Friday Tour de France 2007 Stage 12

Stage 12: Go Tom Boonen!!! Erik Zabel and Robbie Hunter (go Barloworld!) tried to pass Boonen up at the end of the race but they couldn't quite out-sprint the Belgium's legs. See the recap at TDF Blog, Spare Cycles, Group News Blog, Biking Bis, and TdF07.

More Stage 12 links:

• Stage 12 Podcast from the FredCast.
  
• Video of the sprint finish at Steephill.tv. You can see Hunter and Zabel lunging their bikes forward across the finish line.
  
• Velonews Stage 12 video highlights.
  
• Versus Stage 12 Daily Videos.
  
• Spare Cycles TdF Stage 12 link roundup

For those who missed the news, Dave Zabriskie was dropped after Stage 11 yesterday because he finished outside of the time allowance. He's been struggling through le Tour this year. His contract with CSC is up this year.

Dope Tour de France dope

• Rasmussen accused of past doping.

  Rasmussen asked Whitney Richards to transport a box containing cycling shoes. In an effort to fit all his belongings in his luggage, Richards opened the box to discard it and just bring the shoes. "I was blown away," Richards told VeloNews. "This wasn't a pair of SIDIs... it was frickin' dog medicine or something."
  
  According to labels, the bags were filled with a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier (HBOC) known as Hemopure, manufactured by the U.S.-based Biopure Corporation. The product is made from hemoglobin molecules that have been removed from the red cells of cow's blood.

  
  
• Patrik Sinkewitz wants his B sample tested. In the meantime, German prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sinkewitz's alleged doping.
  
• Trust But Verify notes today is the anniversary of Floyd Landis's amazing breakaway win on Stage 17 to Morzine. That seems soooo long ago.

Stage 12 Top Ten finishers:

1. Tom Boonen (B) Quick Step, 178.5km in 4:25:32
2. Erik Zabel (G), Milram
3. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld
4. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Fondital
5. Thor Hushovd (N), Crédit Agricole
6. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile
7. Sebastien Chavanel (F), Française des Jeux
8. Nicolas Jalabert (F), Agritubel
9. Robert Forster (G), Gerolsteiner
10. Andrey Kashechkin (Kz), Astana

Stage 12 GC standings:

1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 57:37:10
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 2:35
3. Iban Mayo (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 2:39
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 2:41
5. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 3:08
6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:39
7. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, 3:50
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, 3:53
9. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, 5:06
10. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 5:20