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Dave's Dogmatic Dribbles
By Dave Osborne
Jul 16, 2004, 16:26

Tour de France - stage 12

I’m pretty sure nobody reads my dribbles (Disagree? Tell Dave) so that way I won’t have to admit I was wrong.

Seems like I said the Posties wouldn’t make their move until stage 13. Well, the move was made but I don’t think they intended to do it until tomorrow! I’ll have a talk with Johan about that.

Ivan Basso (Team CSC) wins the tough mountain stage ahead of Lance Armstrong (US Postal). Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.

So why did USPS draw blood today? Was it the wet roads? Was it the unexpected struggle by some of the GC contenders? Did they just want me to look bad? I still think tomorrow is critical.

I enjoy mountain top stage finishes. It’s like watching a sprint finish only it takes a while longer! The first “sprint” came when Mayo and Ullrich gapped Lance by about 20 seconds on the decent of Col d’ Aspin. Big George, Landis, and Azevedo were key domestiques today. The rain stopped and it turned humid. The pace was strong and then there was trouble. Hamilton was essentially already gone. Ullrich and Mayo slipped off. In the end, Basso crosses the line for the stage win with Lance getting the same time. Lance slaps Mayo by putting another 1:03 on him and punches Ullrich and Hamilton with 2:29 and 3:30 respectively.

Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) both lost crucial minutes today and will now find it extremely difficult to take the overall Tour win. Phonak's team proved stronger than Ullrich's and was able to support Tyler all the way to the finish while also having riders in the front group. Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.

I don’t think the first day of a mountain stage wins or loses the Tour but it makes an impact. What’s more important is how you do on the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th mountain day. Maybe I will still be right about my stage 13 prediction!

On another note, Voeckler is showing signs of a true champion by digging deep to defend the yellow jersey. He keeps bouncing back and displays tremendous courage. He truly deserves to wear the yellow and France should be proud of him. He might not be around much longer.

Basso told Roadcycling.com that "It was difficult for a lot of riders, but I had good legs and I just seized my chance." He added that "For me it was a fantastic day, the team protected me so well for 10 days. Bjarne doesn't put pressure on me and tells me just to keep calm and feel the race. Bjarne likes to decide in the race what we'll do."

Riis commented that "We've been very patient with Ivan. We've been working with him and he's responded well to the training program and he's such a hard worker."

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com as the Tour continues!

Dave Osborne

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