95th Tour de France - Stage  12 Live Part 2
Our brave duo Dumoulin and Gerard are down to a 40 second lead as they try to fend off the combined efforts of Columbia and Quick Step

Stage 12 Lavelanet - Narbonne, 168km
1558 CEST - Things are going fast now as the gap falls to 40 seconds. A Euskaltel rider in the chase now. Looks like very pointless attack but he wants to show himself I think. It's Juan José Oroz. Oroz bridged up to Dumoulin and Gerard. Three leaders now as the gap is up to almost 1.00 again. The bunch let the guys swimming off the front a bit before reeling them in.

46 km to go - the gap of the three leaders is up to 1.29. The peloton follows spread out across the road 12 abreast. The three leaders Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Arnaud Gerard (La Francaise des Jeux) are working well together.

The bunch is riding wide over the roads with Silence-Lotto and O'Grady joining front of the bunch.

1613 CEST - 40 km to go and the gap stays around the 1.30. Still some parts on the course to come in which the wind will be a factor to favor echelons; but I doubt we get one with the attitude of the bunch at the moment. At this point I'm not sure that the current tactic is to punish the riders up front or to bore the fans. The gap falls to 1.15 with Silence-Lotto in the command. Evans is up there in front to control the race and to be safe if something unexpected will happen... we should be so lucky... At any rate, it looks like a lovely day for a ride in France under sunny skies that make the rainbow of the peloton's jerseys seem even a brighter than normal.

35 km to go, Milram and Columbia come to the front now too. 36 seconds the gap About time for the peloton to end this charade and pull the trio in and end their suffering.

1627 CEST - 30 km to go, Gap :45 We have to expect some attacks to come after the Franco/Spanish trio Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Arnaud Gerard (La Francaise des Jeux) are caught. Should be some good skirmishes as a few hardy (and well rested) riders attempt to deny the sprinters their day in Narbonne. The sprinters teams  of course will try to drag this cat and mouse tactic out as long as they can to avoid the attacks... likely timing the catch with 10 to 15 km to go. The gap continues to yo - yo at below one minute.

Samuel Dumoulin attacks out of the break... But Oroz chases him down. The gap goes up to 1:19

1637 CEST - 25 km to go, Dumoulin takes the final intermediate sprint ahead of Gerard and Oroz in Thezan-Des-Corbieres. Advantage Oscar Freire in the battle to wear the green jersey. The peloton is very compact with no riders off the back... looks like all 318 legs will arrive at the finish to contest the sprint.

The gap falls to the 40 second range again... Quick Step and Liquigas lead the chase. 20 km to go. Our lead trio are giving it their all to evade capture as they pass through the valley filled with vineyards on each side of the road. Both chase and escape are moving very fast. The wind continues to buffet both.

17 km to go Milram now in the lead too. the gap down to 34 seconds. Trio in front are putting in a hell of an effort and now have the help of a tailwind. 15 km to go 30 seconds...

14 km to go. the three are still working well together... moving very fast, though the gap is down to 24 seconds - the favorites are all in the front of the bunch for safety. but no echelons yet.

The gap falls to 20 seconds. - 14 seconds with 12 km our trio are defiant and continue to time trial in an attempt to stay away.

1654 CEST - Gap 8 seconds. The peloton have the trio in sight.

10 km to go - 5 seconds the gap Dumoulin attacks again, Oroz and Gerard counter,  but the bunch sweeps up the three outriders in spite of the final effort -  gruppo compatto. the pace is very fast now with O'Grady setting the pace.

1700 CEST - 5 km to go. Rabobank, Quick Step and Columbia vying for positions at the front.

3 km - Liquigas takes the lead, then Milram takes the control of the front for Erik Zabel. Columbia now. Chaos reigns at the front as we approach the final kilometer, no team has control...

Steegmans, Hushvod, Freire, Cavendish, Chavanel, Zabel, McEwen, Casper and Hunter. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

Cav opens it up as Chavanel makes his move... Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

as they approach the line the peloton is in chaos - Cavendish...

Mark Cavendish Wins

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Cavendish takes the win. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

Cavendish emerges out of the charge to take the stage, Sebastien Chavanel 2nd, Quick Step's Steegmans 3rd, Zabel fourth, Freire fifth, Chicchi 6th, Hushovd 7th and Duque 8th. Cadel Evans comes in with the group and holds on to his lead for another day in yellow.

Stage Top 15
1. Cavendish Mark 43 Team Columbia 3h 40' 52"
2. Chavanel Sébastien 162 Francaise Des Jeux 3h 40' 52" 
3. Steegmans Gert 97 Quick Step 3h 40' 52" 
4. Zabel Erik 151 Team Milram 3h 40' 52" 
5. Freire Oscar 133 Rabobank 3h 40' 52"
6. Chicchi Francesco 63 Liquigas 3h 40' 52"
7. Hushovd Thor 81 Credit Agricole 3h 40' 52"
8. Duque Leonardo 186 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 3h 40' 52"
9. Dean Julian 193 Garmin Chipotle 3h 40' 52" 
10. Haussler Heinrich 114 Gerolsteiner 3h 40' 52"
11. Mc Ewen Robbie 6 Silence - Lotto 3h 40' 52" 
12. Casper Jimmy 123 Agritubel 3h 40' 52" 
13. Hunter Robert 58 Barloworld 3h 40' 52" 
14. Elmiger Martin 105 Ag2r-La Mondiale 
15. Ballan Alessandro 72 Lampre 3h 40' 52" 

General Classification after Stage 12
1. Evans Cadel 1 Silence - Lotto 50h 23' 05"
2. Schleck Frank 17 Team Csc Saxo Bank 50h 23' 06" - 00' 01"
3. Vandevelde Christian 191 Garmin Chipotle 50h 23' 43" - 00' 38"
4. Kohl Bernhard 115 Gerolsteiner 50h 23' 51" - 00' 46"
5. Menchov Denis 131 Rabobank 50h 24' 02" - 00' 57"
6. Sastre Carlos 11 Team Csc Saxo Bank 50h 24' 33" - 01' 28"
7. Kirchen Kim 41 Team Columbia 50h 25' 01" - 01'56

Efimkin Moves To 8th, Astarloza to ninth,  And Vincenzo Nibali to tenth.

The Jerseys after stage 12:
yellow: Cadel Evans
green: Oscar Freire
Polka dot: Sebastian Lang
White: Vincenzo Nibali

This concludes our coverage for today. Thanks for joining Bart Hazen and me for the live coverage today.  Join us for stage 13 from Narbonne to Nimes over 182 km. A stage for the sprinters again but with 2 Cat. 4 climbs coming in the middle of the parcours; certainly favoring a break to deny the sprinters their glory. Read Nick Bulls preview and predictions for Stage 13 here.  

Stage 12 Profile - Stage 13 Profile

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