The Tour 2012

[JonLP24]

The route

Running from Saturday June 30th to Sunday July 22th 2012, the 99th Tour de France will be made up of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,497 kilometres.

These stages have the following profiles:

9 flat stages
4 medium mountain stages - one with a summit finish
5 mountain stages - two with a summit finish
2 individual time-trial stages
1 prologue
2 rest days
Distinctive aspects of the race

The 2012 Tour de France will have 25 mountain level two, level one or highest level mountain passes or summit fi nishes.
They will be divided up geographically in the following way:

1 in the Vosges
3 in the Jura
4 in the Swiss Jura
6 in the Alps
11 in the Pyrenees

9 new stage towns

Abbeville, Annonay Davézieux, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, La Planche des Belles Filles, Peyragudes, Porrentruy, Samatan, Tomblaine, Visé

http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/us/le_parcours.html

[JonLP24]

1. The top five in stage two

The world champion is the fastest in stage two. The top five of the stage from Vise to Tournai is:

1. Mark Cavendish (GBR) SKY 207.5km in 4h56'59"

2. Andre Greipel (GER) LTB

3. Matt Goss (AUS) OGE

4. Tom Veelers (NED) ARG

5. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) LAM

And then comes yesterday's winner Peter Sagan... who is likely to take the green jersey.

Cancellara 44th - but still in 1st overall...
There were at least 92 men awarded the same time in stage two. In the middle was the yellow jersey of Fabian Cancellara who was 44th today but he will wear the yellow jersey in stage three.

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/live/aso/

[JonLP24]

2. Bradley Wiggins wins Tour de France

PARIS -- Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France by protecting the yellow jersey during Sunday's final processional ride into Paris. He also helped Sky teammate Mark Cavendish earn his fourth straight sprint victory on the Champs-Elysees.

Wiggins secured his win with a dominating performance in Saturday's final time trial to extend his already commanding lead. Fellow Briton and Sky teammate Christopher Froome finished second, 3 minutes, 21 seconds behind overall. Vincenzo Nibali of Italy finished third, 6:19 off the pace.

The last time two riders from the same nation finished first and second in the Tour was in 1984, when Frenchman Laurent Fignon defeated Bernard Hinault.

Cavendish claimed his 23rd Tour stage win and third this year. He also became the first reigning world champion to win on the Champs-Elysees.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/tdf2012/story/_/id/8188841/bradley-wiggins-becomes-first-briton-win-tour-de-france