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93rd Tour de France - presented by

Stage 12, Luchon - Carcassonne, 211K

14 July

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Vych-slapped!

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, Stage List, Stage Profile, Photos

Yaroslav Popovych might've salvaged the Tour de France for Discovery Channel today, or at least justified their appearance there. I guess I don't need to be too hard on them, though. They're not used to anything other than utter domination. I guess we have to keep it in perspective. Even if the Tour ended today, one day in yellow (Hincapie) and a stage win would be success being the wildest dreams of most teams (I won't name any names)!

And, it's the second ever victory in the Tour by a Ukraine rider. The first being a mere 6 days ago by Popo's compatriot Gonchar.

I had a feeling Popovych would be able to escape his gruppo of escapees. They weren't going to take Oscar Freire to the line, that's for damn sure! Or Ballan for that matter, both them very fast finishers.

It was great to see Popovych get some success on a grand scale. I've always liked the amiable Ukraine rider. My BiciRace.com cohorts and I ran into him and some fellow Ukraine riders enjoying a beer at a cafe during the World's in Hamilton and had a brief exchange in very broken English congratulating him on his Giro podium and he seemed like a very humble guy. Somebody that you would really like to see do well. Bravo Popo!

It has to be rough for Bruyneel too. Jeez. The guy has been a DS for 7 years and he's got 7 Tour victories. That would tend to make your expectations pretty high. Either way, I guess he will learn a thing or two this year.
~The Dust Devil