Victory In Vittel For Sorensen

The Progress Report
Bright sun and blue skies were the order of the day for the 12th stage of the 2009 Tour de France from Tonnerre to Vittel. The official start was at 12.39pm with 169 riders at the sign-on. The non-starter was Faria Da Costa (GCE) who tore ligments in his shoulder in a crash during stage 11. At 211.5km, the stage to Vittel is the second longest stay of the 96th edition and it included six low-ranked hills with the first five ranked cat-4 and the final one cat-3. Points for the polka-dot jersey were awarded at the cote de Baon (19km), cote de Gye-de-Seine (55km), cote d’Essoyes (64.5km), cote des Grands-Bois (150km), cote de Morlaix (156.5km) and cote de Bourmont (170.5km). The intermediate sprints were in Channes (32km), Longchamp-su-Aujon (90km) and St-Thiebault (169km).

Cavendish Starts Chasing Intermediate Sprints
The opening phase of the 12th stage was raced at a rapid pace. Although there were many escape attempts none succeeded before the first climb. Millar (GRM) led Bennati and Pellizotti (LIQ) to the top of the first climb. Millar tried to continue his attack after the Baon climb and was joined by Bennati and Lequatre (AGR) but they were caught at 22km.
Regularly throughout the 2009 Tour, Cavendish (THR) has said that he would not contest intermediate sprints – opting instead to collect points in stage finishes – but he led Hushovd (CTT) to the line in Channes and increased his advantage in the race for the green jersey. At 41km, 11 escaped, including: Lancaster, Larsson (SAX), Garate (RAB), Vaugrenard (FDJ), Moinard (COF), Bonnet (BBO) and Pineau (QST). They were caught at 46km with Astana leading the peloton’s pursuit. The average speed for the opening hour was 47.9km/h. Pellizotti (LIQ) led Martinez (EUS) and team-mate Kreuziger over the second climb.

Seven (Finally) Escape Peloton
At 64km, Lefevre (BBO) began an attack; he was chased down by Pellizotti (LIQ), Martinez (EUS), Pauriol (COF), Calzati (AGR) and Fothen (MRM). They were chased momentarily by a group that included A. Schleck (SAX), Evans (SIL), Leipheimer (AST) and Astarloza (EUS). The counter-attack was caught around the 73km mark after gaining about 10” on the peloton. At 75km, N. Sorensen bridged to the six leaders and by 82km this group of seven was 1’00” ahead. This is when the peloton finally called a truce and by 83km the advantage had grown to 2’00”. By 85km the seven led by 3’00”. The average for the second hour was 45.7km/h.
As the peloton exited the feedzone (111.5km) it was 4’20” behind. AG2R was in control of the pacesetting duties. The average speed for the third hour was 36.7km/h.
Once the escape was established, Pellizotti led over each climb. He is now ranked second in the mountains classification.

Sorensen Launches Off For Victory
With 23km to go, Sorensen attacked the lead group. Calzati chased him down and 15km from the finish they led the five by 15” and the peloton by 5’00”. The maximum gain of the two escapees before Sorensen surged again (5.5km from the finish) was 15” on the five chasers. Sorensen then raced on to victory, leading by 20” with 4km to go. He increased his advantage as his fellow fugitives failed to respond. By the end the Danish rider was 48” ahead and gave his Saxo Bank it’s second stage victory this year and Sorensen’s first in the Tour.
Evans (SIL) and Leipheimer (AST) were amongst a group that crashed in the final few kilometers but appeared to be uninjured; both finished the stage and were awarded the same time as Cavendish. Nocentini finished in 48th in the same time as Cavendish who led home the peloton 5’58” behind Sorensen. The Italian will wear the yellow jersey in stage 13.