Thaindian News

At the end of the stage 12 of the Tour de France on Thursday, July 16, Denmark’s Nicki Sorensen went ahead of the pelaton in the 131 mile ride that stretched from Tonnerre to Vittel, to win his way through. Sorensen was persistent in his attacks and kept at it feverishly, till he had opened up a gap of 37 seconds towards the finish. With this win, Sorensen clinched his first ever stage victory at the Tour de France.

He finished a remarkable 48 seconds ahead of Leaurent Lefevre from France, who came in second. Sorensen’s win also halted Mark Cavendish in his stage winning spree; Cavendish had been making his best efforts to claim a hat trick of consecutive stage victories. Cavendish finished eight and maintained his sprinter dominance.

Lance Armstrong successfully managed to bypass a disastrous situation when he encountered a flat back wheel tire just 37 miles left to complete the 131 mile ride. Fortunately, Armstrong’s Astana teammates were near by to help him replace the tire and get him back in to the race comfortably. The seven time Tour champion still manages to sit on the third position in spite of the mishap and is just 8 seconds behind the lead of Italy’s Rinaldo Nocentini. The famous and difficult Alps range stages are soon approaching in the Tour and Armstrong is known to have a beneficial relationship with the rides in the Alps. So, it might not be entirely surprising if he gets to takeover the yellow jersey in the next few stages.

On Thursday, Cycling’s International Union revoked its ban that prevented riders to use earpieces for electronic radio communication. For the 13th stage therefore, the use is allowed.