Stage 12: Lavelanet - Narbonne, 168.5 km
First off, wow. I am stunned, if you haven’t heard the news, you had better sit down. Ricardo Ricco has tested positive for EPO on two stages and is in police custody, and his team, Saunier Duval-Scott, has dropped out of the Tour. Wow. I didn’t know anyone who liked Ricco, but he was a great rider. I loved how he attacked like Marco Pantani, in the drops while climbing. This is the third positive doping test this Tour, with yesterday’s scandal and earlier Manuel Beltran (one of my all time favorite riders, since his days with team US Postal). Ricco was in ninth place, had won two stages earlier in the Tour, and had a podium finish in this years Giro d’Italia.
Spoiler Alert: Now for some lighter news, Mark Cavendish (Columbia) became the first British rider to win three Tour de France stages in a single edition. He won today’s sprint, below are the details.
Today’s racing was uneventful, considering the action before the start of the stage. A breakaway formed as it always does on sprint stages, but it was caught under the 10km to go banner. Team Columbia lacked the leadout train they had in stages five and eight, possibly due to the toll the mountains had taken. Mark Cavendish once again beat top names including Robbie McEwen, Oscar Freire, Gert Steegmans and Erik Zabel. Cavendish’s speed is undeniable.
“It was a difficult finish and there was a lot of wind at the end but that just shows the strength of our team,” said Cavendish, who admitted that getting over the Pyrenees had left him depleted. “I didn’t win with the same margin I did on my previous stage wins, and that shows how tired I am now, but I still managed to win nonetheless. I’m really happy.”
There were jersey changes today, seeing as how Ricco held both the KOM and young rider jerseys. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) now leads the KOM competition, and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) is the best young rider.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Well, I would just like to say that Cavendish has never really had a “train” like the old Cipo Trains. He has had his team take it to the last K and then get flooded by the likes of Quick-Step and Silence-Lotto, so Cavendish has been pulling off McEwen-esk sprinits for each of his three wins. This is not to take away anything from Team Columbia as they have been the single most successful team of the tour to date. Go America…Go Hincapie…again!
Also, is anyone suprised by Ricco? No offense to the guy but EPO? At least get a little creative with your dopping (like an elephant growth hormone or something). Plus, with the way the guy acts on and off the bike (like a jerk!!!) officials could tell me that he has been shooting speed while in the neutral start and I would believe it.
Keep me updated!