With everything looking bleak for the Discovery team, Yaroslav Popovych has given them something to cheer about.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian cyclist won Friday's Tour de France stage after repeatedly attacking the three other cyclists who accompanied him on a 70-mile breakaway. American Floyd Landis held onto the yellow jersey, his Phonak team controlling the peloton on a rolling stage through southern France.
The stage win by Popovych moves him into 10th place, 4:15 behind Landis. That's a big gain, considering he started the day in 23rd place, 9 minutes behind, after cracking in the mountains on Thursday.
Popovych won the best young rider's competition in the Tour de France last year and was considered one of the bright lights on the Discovery team.
But since American George Hincapie won the yellow jersey on the second day of the Tour, there's been little for the team to cheer about for Discovery. Hincapie dropped back to 40th place Thursday.
Discovery suffered more bad news on Friday, when Paolo Savoldelli and Benjamin Noval abandoned the Tour. Savoldelli apparently had collided with a spectator after the race on Thursday and required 15 stitches to close a wound on his head.
Team manager Johan Brunyeel conceded the general classification contest was over for Discovery, and they were going for stage wins. True to that statement, Hincapie joined at least two breakaways over the first 40 miles that were eventually pulled back.
Another breakaway formed about 60 miles into the 131-mile stage from Luchon to Carcassonne. In addition to Popovych, the cyclists were Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), and Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole).
Landis' Phonak team rode at the front of the peloton, keeping the breakaway's lead under 5 minutes.
Green jersey holder Robbie McEwen tried to rally his team to chase the breakaway because it included Freire, a contender for that sprint points competition. While McEwen's Davitamon Lotto team did little (they might be more worried about supporting overall contender Cadel Evans), Milram took a brief turn at the front to help Phonak at the 23-mile mark.
When they didn't make much headway, the sprinters' teams left the job to Phonak again.
In addition to winning the stage on Friday, Popovych might have propelled himself into the role of team leader with a shot at a podium finish.
The Top 10 after Stage 12:
1. Floyd Landis (US), Phonak
2. Cyril Dessel (FR), AG2R — :08 behind
3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank — 1:01 behind
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon Lotto — 1:17 behind
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC — 1:52 behind
6. Andreas Kloden (Ger), T-Mobile — 2:29 behind
7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile — 3:22 behind
8. Juan Mercado (Sp), Agritubel — 3:33 behind
9. Christophe Moreau (Fr), AG2R — 3:44 behind
10. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery — 4:15 behind
The standings among the 6 Americans:
1. Floyd Landis, Phonak
14. Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner — 5:39 behind
27. Christian Vandevelde, CSC — 13:41 behind
39. George Hincapie, Discovery — 22:59 behind
71. David Zabriksie, CSC — 42:31 behind
102. Chris Horner, Davitamon-Lotto — 58:10 behind
In the various points competitions, McEwen stays ahead of Freire in the green jersey contest; David De La Fuente leads the king of the mountains; Marcus Fothen the best young rider; and Daniele Bennati the most combative of the day. T-Mobile leads the team competition.
More results and reports at CyclingNews or VeloNews.
More of the same on Saturday's 143-mile stage from Beziers to Montelimar — rolling terrain with four category 4 climbs.
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