Tour De France 2005 : French revolution : Moncoutie wins on Bastille Day, Lance loses teammate
French revolution
Moncoutie wins on Bastille Day, Lance loses teammate
Posted: Thursday July 14, 2005 11:06AM; Updated: Thursday July 14, 2005 11:40AMDIGNE-LES-BAINS, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong retained the overall lead but lost a key teammate in a crash as the Tour de France headed out of the Alps following David Moncoutie's victory in Thursday's 12th stage.
Moncoutie became the 15th Frenchman since World War II to win on Bastille Day, France's national holiday. It was his second stage win in five Tours.
'It's fabulous,' Moncoutie said. 'I'm so happy to win. It's July 14th.'
Moncoutie took the lead on the Col du Corobin, the fourth of five ascents on the 116.2-mile trek from Briancon to Digne-les-Bains, and cycled alone to the finish past cheering crowds. He finished the stage in 4 hours, 20 minutes, 6 seconds.
Armstrong cruised in with his main rivals in a group more than 10 minutes back to finish 41st. His lead over second-place Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark stayed at 38 seconds, with French rider Christophe Moreau still third overall, 2:34 behind.
Italian rider Ivan Basso is 2:40 back, fourth overall, with Jan Ullrich 4:02 behind in ninth. They all finished together in a large group, 10:33 behind Moncoutie.
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