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Stage 12 - Friday, July 19: Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille
5:00 p.m. Heras attacks and takes second, 1:03 behind Armstrong. Beloki takes third at 1:05.
4:58 p.m. Armstrong wins it.
4:57 p.m. With kilometer to go, Armstrong has about 1:00 on Beloki and Heras.
4:56 p.m. Any questions?
Armstrong has a lock on the stage, his 14th stage win at the Tour.
4:55 p.m. With 2km to go, Armstrong continues to power through to the finish. He has 32 seconds on Beloki and Heras.
4:51 p.m. With 3km to go, Heras has given up the chase and will shadow Beloki to the finish. Heras just could not close the gap to Armstrong, so the Postal leader will power into the final portion of the climb. He has already upped the gap to 35 seconds.
4:50 p.m. Heras is still about 12 seconds behind Armstrong. Beloki is another 11 seconds behind.
4:49 p.m. With 4km to go, Armstrong has a slight 12 second lead on Heras. Beloki is still just 55 seconds back.
4:47 p.m. Armstrong is cruising along at the front and he appears to be waiting for Heras, who has left Beloki way behind.
4:47 p.m. Heras attacks Beloki and the ONCE man can not respond.
4:46 p.m. Armstrong is 20 seconds ahead as he passes under the 5km to go banner.
4:45 p.m. Armstrong is now 15 seconds ahead of Beloki and Heras. Heras is simply shadowing the ONCE rider.
4:44 p.m. Armstrong is about 6 seconds ahead of Beloki and Heras.
4:42 p.m. Armstrong continues to ride on his own. He is about 100 meters ahead of Beloki and Heras. The rest of the group is spread all along the road behind them.
4:40 p.m. Heras came to the front and shed everyone but Armstrong and Beloki.
Armstrong then moved to the front and he has opened up a gap. Heras is comfortable and Beloki looks to be struggling.
4:39 p.m. Rubiera has stepped up the pace and Kivilev and Goubert.
4:38 p.m. The lead group continues to power on behind the pace set by Rubiera.
The group includes Armstrong, Rubiera, Heras, Beloki, Gonzalez Galdeano, Beloki, Botero, Sastre, Goubert, Rumsas and Kivilev.
4:36 p.m. Sevilla has been dropped again. The lead group also includes CSC's Carlos Sastre.
4:33 p.m. The situation right now with 9km to go. The lead group is powering ahead.
The group includes 10 Armstong, Heras and Rubiera. ONCE has Gonzalez Galdeano, Nozal and Beloki. Kelme has Botero and Sevilla -- who keeps dropping off and fighting his way back on. Rubiera is still setting pace on the front.
4:30 p.m. Jalabert has been caught.
The Armstrong group is at the front. It is being driven by Heras and Rubiera. Armstrong is sitting behind his two Spanish teammates.
4:29 p.m. Nozal and Dufaux have been caught.
Jalabert is about 35 seconds ahead, with 10 very tough kilometers ahead.
Sevilla has been dropped from the Armstrong group.
4:26 p.m. Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer have been dropped by the Armstrong group. That group now includes Armstrong, Roberto Heras, And RubieraKelme's Oscar Sevilla, ONCE's Joseba Beloki, Cofidis's Andrei Kivilev and Jean Delatour's Stephane Goubert. The group is closing in on Dufaux and Nozal.
4:22 p.m. The Armstrong group -- which includes Beloki and Tyler Hamilton -- is already closing in on Nozal and Dufaux. They have a bit more than 45 seconds on the group.
4:21 p.m. Jalabert is now off on his own. He is about 20 seconds ahead of the other two men who were with him. He has 12km to go.
The "peloton" is really not that any more. The little group with the yellow jersey is shrinking.
4:18 p.m. The peloton is blowing apart. The field is falling apart and several riders are coming off the back.
Up front with the leaders, there is an attack... and it ain't from the ONCE man. It's Jalabert, charging ahead of his two companions.
4:16 p.m. The Postal team is still powering the front of the peloton. The ONCE team has launched an attack, sending Marcos A.Serrano off the front.
The leaders' advantage is down to 2:15.
4:13 p.m. The peloton hit the climb 3:04 behind the leaders. Postal is still driving the pace at the front.
4:12 p.m. The leaders are on the climb. While the climb averages 7.9 percent, the slope is easier than that now and then steepens as it gets closer to the top.
4:11 p.m. The three leaders are 3:15 ahead of the field as they approach the climb to Plateau de Beille.
4:07 p.m. The three leaders are 18.5km from the finish. Their lead has been trimmed to 3:45, with the climb beginning in just 2km.
Nozal, the young ONCE rider, has been hanging at the back all day. He is bound to try an attack on the final climb. He now sits in 20th place on GC, 8:00 outof first.
4:03 p.m. Konecny is back in the peloton.
The leaders are now 20km from the finish. They will be starting the climb in 4km.
3:59 p.m. Konecny is just 10 seconds off the front. He's bound to be pulled back soon.
The leaders are 4:20 ahead of the peloton, which is still led by the Postal team.
3:57 p.m. The three leaders are 4:30 ahead of the field. Merckx has been pulled back into the yellow jersey group. Konecny is now out on his own, about 15 seconds ahead of the group.
3:54 p.m. Merckx and Konecny are 20 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.
Ahead the leaders are 4:35 ahead of the field. The three leaders are off the descent and on the road to the final climb.
3:52 p.m. The small break off the front has shrunk down to Merckx and Konecy. Virenque, Sastre and Peron are back in the field.
The leaders are 4:45 ahead of the field.
3:48 p.m. The Domo team has three riders -- Virenque, Merckx and Czech rider Tomas Konecy -- in that little break. With them are Peron and Carlos Sastre.
3:45 p.m. The Domo guys are still about 10 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey group.
The leaders -- Jalabert, Dufaux and Nozal -- are some 34km from the finish and maintaining a lead of 4:30.
3:43 p.m. The Domo squad has launched a nice attack on the descent. Up front, with a 12-second lead, are Richard Virenque and Axel Merckx, along with CSC's Andrea Peron.
3:41 p.m. The peloton has crested the climb 4:35 behind the leaders.
3:37 p.m. The three leaders are cruising down the back side of the Col de Port.
Behind, the Postal team is at the front of the main group and should crest the climb about 4:45 behind the three leaders.
3:36 p.m. Up and over. It's Jalabert, Dufaux and Nozal.
3:34 p.m. The three leaders are now within .5km of the top of the climb. Jalabert is about to grab another 20 climber's points and is solidifying his hold on the polka-dot jersey.
3:31 p.m. The three leaders are 3km from the top of the Col de Port. They are holding on to a lead of 4:45, according to the last time check.
3:30 p.m. The Olympic mountain bike champion Miguel Martinez has been dropped by the yellow jersey group.
3:28 p.m. The three leaders have lost a bit of their advantage over the past few km. They are now 4:45 ahead of the field.
3:25 p.m. The leaders have passed the 150km mark. We have 49 km remaining. The gap to the three leaders is still around five minutes.
3:20 p.m. This is turning into a fairly uneventful climb. The three leaders are still 5:10 ahead of the field. We can expect a huge flurry of attacks on the final climb, the beyond Categorie Plateau de Beille, 15.9km averaging 7.8-percent, a deceptive figure since it turns into a real killer over the final 4km.
3:17 p.m. The three leaders are at about the half-way mark on the Col de Port. The gap is still right around 5:10.
3:13 p.m. The leaders are at 146km and are maintaining an advantage of 5:05.
The Postal team is at the front of the peloton, as it has been for most of the day.
3:11 p.m. The three leaders are at km 145 and have a lead of 5:03. It is quite warm, but there is a slight tailwind up the climb.
3:08 p.m. Mazzoleni has been pulled back into the field. Jalabert, Dufaux and their ONCE passenger Nazol are about 4:55 ahead of the field.
The leaders are on the slopes of the Col de Port. The peloton is passing through the village of Massat at the base of the climb.
3:01 p.m. The leaders are approaching the base of the climb up the Col de Port, the 12.4km 4.9-percent climb that crests at 155.5km.
The leaders are at 141km - with 58km.
2:58 p.m. The Postal-led peloton is cutting away at the advantage of the Jalabert group. They are now 4:39 ahead of the peloton. Mazzoleni is in the middle, 50 seconds ahead of the peloton.
2:54 p.m. Virenque is just now being caught by the Postal-led team.
Mazzoleni is 1:10 ahead of the main field and Jalabert and Co. are a full five minutes ahead of the field.
2:49 p.m. By the way, after yesterday's carnage, several riders dropped out.
One who did not was Battle-scarred Bradley McGee. Before today's start, McGee vowed not to give up his Tour de France challenge despite a dramatic fall which almost sent him crashing out of this year's race. The gritty Australian got back on his bike for the 12th stage despite suffering severe bruising and lacerations to his back and shoulders after tumbling into barbed wire fence. The nightmare fall is one which the 26-year-old FDJeux.com rider blames on a momentary lapse in concentration which he is determined not to repeat.
"I was halfway down the second part of the Aubisque descent," McGee told the French wire service AFP prior to the start of Friday's 198km stage.
"We were shooting down and I was feeling really good and comfortable in the turns. I was in control. I then let (David) Etxebarria come through and he moved to the front. Then at one moment I heard a motorbike scrape its kickstand off the ground and, just out of instinct I turned around."
"Before I'd turned back round again the road had gone from left to right to left, and I was halfway through a fence without hitting the brakes. I tried to throw it (bike) round but I didn't make it. I went over the right hand side (of the road), then dropped down a ditch and switched over to the left then went through a barbed wire fence."
McGee, nevertheless still finished the best-placed Aussie on the day, coming in 67th at 9min 45sec behind stage winner and new race leader Lance Armstrong of the US Postal team.
Barring the crash, McGee had been confident he could have done better.
"Yeah, I had really good climbing legs yesterday (Thursday) I felt really good on the Aubisque - you don't get days like that too often," he added.
"I got pissed when I crashed for no reason because I really felt that I could do something on the stage."
Prior to Friday's stage, which included five killer climbs on the last real day of climbing in the Pyrenees, McGee was also the best-placed Australian rider in the overall standings, in 53rd at 15:22 behind Armstrong.
2:45 p.m. The Virenque group has given up and are about to be pulled in by the peloton.
Actually Eddy Mazzoleni hasn't given up. He's off on his own.
The three leaders are now 5:30 ahead of the main field.
2:40 p.m. The three leaders are on the flat between the Col de la Core and the Cat. 2 Col de Port. Ahead the climb is a 12.6km haul that averages 4.9 percent.
The three leaders are 3:15 ahead of the Virenque group and 4:30 ahead of the field.
2:36 p.m. The Jalabert group is nearing the bottom of the descent.
They still enjoy a lead of 2:47 over the Virenque group and 4:20 over the main field.
2:33 p.m. The Jalabert, Dufaux, Nozal trio has a lead of 2:42 over the Virenque chase group and 4:15 on the peloton.
2:31 p.m. American television viewers with access to the Outdoor Life Network, can now watch the last three hours of the stage live.
2:24 p.m. The three leaders are working their way down the descent. The Virenque group is up and over, some 2:44 behind the leaders and then a second chase group another 1:30 behind.
2:20 p.m. Jalabert has taken the top spot in the KOM contest and has a solid grip on the polka dot jersey.
2:18 p.m. Oriol has been caught by the peloton.
The leaders are nearing the top of the Col de la Core. John Wilcockson reports that the climb up the Col de Port will have have a stiff tailwind, which will help the leaders.
2:16 p.m. With less than 2km to go before the summit of the Col de la Core, the three leaders have increased their advantage over the Virenque group to 2:30.
2:14 p.m. The three leaders are about 2.5km from the top of the Cat. 1 Col de la Core.
2:09 p.m. The three leaders are in the final three kilometers of the climb. They still have a two-minute-and-fifteen-second lead over Botcharov, Mazzoleni and Virenque.
2:06 p.m. Richard Virenque has seriously stepped up the pace in the chase group and has lost four of his companions: Oriol, Etxebarria, Zberg and Miguel Martinez, the mountain-bike rider turned roadie.
Still, the gap to the leaders -- Jalabert, Nozal and Dufaux -- is about 2:15.
The chase group in the back is shattered, with only Botcharov, Mazzoleni and Virenque riding together.
2:01 p.m. Just in case you're wondering about today's finish at Plateau de Beille. This plateau at 6000 feet elevation is the biggest center for cross-country skiing in the Pyrenees. No one really actually lives there, the only buildings being a mountain refuge and a restaurant, but it's packed with skiers all winter.
The Plateau de Beille also hosts a series of canine weekends in the summer, with up to 450 dogs and their trainers in attendance. Some 5000 people live in the villages at the base of the 13-kilometer-long climb that links the valley to the summit. Lance Armstrong won a stage of the Route du Sud race here in 1999, and this year Levi Leipheimer won a time trial up to Beille in the same event. The only Tour stage here was won by Marco Pantani in 1998.
1:56 p.m. Our latest time check from the VeloNews car, gives the three leaders -- who are now halfway up the climb -- a lead of 2:40 over the Virenque group of seven and are approaching a lead of 4:00 over the field. It's not a huge margin, given that we still have almost half of the stage remaining -- two-and-a-half major climbs and another 99km to go.1:52 p.m. Well, up front with the gentlemen in the lead, Jalabert, Dufaux and Nozal have a 2:30 advantage over the Virenque group of seven.
The peloton, perhaps slowed by the wheeled boxing match between Sastre and Moreau, is now 3:45 behind the leaders.
I bet we read about this one in the race jury report tonight.
1:49 p.m. Well, here's a weird one. Race radio reports that Carlos Sastre and Christophe Moreau have come to blows while riding in the main field. We have no further news on that one, as our car is up with the race leaders, where it is apparently more civilized.
1:45 p.m. The three leaders are well onto today's third major climb, the Cat. 1 Col de la Core.
Our last time check, about one kilometer into the climb, gave them an advantage of 2:30 over their pursuers and 4:00 over the main field.
1:37 p.m. As they approach the base of the Col de la Core, the three leaders are 2:20 ahead of their closest pursuers and 3:40 ahead of the main field.
1:33 p.m. The three leaders have an advantage of 1:35 at km 89. We are just three major climbs and 110 km from the finish.
1:27 p.m. Our man Wilcockson gave us a time check of 1:20 at the intermediate sprint. The three men in front lead a Virenque-led chase group of seven that includes Zberg, Oriol, Martinez, Etxebarria, Mazzoleni and Botcharov.
The peloton -- with Lance Armstrong -- has come through at 3:24 behind the three leaders.
1:27 p.m. Jalabert took the day's second "sprint" as the three leaders rolled through the the mark at 81.5km. Dufaux took second and Nozal took third.
1:20 p.m. The three leaders are on the descent and have an advantage of 36 seconds on Alexandre Botcharov and a resurgent Oriol.
Behind them, Virenque, Zberg, Martinez, Etxebarria and Mazzoleni are another 10 seconds back and then the peloton is another 2:00 behind.
Ahead is the day's second sprint, which is likely to be ignored. The next big obstacle is the Cat 1. Col de la Core, 14.3 km of 5.8-percent grade, which begins at 96km, or in about 15km.
1:18 p.m. Jalabert was the first rider to reach the summit. He has since been joined by Dufaux and Nozal.
1:13 p.m. Make that three times. Oriol has lost contact with Jalabert and has been caught and passed by the hard-charging Dufaux, Nozal, Zberg trio.
1:10 p.m. Oriol is beginning to have difficulty staying with Jalabert. The two men are near the top of the climb, but Oriol has lost contact twice and fought his way back to Jalabert's wheel.
1:08 p.m. With Laurent Dufaux powering the chase group behind Jalabert and Oriol, the group has fractured into two. Dufaux is joined now by Nozal and Zberg. In their wake, they have left Virenque, Etxebarria and Mazzoleni.
The two men in front are nearing the top of the climb. Jalabert already is the KOM leader at this point and is likely to score the points on this climb as well.
1:04 p.m. The peloton has passed by the Casartelli memorial and continues on in pursuit of the day's early escapees.
1:01 p.m. Jalabert and Oriol are still working their way up the Portet d’Aspet. They are within 3km of the top and lead the next group by 1:15.
12:58 p.m. The two leaders -- Jalabert and Oriol -- have an advantage of 1:15 over a group of eight riders -- Virenque, Dufaux, Botcharov, Mazzoleni, Etxebarria, Zberg, Martinez Nozal. They are being chased by Marzio Bruseghin (iBanesto) who is in the no-mans-land between the chase group and the peloton.
12:55 p.m. The two leaders are 1:15 ahead of the next group of chasers, seven riders that include Nozal, Zberg, Etxebarria. The Peloton is another minute back.
This means that Armstrong and the peloton will be unable to stop at the start of the next climb, the Portet d’Aspet, to pay homage at the memorial to Fabio Casartelli — Armstrong’s Italian teammate who died here in a horrific downhill crash at the 1995 Tour. But as happened last year when the race passed by the Casartelli memorial in the opposite direction and finished at St. Lary-Soulan, the defending Tour champion will want to win the stage in honor of his departed friend.
12:52 p.m. Jalabert has caught Oriol and the two leaders are nearing the bottom of the descent and will soon begin the climb up today's second climb, the Cat. Col de Portet d'Aspet, which averages 9.9 percent for about 4.5km.
12:49 p.m. The chasers began cresting the summit about 1 minute after Jalabert. The peloton came through at 2:15, with the Postal team of race leader Lance Armstrong setting the pace.
We may see a fairly good group form at the front through this descent.
12:44 p.m. Oriol crossed the summit in the lead, followed by Jalabert at 36 seconds.
Of course, you should take a look attoday's profile to see what lays ahead for Oriol, if he does stay offon his own. One would expect that he might hope for an ally like Jalabert on this road.
12:40 p.m. Oriol is less than a kilometer from the top of the Col de Mente. Jalabert is closing in on him. He is now 44 seconds behind the one-time lanterne rouge.
12:37 p.m. Oriol is now within 2km of the top of this long 9.4km, 9-percent climb. He is still about 1:00 ahead of Jalabert.
12:33 p.m. Oriol is still about a minute ahead of Jalabert.
David Etxebarria is now chasing Jalabert and is about 40 seconds behind him. Nozal and Zberg have jumped clear of the group and are chasing Etxebarria.
Those two are just 10 seconds ahead of the chase group and the peloton is just another 10 seconds back.
12:31 p.m. The current situation on the road: Oriol is at the head of the field. He is being pursued by Jalabert, at about 1:25. Then a group of 10 riders -- Sevilla, Carlos Sastre (CSC), Virenque, Santiago Blanco (iBanesto), Marzio Bruseghin (iBanesto) and Alexandre Botcharov (Ag2r), Isido Nozal (ONCE), Udo Bolts (Telekom), Jose Azevedo (ONCE) and Patrice Halgand -- are 45 seconds behind Jalabert.
The peloton is just behind the chase group.
12:28 a.m. Oriol is still off on his own. The chase group is increasing in size and Jalabert is again trying his hand on escaping on his own.
12:25 a.m. Jalabert and Halgand are back with the other six. Oriol is 2:10 ahead of his pursuers and 3:10 up on the main field.
12:22 a.m. Jalabert and Halgand have dumped Poor Richard and are now chasing Oriol.
The have six riders -- Sevilla, Carlos Sastre (CSC), Virenque, Santiago Blanco (iBanesto), Marzio Bruseghin (iBanesto) and Alexandre Botcharov (Ag2r) -- in pursuit. That group is 1:50 ahead of the main field
12:15 a.m. Oriol's lead is up to 2:25... and now a dangerous trio wants to join him. Laurent Jalabert (CSC), Richard Virenque (Domo) and the mountain leader Patrice Halgand are attacking from the front of the peloton on the slopes of the day's first climb - the Cat. 1 Col de Mente.
12:10 a.m. Our last time check at km 43 gives Oriol -- the man who was in last place overall at the start of yesterday's stage -- an advantage of 1:30.
12:07 a.m. At the 40km mark, Oriol has an advantage of 45 seconds. It appears that the pursuit has eased off.
12:02 a.m. With Virenque in the group, the break seemed doomed to failure. No one was going to let him slip away. The break was cut back to 12 seconds and Oriol has now tried his luck and gone off alone -- with 160 mountainous kilometers remaining.
11:58 a.m. The current situation on the road is that four riders -- Richard Virenque (Domo) Paul van Hyfte (CSC), Addy Engels (Rabobabnk and Christophe Oriol (Ag2R) have broken off the front of the fireld and are 24 seconds off the front.
The Postal and Jean Delatour teams are leading the chase.
Yes, Oriol is the same gentleman our friend Rupert Guinness wrote about about inhis column yesterday.
11:57 a.m. Good morning. Racing in Stage 12 of the Tour de France has been underway for an hour.
We started this morning with 176 riders, in addition to the riders who withdrew yesterday, number 156. Luciano Pagliarini (Lampre Daikin) the only Brazillian rider in the Tour has pulled out this morning before the start.
DETAILS OF STAGE 12: Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille, 199.5km.INTERMEDIATE SPRINTS: Loures-Barousse (30km) and Orgibet (81.5km).CLIMBS: Cat. 2 climbs of Col de Portet d’Aspet (71.5km) and Col de Port (155.5km). Cat. 1 climbs of Col de Menté (46.5km to 56km) and Col de la Core (93km to 107.5km). Hors-categorie climb to Plateau de Beille (183.5km to 199.5km),WEATHER FORECAST: Hot sunny day with temperatures in the 80s F in the valleys and in high 60s on the peaks.
