By Andreas Zellmer Jul 14, 2006, 16:47 GMT
Carcassonne - Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych won Friday's 12th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, as American Floyd Landis held on to the race leader's yellow jersey.
Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel Team) reacts as he wins the twelfth stage of the Tour de France 2006 in Carcassonne, France, Friday 14 July 2006. The twelfth stage led the riders over 211,5 kilometers from Luchon to Carcassonne. EPA/GERO BRELOER
The 26-year-old Popovych, who rides for the American Discovery Channel team, was part of a four-man group that broke away from the main pack at the 95-kilometre mark and managed to stay in front until the finish.
Popovych then took off on his own with less than 3 kilometres to go to take his first-ever Tour stage victory. Italian Alessandro Ballan finished second, 27 seconds behind, while Oscar Freire of Spain came in third, 29 seconds adrift.
The winner's time for the 211.5 kilometres from Luchon to Carcassonne was 4 hours 34 minutes 58 seconds, an average speed of 46.15 kph.
Since all the other riders finished together, 4:25 minutes behind the winner, the overall standings remained unchanged, with Landis leading Frenchman Cyril Dessel by 8 seconds and Russia's Denis Menchov by 1:01 minute.
However, as a result of his victory, Popovych was able to move from 23rd to 10th place in the standings, and is now 4:15 seconds behind Landis.
But he said he told French television that he was not a contender for the title.
'Perhaps in a few years I will stand on the podium when the Tour is over, but not now,' Popovych said.
For Discovery Channel, which was led by seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong last year, the stage victory was a welcome success after Thursday's disastrous 11th stage, when pre-race favourite George Hincapie lost more than 21 minutes and Popovych also faltered in the mountains, losing more than 6 minutes to the leaders.
As a result, Discovery Channel sporting director Johan Bruyneel had declared, 'For us, the Tour is lost,' and said the team would concentrate on stage wins for the remainder of the race.
Popovych carried out the instructions to the letter, attacking constantly and finally shaking off his last rivals with eight kilometres left.
'It's great for our team after yesterday,' said Bruyneel. 'Stage victories are our goal now.'
Popovych added: 'It was a hard win because I was very tired from yesterday.... I prayed for the victory, and it worked.'
However, there was also more bad news for Discovery Channel as two of its riders, former Giro d'Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli and Benjamin Noval, retired from the Tour during Friday's stage.
Saturday's 13th stage is the longest of this year's Tour, 230 kilometres from Beziers to Montelimar, and the last flat stage before the riders head into the Alps. The Tour de France ends July 23 in Paris.
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