Tour report; Stage 12

How could I have forgotten that today is Bastille Day? The Frenchest of all French days! I feel like such a moron...

If I had remembered my history I would have predicted the type of win we had today by David Moncoutie. With a peloton that could really care less about riding hard, except for all the Franco-cyclists, a break was sure to get away. Moncoutie won a stage before, so he was all revved up to take another.

Boonen's knee injury forced his withdrawal from the race, especially since the World Championships this year would be a good course for him. This now leaves the Points competition a bit more open. Expect to see Thor, Robbie and Stuey really getting tough and fighting for each and every point available for the remainder of the event. Maybe some more headbutting too...

Disco loses Benjamin Noval to a crash today and now they are down a critical climbing specialist before they hit the Pyrenees. Frankly, I think Tex is climbing just fine and he still has a strong juggernaut of professional bitch-slappers to enforce his will on the peloton. Unless Ullrich really gets a bug up his brat-eating rear end, he's unlikely to be a factor in the high mountains. Valverde? Maybe. Basso? Likely. Vino? Oh, he'll try for sure. So really, Lance only has to worry about Rasmussen, since he's only 38 seconds down and is the best climber in the race so far. I'd expect him to try and gain a little more time, since he can't time trial to save his life. A stiff wind will blow him off the road and into the bushes...

Tomorrow will be a lot like today and will be a flat day for the fast guys (or the French riders who want to continue the Bastille Day hangover). Expect McEwen to be hungry now that Boonen is back home having a beer and frites in the pub watching the "telly".

Tim