. He did not get any help from Freire in closing the gap and so Popovych won the stage. Freire knew he did not deserve the second place and left it to Ballan; however, this could cost him the green jersey in the end. Le Mevel finished as fourth and in the peloton it was Tom Boonen who convincingly won the sprint for the fifth place, 4'25" behind Popovych.

As a result of this stage Floyd Landis remains in yellow and Yaroslav Popovych just moved into the top 10 at place 10. Robbie McEwen still holds a considerable lead of 25 points over Óscar Freire in the standings for the green jersey but sees Freire come 11 points closer, Daniele Bennati 3 points and Tom Boonen 1 point. Mickael Rasmussen scored 12 points today for the polka dot jersey, but is still 19 points behind David de la Fuente. Marcus Fothen stays the best rider under 23 and also in the team standings nothing changes, T-Mobile Team keeps a small lead over Team Gerolsteiner. Next to the earlier mentioned quitters, today Agritubel also loses two riders who give up: José Alberto Martinez and Samuel Plouhinec. Daniele Bennati, who was not amongst the escaped riders but was almost constantly in the offense during the first 100 kilometres, received the combativity trophy for the day.

It's worth noting that the time gap at the finish between the stage winner and the peleton was so large that according to the rules of the competition all riders except those finishing this stage in the first five places should have been excluded from further participation in the race. Since a Tour with only five riders would obviously be a farce the rules were 'bent' to allow all riders to continue.

Stage 12 Result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Yaroslav Popovych  Ukraine Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4h 34' 58"
2 Alessandro Ballan  Italy Lampre-Fondital 0' 27"
3 Óscar Freire  Spain Rabobank 0' 29"
4 Christophe le Mével  France Crédit Agricole 0' 35"
5 Tom Boonen  Belgium Quick Step-Innergetic 4' 25"
6 Robbie McEwen  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 4' 25"
7 Francisco Ventoso  Spain Saunier Duval-Prodir 4' 25"
8 Erik Zabel  Germany Team Milram 4' 25"
9 Daniele Bennati  Italy Lampre-Fondital 4' 25"
10 Thor Hushovd  Norway Crédit Agricole 4' 25"
General Classification after Stage 12
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak Hearing Systems 53h 57' 30"
2 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 0' 08"
3 Denis Menchov  Russia Rabobank 1' 01"
4 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 1' 17"
5 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 1' 52"
6 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 2' 29"
7 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 3' 22"
8 Juan Miguel Mercado  Spain Agritubel 3' 33"
9 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 3' 44"
10 Yaroslav Popovych  Ukraine Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4' 15"

Stage 13, Saturday, July 15: Béziers - Montélimar, 230 km

This stage had five categorized climbs, all Category 4. It started at Béziers and ended at Montélimar.

This stage was characterized by an early attack including six riders: Voigt, Pereiro, Chavanel, Coyot, Quinziato, and Grivko, who attacked about 20 km into the race. As Cofidis had two riders in the lead group, Chavanel and Coyot, they decided to have Coyot wait for the peloton.

The main peloton, including Floyd Landis, did not see anyone in this group as a threat, so they allowed them to get away and stay away. The attack group of five had a lead of 30 sec at 27 km. They continued to increase their lead—to 3 minutes at 37 km, 6'20" at 47.5 km, and 11'05" at 61.5 km after the category-4 Cóte de Puéchabon climb. At the beginning of the third climb, the Cóte de L'Arbousset at 119.5 km, the lead was 18'50". The lead grew to 24'45" at the 146.5 mark, and to 27'10" at 172.5 km. Pereiro Sio had begun the stage 28'50" behind Landis.[1] Now he was threatening Landis's yellow.

But this was intentional, because the previous mountain stages had shown that from Landis's teammates, only Axel Merckx was somewhat able to stay with Landis and help him. Through losing the yellow jersey, the Phonak Hearing Systems team made sure that those teammates did not have to ride after the escaped riders every day; instead they now leave that responsibility to Pereiro Sio's team, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears.

On the final climb, the Cóte de Villeneuve de Berg, youngster Grivko attacked. Just like most times, the first attacker is not the winning rider, as the group was able to catch and pass him. Grivko never managed to retun and finished fifth. In the final five kilometres, Voigt and Pereiro Sio broke away from Chavanel and Quinziato, who were both expecting the other to close the gap. Neither of them did, and the other two maintained their lead the rest of the way. In the final hundred meters, Pereiro Sio was on Voigt's rear wheel, angling to pass him at the finish. Voigt held him off and barely won the stage.

In the peloton, the teammates of Menchov from Rabobank started increasing the pace, as they wanted Landis to remain in yellow to have his teammates work hard the next few days. After a few kilometres, however, they gave up and so the peloton finished 29'57" behind Voigt. Pereiro Sio was rewarded for ending second and earned the yellow—one minute, 29 seconds ahead of Landis. The peloton came in past the time limit of 29'00", but since more than 20% of all riders were involved, they were allowed to stay in the race. Apart from the team standing, where Team CSC took the lead, all other jerseys remained with their rider, as the breakaway group had taken most points of the climbs and sprints.

Stage 13 Result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Jens Voigt  Germany Team CSC 5h 24' 36"
2 Óscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 5h 24' 36"
3 Sylvain Chavanel  France Cofidis 0' 40"
4 Manuel Quinziato  Italy Liquigas-Bianchi 0' 40"
5 Andriy Grivko  Ukraine Team Milram 6' 24"
6 Robbie McEwen  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 29' 57"
7 Bernhard Eisel  Austria Française des Jeux 29' 57"
8 Tom Boonen  Belgium Quick Step-Innergetic 29' 57"
9 Carlos da Cruz  France Française des Jeux 29' 57"
10 Arnaud Coyot  France Cofidis 29' 57"
General Classification after Stage 13
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Óscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 59h 50' 34"
2 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak Hearing Systems 1' 29"
3 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 1' 37"
4 Denis Menchov  Russia Rabobank 2' 30"
5 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 2' 46"
6 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 3' 21"
7 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 3' 58"
8 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 4' 51"
9 Juan Miguel Mercado  Spain Agritubel 5' 02"
10 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 5' 13"

Stage 14, Sunday, July 16: Montélimar - Gap 230 km

This stage had four categorized climbs— two Category 3, and two Category 2. It started at Montélimar and ended at Gap.

The categorized climbs were as follows:

  • Côte du Bois-de-Salles (Category 3), 42% over 5.1 km
  • Col de Peyruergue (Category 3), 4.8% over 5.5 km
  • Col de Perty (Category 2), 5.1% over 8.8 km
  • Col de la Sentinelle (Category 2), 5% over 5.2 km

There were also two intermediate sprints in La Bonté (at 50.0 km) and La Plaine (at 160.5 km).

The peloton was unable to close the gap with the two stage leaders. Pierrick Fédrigo easily won the stage, with Salvatore Commesso coming in second. Oscar Pereiro finished 26th and retained the yellow jersey.

Stage 14 Result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Pierrick Fédrigo  France Bouygues Télécom 4h 14' 23"
2 Salvatore Commesso  Italy Lampre-Fondital 4h 14' 23"
3 Christian Vandevelde  United States Team CSC 0' 03"
4 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 0' 07"
5 Georg Totschnig  Austria Team Gerolsteiner 0' 07"
6 Stefano Garzelli  Italy Liquigas-Bianchi 0' 07"
7 Michael Boogerd  Netherlands Rabobank 0' 07"
8 Cristian Moreni  Italy Cofidis 0' 07"
9 George Hincapie  United States Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0' 07"
10 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 0' 07"
General Classification after Stage 14
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Óscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 64h 05' 04"
2 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak Hearing Systems 1' 29"
3 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 1' 37"
4 Denis Menchov  Russia Rabobank 2' 30"
5 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 2' 46"
6 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 3' 21"
7 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 3' 58"
8 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 4' 51"
9 Juan Miguel Mercado  Spain Agritubel 5' 02"
10 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 5' 13"

Rest Day, Monday, July 17

Stage 15, Tuesday, July 18: Gap - L'Alpe-d'Huez, 187 km

This was a mountain stage with three categorized climbs: the Col d'Izoard (Highest Level) with an ascent of 7% over 14.5 km, the Col du Lautaret (Category 2) with an ascent of 4.4% over 12.1 km and L'Alpe d'Huez (Highest Level) with an ascent of 7.9% over 13.8 km. It started at Gap at 785 m and ended at L'Alpe-d'Huez at 1850 m.

L'Alpe d'Huez is one of the famous climbs that often figures on the Tour de France. Although Frank Schleck from Luxembourg won the stage, American Floyd Landis' fourth-place finish was enough to regain the yellow jersey.

Stage 15 result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Frank Schleck  Luxembourg Team CSC 4h 52' 22"
2 Damiano Cunego  Italy Lampre-Fondital 0' 11"
3 Stefano Garzelli  Italy Liquigas-Bianchi 1' 10"
4 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak Hearing Systems 1' 10"
5 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 1' 10"
6 Ruben Lobato  Spain Saunier Duval-Prodir 1' 14"
7 Sylvain Chavanel  France Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone 1' 18"
8 Eddy Mazzoleni  Italy T-Mobile Team 1' 28"
9 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 1' 35"
10 Levi Leipheimer  United States Team Gerolsteiner 1' 49"
General Classification after Stage 15
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak Hearing Systems 69h 00' 05"
2 Oscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0' 10"
3 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 2' 02"
4 Denis Menchov  Russia Rabobank 2' 12"
5 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 2' 17"
6 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 2' 29"
7 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 2' 56"
8 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 5' 01"
9 Levi Leipheimer  United States Team Gerolsteiner 6' 18"
10 Haimar Zubeldia  Spain Euskaltel-Euskadi 6' 20"

Stage 16, Wednesday, July 19: Bourg-d'Oisans - La Toussuire, 182 km

This was a mountain stage with four categorized climbs: the Col du Galibier (Highest Level) with a 4.5% ascent over 42.8 km, the Col de la Croix-de-Fer (Highest Level) with a 6.9% ascent over 22.7 km, the Col du Mollard (Category 2) with a 6.8% ascent over 5.8 km, and La Toussuire (Category 1) with an ascent of 6% over 18.4 km. It began at Bourg-d'Oisans and ended at La Toussuire.

The Dane, Michael Rasmussen won the stage, and Spaniard Oscar Pereiro Sio came in third, retaking the yellow jersey from American Floyd Landis, who came in 23rd on the day dropping to 11th overall.

Italian Daniele Bennati of the Lampre team was injured in a fall and unable to continue the race. French rider Sylvain Chavanel fell in the same descent, but continued after being examined.

Stage 16 Result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Michael Rasmussen  Denmark Rabobank 5h 36' 04"
2 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 1' 41"
3 Oscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1' 54"
4 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 1' 56"
5 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 1' 56"
6 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 2' 37"
7 Pietro Caucchioli  Italy Crédit Agricole 2' 37"
8 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 2' 37"
9 Levi Leipheimer  United States Team Gerolsteiner 3' 24"
10 Haimar Zubeldia  Spain Euskaltel-Euskadi 3' 42"
General Classification after Stage 16
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Oscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 74h 38' 05"
2 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 1' 50"
3 Andréas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 2' 29"
4 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 2' 43"
5 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 2' 56"
6 Denis Menchov  Russia Rabobank 3' 58"
7 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 6' 47"
8 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 7' 03"
9 Levi Leipheimer  United States Team Gerolsteiner 7' 46"
10 Haimar Zubeldia  Spain Euskaltel-Euskadi 8' 06"

Stage 17, Thursday, July 20: St.-Jean-de-Maurienne - Morzine, 201 km

This was a mountain stage with five categorized climbs: the Col des Saisies (Category 1) with an ascent of 6.4% over 14.9 km, the Col des Aravis (Category 2) with an ascent of 7.7% over 5.9 km, the Col de la Colombière (Category 1) with an ascent of 5% over 11.8 km, the Côte de Châtillon (Category 3) with an ascent of 4.9% over 5.1 km, and the Col de Joux-Plane (Highest Level) with an ascent of 8.7% over 11.7 km. It started at St.-Jean-de-Maurienne and ended at Morzine-Avoriaz.

American Floyd Landis put himself back in contention by winning the stage to advance to third place overall. Spaniard Oscar Pereiro Sio finished the stage in seventh place and now leads Carlos Sastre by only 12 seconds.

Stage 17 Result
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak 5h 23' 36"
2 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 5' 42"
3 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 5' 58"
4 Damiano Cunego  Italy Lampre-Fondital 5' 40"
5 Michael Boogerd  Netherlands Rabobank 7' 8"
6 Frank Schleck  Luxembourg Team CSC 7' 8"
7 Oscar Pereiro  Spain Team CSC 7' 8"
8 Andreas Klöden  Germany T-Mobile Team 8' 8"
9 Haimar Zubeldia  Spain Euskaltel-Euskadi 7' 8"
10 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 7' 20"
General Classification after Stage 17
Rank Name Country Team Time
1 Oscar Pereiro Sio  Spain Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 80h 49' 0"'
2 Carlos Sastre  Spain Team CSC 12"
3 Floyd Landis  United States Phonak 30"
4 Andreas Klöden  Germany} T-Mobile Team 2' 29"
5 Cadel Evans  Australia Davitamon-Lotto 2' 8"
6 Denis Menchov  Russia 4' 14"
7 Cyril Dessel  France Ag2r Prévoyance 4' 24"
8 Christophe Moreau  France Ag2r Prévoyance 5' 45"
9 Haimar Zubeldia  Spain Euskaltel-Euskadi 8' 16"
10 Michael Rogers  Australia T-Mobile Team 12' 13"

Stage 18, Friday, July 21: Morzine - Mâcon, 197 km

This stage has three categorized climbs: the Côte de Châtillon-en-Michaille (Category 3) with an ascent of 3.7% over 51. km, the Col du Berthiand (Category 2) with an ascent of 6% over 4.7 km, and the Côte de Chambod (Category 4) with an ascent of 6.4 over 1.9 km. It begins at Morzine and ends at Mâcon.

Stage 19, Saturday, July 22: Le Creusot - Montceau-les-Mines, 57 km

This is the last time trial of the 2006 Tour de Fance. It is anticipated that the race will be decided here.

Stage 20, Sunday, July 23: Sceaux - Paris, 155 km

This is the last stage. It has two categorized climbs (both Category 4). It begins at Sceaux-Antony and ends at Paris on the Champs-Elysées.

See also

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