Le 14 juillet 1995, jour de Fête Nationale, Laurent Jalabert entre dans la légende du cyclisme français avec une victoire d’anthologie à Mende, au sommet de la redoutable montée de la Croix-Neuve, désormais surnommée “Montée Jalabert”. Attaquant de loin avec son équipe ONCE, “Jaja” signe un exploit stratégique et physique, dans une ambiance survoltée.
stage 12 of the tour to France 222 km from Santien to Mond in the Loair region the race leader Miguel Inerin 2 and a half minutes ahead of the Swiss Alex Zula and six ahead of the Dane Bjana Ree it’s the 14th of July in France Bastile Day the French dreaming of seeing a French rider winning a stage on the national holiday for the first time since Vanato in 1989 over to David and Steven the tour to France on this stage 12 from Santan to Mande coming 222 kilometers in all on the front now lan Jarave looking for a stage victory for France on this Bastile day and the race really exploded apart at the scenes after only 24 km have been covered so if they stay away this little group now that have been in the lead for nearly 200 km on a route which has taken the riders through the massive central it covers about 16th of France by the way this part of the woods it’s a bit southern rather than central but it is enormously massive i can tell you that it’s h got a nice highland region between the lower and the Mediterranean and they’ve been going up and down all day today and see you were saying uh that these roads are are a bit hard to ride on could you just explain that the surface they’re going on because don’t understand the difference in in certain road surfaces for riding a racing bike well you have the road here for example in front of us here on the on the airfield has very very small fine tarmac on it so it means that the the wheels and the hard tires grow very very smoothly but in these small roads here the road the term are big big stones like so they’re it’s much heavier heavier uh grade tarmac so it means is makes it very very hard you’re kind of pushing the bike all the time even when you’re going downhill you still get the impression that you’re there holding you back but the the worst thing about these roads here which worse for the group but um which is a good thing for the for the breakaway group is the roaders are they’re never flat and they’re very very twisty and turny so that that will help a small group um in the front like Jalibar see Jab Bear here getting some uh instructions here from his team manager team director sport team but this this kind of role suits a group like Jab Bears because there there’s a small group himself and Maui are the only two working in the group so they can just keep doing bit and bit and whether it goes up and down roundabout or whatever they can still maintain a certain momentum whereas the group that are chasing behind the the road is as very narrow as you can see here it gets narrower as we get into the the final Grand Prix the mountains prize but it means that a big group behind will find it more difficult and getting organized meaning that you might have two or three riders in the front and before they can be relayed it means they must really pull over to the side so anybody can come past so it makes it to to the advantage of a small breakaway group but at the same time this group here have been away for so long they’re going to be very very tired but at the same time the buyers here in the backyard the Veness as you can see here are starting to weaken as well they’re getting the hand helping hand from the Gwis Palantim the Carrera team have put a ride in there as well but at the same time the the the gap is coming down but very very slowly and uh running in on this road some of the roads uh are quite you’re quite right the little stones make it very slow remember time trial course out in chest which is very flat they used to be very slow because they had the same thing stones and when you rode on them it was just like dragging the wheels instead of instead of flying across but I certainly noticing part of this course today Steve and they’ve gone out and actually relayed the road so one thing you do if you want your roads relay get the tour of France to come locally well that that’s a good thing on the on the going to towns but some of these roads out the middle of the country where they have actually redone the road the tarmac because of of it being so hot over the last few days the tarmac is very soft so it’s actually it looks very good it looks very smooth and what have you but there’s no for tarmac to to actually be a fast tarmac has to be kind of aged a little bit whereas the tarmac on some of these roads today in the middle of the mountains it’s very very soft cuz it’s very very new and I was talking this morning to Jess Kibby who actually put on a special set of wheels today and he got some some smooth tires on smooth as a baby’s bottom they were absolutely amazing and I said “Hey hey hey.” He said “Well if it rains I’m in trouble.” He said “If it’s dry I’ll be okay.” And he got a brand new alloy gazelle bike as well i’ve never seen one like that before cuz they normally ride on on steel bikes and he was looking to do a ride today but he missed this break which went away after 24 km another man I was talking to this morning Bo Hamburger who’s got his wife down here at the race as well together with your parents as well he was also looking for a race to arrive today but this breakaway group caught everybody by surprise well it did it really but um this morning in the in the village everybody was saying “Oh this going to be a day for for back markers for for boys down the back of the field who are um not too well placed on GC.” But at the same time like for the first 20 km this morning the first 20 km when these boys started attacking there was bodies everywhere so the guys that are in the group here in the front are the guys that had the legs anybody that’s not here hadn’t got the legs because um this morning in the village like everybody was saying there’s going to be a group going we’re going to be in it we’re going to watch for it and everything else and this group here before that actually got organized we had Jella Bear in front with a Colombian with Borajara I think it was he’s in front they’re 15 seconds ahead inan was riding behind him then there was a group then with Brunell with Miko Inan and which only got to 15 seconds of Jabar then another group got across then with um Cherry Mari and uh and Armstrong they did but they couldn’t catch um Jella Bear so um there was a lot of groups went away that a lot of occasions lot lot of opportunities to get across to the group and they didn’t didn’t get across so um this group today just just didn’t ride off the front and of course you can imagine Jellybear being in green miguel Lingeran didn’t just kind of turn his head the other way and said “Okay we’ll see you later.” Like he just didn’t he didn’t want guys like Jellybear going away especially when he had two teammates like shortly shortly after him he had Maui um getting up to him then he had Neil Stevens so I mean there was three on say h for a moment for a time with um with with good so if you’re joining us on Eurosport looking down there in the pink jersey at the front that is Maui trying hard to keep that distance between Jala Bear and the yellow jersey as far as he can do malcolm Mar doing a great ride he wears number 65 in his back you can see the cameras go on he’s in the pink he’s 12 minutes 49 seconds down on general classification in eighth spot overall this is the colors in the in the pale blue then and that ride in there Baro number 13 maybe unlucky for him perhaps he might get the stage is this the man I’m talking about just now maui belting away at the front followed there by Jalaba in the green jersey 61 then going through is Batalo and just behind him Pon for the the Motorola team panzan is also in there at the moment but the one man has been blasted out the back of this one Neil Stevens who rode so hard for his team captain and the Vanessos are burying themselves here these men really if they get to inrain back closer than the what the last time check we got which was just over 8 minutes they certainly will earn themselves a few uh bot tonight just under 8 minutes 759 you can see now the road here now is actually it’s gone very small it’s very twisty and turny so you see what I was saying earlier on the bunch are all in one line here so it doesn’t actually help the fact that it’s a big group chasing behind the breakaway group doesn’t help them really because the breakaway group are riding one by one and these here are also riding one by one so um when a group like the pelaton only goes fast when the riders can relay each other very very quickly but as these roads here are very very twisty and turning for turning for the next 15 km so it may means that it’ll be very difficult for them to bring down time but at the same time the guys in the front are going to be very very tired so um they will bring back time but 7 minutes 59 seconds I think will be too much and those you watching us live on Euro Sport uh in this afternoon welcome to the Sunist uh countryside here we’ve been through some delightful parts of the world we actually came through a place l called Long around by the the lake as we seem to have more problems at the back here i’m sorry we came on in fact that’s R he clashed watch his shoulder here you can see some dirt on his should completely lost the bike round about the the lake of Longa and Danny went in an almighty bang and I don’t think he’s got his back wheel really sorted at the moment and surely Mavic must try and help him out here yeah he’s um he’s got a smart I don’t know what it is he bounces back wheel around so maybe the chain is maybe uh jumping maybe that’s one of the problems with these index gears isn’t it if you don’t get the same back wheel I mean most of them are supposed to be exactly the same dimensions but maybe just that little bit that fraction out that’s why you always prefer to have your wheel from your team car because even though one could be Campola the one Mafic and one Sax and one Shiman or what have you and even though they are eight-speed blocks there’s always little something different between one and the other even though they may look the very same so um nobody likes getting a wheel from the Mavic uh service but at the same time when you have no no choice you got you’re better having it than going home on a flat tire and there they go then the five men that set the race alike today and our thanks go out to the good people of Lona who put a little bit of celebration out there for the press going through and they gave us a an aromatic aromatic apertify but it was rather pleasant this afternoon it’s been a great day here on the big national holiday in France the Bastile Day celebration be going full tilt in Paris will be finishing there on the chari on Sunday week and again the whole town will be or the whole city will be on fet and will that man in the green jersey be in yellow well you got to watch Eurosport right the way through to find out we bring you the live action here and Jalabar today has really set the whole people I’m sure today with what’s that just 20 km to go now this little breakaway group should stay away with a cracking and very dim and very painful and a very surprising climb up the finish at mandate to this airport the strip where we’re sitting here waiting with baited breath to see if these five men can really stay away they should do shouldn’t they really but that that last climb is a bit of a backb breaker well the five of them will not stay away because like uh Maui hasn’t been riding it very very hard so is Ja they’re riding for GC they’re not actually riding for the stage but then you have Peron who’s a very good rider the finish will suit him then we also have Penzana and Bart from the the G was balancing they they haven’t they haven’t been riding very much but they’re chasing trying to bring the time down because if they keep going Bruno Ree is third at six minutes and Maui and Jelly Bear Jar is 9 minutes so if Jar keeps going the way he’s going he will take over third place some reason and that’s what I’ve been afraid of all along is that people will start riding for third fifth place the gap now 7 minutes and 38 seconds confirmed on our screen then at 25 km ago 738 was the gap then as they’re getting toward the back end of this race now the little breakaway group then five men left for the six that started early this morning and the last time check was 7:38 a lot of great action coming up on Eurosport half minutes now it was at one time 10 minutes and 45 seconds back to the yellow jersey and lots more riders now are coming up from different teams to start putting the pressure on the front noville now looks like a fall on a foregone conclusion that the little breakaway group is going to stay away so why chase down now they want to get Abdul Japro in admittedly to try and close the gap on the green points jersey of Jalabar but they sure they can’t close seven half minutes they may get very close to it so why a the yellow jersey well you know I don’t know whether there could be some kind of an arrangement in there but at the same time if nobody should could come crying to me at the end and say that well Miguel was so strong that he won it and this that and everything else if you’re going if they’re going to give him a hand like you have like the GIS Balant team riding here for foresee who is in third place six minutes down on GC and they have also have Guty also at 8 minutes 20 down down so they’re defending their their the third place and the fifth place on GC so but so but like if they keep going the way they’re going to make Miguel’s team ride hard or they might be able to even attack Miguel and they finish it maybe even why not even blow Miguel out you have to play it why defend second third and fourth at the moment let let him fry isn’t it and then next I Exactly get them wear them down day in day out where just came wear do wearing down process but just looking at the the GC sheet here as well and just um people were saying the owner of team is very strong and what have you but there’s a certain an incredible atmosphere in the own team at the moment when you see Maui who is an ex tour of Spain winner he is um some 12 minutes 49 seconds down on GC and Jabar is sixth place two places ahead of Maui at 9 9 minutes 16 seconds and look at the way Mari is riding here driving out in front of the bunch here for for Jellybear he’s sacrificing his own chances on GC he could finish in the first 10 on GC no problem look at the work he’s doing for Jab Bear here today it’s incredible to have a teammate like that willing to sacrifice himself for for a leader neil Stevens the same neil Stevens was there earlier on but Neil Stevens of course is way down on GC but Maui being very well placed on GC an exor Spain winner riding like this for a leader such as Jella Bear is great sign of team spirit 16 kilometers yet to go then in this race that’s just 10 miles left for this breakaway group the last time check we have was around about 7 minutes and 38 seconds back to the yellow jersey we’re not trying to knock Mcllindra by the way all your great supporters of I mean we like to see a good hardfought race with with with tactics being worked out don’t we Stephen and this is great this man’s gone away jalabar is prepared to go for nearly 200 km to try and challenge that yellow jersey and other teams are interfering now and should be one man against the other shouldn’t it surely well I think we everybody will agree since the Twitter France started uh 10 days ago every day we’ve had great super racing we’ve had every team working individually we’ve had leaders doing their job we’ve had second leaders doing their job for the leaders we have an incredible race and incredible tactics here now we have for the first time on the race we have uh somebody like the likes of um the likes of uh Jellopair who is very well placed on J in sixth place um contesting the yellow jersey of Miguel in Jeran and also of course the third place over East and then the fifth place I’ve got but at the same time like the tactics so far nobody has been defending their place everybody has been defending and trying to h get higher higher than Miguel in the end so it’s incredible to see today it’s a bit of disappointing really as you see Neil Stevens here um on the probably about to get caught by the main group so I wonder when Lee would be able to stay with the main group after giving so much of his own energy to um to stay with and to ride with Jabar in the front well I just saw Vans behind us here Stephen and I thought that possibly we might have a quick word with him are you in French just to get his feelings about the fact that Jalab might be stage today and take that record off we’ll try and grab him shortly i know that you’ll have to translate his French back to the people back at home but we’ll try that one here we’ve just got 10 miles to go and I’m sure you good people at home would like to hear from Van Santo who had the yellow jersey what 14 days or 18 days was it some time ago 14 13 days yep and that’s surpris we’ve now got him back here and Steven is going to pose the questions in in French come down here Vans and just let’s talk to him about this this stage which may may yet go to to Jal okay Steven on you go translated English asking Vinc who won the stage of France was saying earlier on in 1989 on July 14th i just ask him what he thinks of the stage so far today and the attack of Lauren Vans says that at the stage today of course he would like to keep the record of being uh the the last Frenchman to have won the stage but Lauren’s doing a great job today if he wins the stage today well it’s great he’d not be grudged to him but at the same time he’d like to keep for another while yeah just ask ask what he thinks of the chance of the breakway group staying away today and what he thinks of the tactics of the other riders yeah he reckon that this stage today it’s going to be very very hard for Jala he hopes he can win it but he says in his own opinion it’s going to be very very difficult for LAN to win because he’s riding so hard in the front here that there probably some of the other one of the other guys will probably win me thank you indeed Vanson good to have you here uh he’s very often a co- commentator uh for the French channel and now having the benefit of Steven Ro’s superb French and Italian from time to time as they’re going on in here then we’ve got Pon the Italian riding for the Motorola team we had an English Italian rider yes they win the stage and we know that a lot of people in England are Italians Stephen so let’s have the other part of your your your your your languages and just a few words back to people at home in in Italian misportiv Miguel Victoria Well there we are then a few words for our talent listeners back in Great any else you might be listening to our program live on Euro Sport in the afternoon course we edit this down for the evening and early next morning and let me then see wants to say something go on off you go well while we’re there I might say a word or two in English to some people listening to me at home it was John pick Peter Kin and George working out in Shankill um I know you’ve been listening to us for the last few days and finding finding our commentary great so keep keep plugging in there we’ll keep plugging in for you and uh it’s not because you’re a sport bringing you live every day coverage after tour of France it just stopped working i hope the boss didn’t hear that okay we’re on stage 12 then satan 222 km let me put you in the picture the first climb of the day cherry Marie was away armstrong was in second spot and then Kubino went over in third that was after 18 km over the Cole de Maurice on Gwa we then went on to the next climb of the day the K Malave over that one the break had then formed betala was first Yalabar second Maui back into third spot by the time we got to the fourth climb of the day over the the Kot de Valax the gap had gone up to 10 minutes 10 seconds he’s now back to 738 panzanna led over that climb neil Stevens was second jalabet was third but they were just pressing on with the attack they weren’t too bothered about the King of the Mountains points we had a couple of sprints today jalabar has taken both of those two as well so he’s helped himself to another vital 12 points bonus in the King in the battle for the green jersey which at the moment he is dominating and he’s done a tremendous ride today jalabir undoubtedly if you just think back now as we got 8 km to go just 5 miles left those who watched us live on Euro Sport that stage into Monteier stage two of the tour to France when that enormous crash took place that man Jalabar buried his face in the concrete and he just split his teeth he broke his mouth he had to be fed uh by a drip for days he could hardly speak his face all blew up he had operations on his face and his teeth he’s now back in this race he has recovered and he’s lost a bit of weight so he’s gone from being a true pure spinter to a man who’s not only can climb not only can sprint but today he’s shown Steven that he’s prepared to have a go it is yesterday we’ve seen him attacking in the finish and people I I was saying well how come why is Jaliver attacking he surely doesn’t think he’s going to stay away but this morning when I said it to him was he becoming like brave or was it what was the reason for the attack yesterday he said but he wanted to see the reaction from Mikuel and would he follow him directly would it give him a little bit of rope or what would happen so he said he tried it just as a kind of a temptation to kind of see what the extra Miguel was but this morning when he attacked um he saw the direction of Miguel and Miguel couldn’t do very much about it and fortunately for him he’s doing an an incredible ride today as every day since the start of the tour to France he’s doing an incredible ride every day we of course we are of course complimenting every him every day saying Jelar is doing this good Jabar is doing that good but when you see somebody who is in sixth place overall on GC only nine minutes down on Mikan wearing the green jersey having a goal like this today it’s just great stuff yeah a lot of riders will sit in there and say I’ll protect my place protect my jersey and I’ll ride into Paris and say well done Deliver nice green jersey up on the on the roster at the end of it all but he’s really thrown the hammer down today he showed a lot of guts and determination this show it took him a long time to come back from that crash last year right until the September when he rode the tour of Catalonia and he won a stage victory then and he won a couple of races that back end of last year and since then he’s got better and better he won the Parines this year when he showed not only could he get stage victories because he got stage two on that on that Parnees race but also when it came to the uphill time trial at the end of the Pyrenees he was second behind Bob to defend his overall position he went on then in Milan San Ramo to hound Fondre up the the climb of the Pio down the other side and beat Fondre in the sprint so he’d opened up his season in fine style jalaba then went on to Critium International which was on his own back door that one he won stage one he won stage two and he was the overall victor and then he took five weeks rest after that little lot and I don’t blame him either but he’s come back with renewed activity and I think he showed early on this year Steven to win the paranise you’ve been a winner of the Parnees to start the season like that that man was was we were looking at a new Jal weren’t we in that race cuz that’s not an easy race by any means well the Paris needs being the first major stage race in the start of the year which lasts eight days normally we it’s been said and it’s actually true that the riders we find on form and Paris are normally the riders we find on form again in the tour to France but Jawware we talk well he’s had a good winter we thought well he’s going to have a good Paris okay fair enough but nobody would ever have thought that he would have come back and done so well in the tour to France in the town of Mendai they’re now going to have to climb up a very very stiff climb indeed they may have looked it on the on the root books but I don’t think they ever will understand how tough it’s going to be there’s 1,000 sorry 12,000 people here in Mendai they live locally and I think there’s a lot more up on the on the mountain than that so suddenly they’ve all swelled into this neck of the woods to see the riders come up through this ancient capital of the old country of Gabals and it goes way back to the middle ages way down in the valley here the little old village was formed and now we’re just 5 km ago and except the last two kilometers which are relatively still dragging the next three are very very tough indeed they are very steep they actual have said that climb another 10% but there are places on I think they’re more 12% But um it’s a very very difficult climb i think that the lads here after riding so long this will be gear you would need probably ride I suppose on a 4120 but I think today after going for so long this breakaway glute they’ve been needing 2021 Jala Bear and Maui going to be very very tired we’ve seen Maui still riding on the front here doing an incredible job for Jella Bear it’ll be interesting to see now how the boys in the back like Portalio from the Gwis team and Potenza actually and Peron of course see how Peron from the from the Motorola team get on because I’m sure he’s been riding he rode earlier on with Jella Bear and Maui but hasn’t ridden over the last few kilometers so he’s been saving himself I’m sure for this final here to try and attack and what a great place to have the finish then this town which dates back to the middle ages in fact it was way back in 1790 that it was formed here also we have a beautiful cathedral the notra dam and down in the crypt one of the oldest in France is the tomb of samp pre was the man who founded the town here and the construction started at the start of the cathedral at the start of the battle of the the hundred years and it was the pope the 5th who was the one who originally decided they should have a a cathedral here and now with the battle going on for the win of the stage today of this Bastile Today July the 14th the man in the green jersey everybody at the finish line is looking anxious down there to see if he can just hang on on this climb get the stage and move up on general classification look at that climb there it is Stephen yeah you can see it there now he is no matter what he what happens he is going to move up on GC because Jer is 9 minutes down on Inan but he’s only some 6 and 1 half minutes down on Zulle and some only three minutes down on uh on Bjon Ree so he is going to um Jala Bear’s gone and he’s dropped them jala Bear has gone away and the only man who’s trying to stay with him then is the rider from the Gavis team and that is Dario Batardo who’s trying to close up on the flying Frenchman who has gone away and this climb though I hope to goodies he knows what he’s doing i hope to good he had a look at this climb Steven because he it really is a gutbuster i’m sure he’s had look at it all right the way he is attacked there he has had look at it all right but look at how easy he’s going after being 180 kilometers out the break he’s been he wasn’t just sitting on either Maui and Nas Stevens are doing all the riding earlier on but then for sorry for the last 50 km Jabar has been riding himself with him so it’s an incredible ride for Dela Bear as he goes under the the 4 km to go flag and he’s riding up here not only to try and win the stage on Bastile Day but punch even more time gap between or close the gap down between himself and Indra he started this morning 9 minutes and 16 seconds down we also have to remember that Indra’s got to ride this climb as well and every day he’s had to defend that yellow jersey hasn’t he he has but today I’d say we might see him doing it again or we might even see it from behind an attack from Ree because at the same time like Ree he wants to he he knows that Jellabar is going to be breathing down his neck for for the third place so he wants he wanted to get some time back on uh on Jell Bear also he know also that um Injuran is going to be tired immensely from the stress of having to to coordinate everything during the day and also it’s going to be physically tired as well you’re watching a great epic performance by great Frenchmen on this Bastil day we’re seeing some shots here from our cameras which can just capture for you the whole glory the whole activity of the tour to France this great race which dates back to 1903 has seen many many epic performances legends have been written about the tour to France and today is trying to put his name up there with those legendary riders who’ve taken the race by the staff of the neck prepared to attack be prepared to go rand sitting there and coast along defending their position they are this year on this tour of France has been the invention of epics I think because we saw Zul doing an epic ride into La Plani we saw Fontani doing an epic ride up the Wales the other day and here we are now on an average mountain stage which has turned out to be an incredible dynamic stage for everybody here’s Jalar doing another epic ride and remember we’ve only got about 140 riders left in this race so far of the 189 that that set off we’ve lost now some 49 riders nearly 50 riders have dropped out the sheer speed of this race they’ve averaged up until yesterday 25 m an hour for the 1,200 miles they’ve covered so far that’s 41 km for the 1,946 km they’ve covered and still they’re able to produce this sort of activity this sort of effort he’s riding up here i’ve seen people try to ride this hill from the bottom to the top and have not gone anywhere near the speed this man’s been going and he’s been out there now right the way since about 20 km he’s done nearly nearly 200 km in the lead it is and he does look very very comfortable here the gap at 657 so bear is going to find himself going up into third place overall on GC because he is only some 3 minutes down on Bjon Ree who is 6 minutes down on Injuran so all he needs is 3 minutes 16 seconds to move up into third place well we’re doing quick calculations here then jalab 916 this morning and he could well in fact if Zill and Ree don’t climb this hill quickly indeed find himself up there on the podium in Paris on the podium in green he can maybe still challenge for the yellow this race is not all and done with yet by any means john Marie Leblanc in the background there in the blue jersey looking a blue shirt looking back down he said in Paris when they launched the tour this year this was going to be a classic tour and we’re seeing a classic race is going round in the in the clockwise direction it’s been mainly in France they’ve gone through the classic route of the Alps then the Pyrenees we still got big mountains yet to come but on these what they thought were going to be so-called flatter stay we’re seeing probably even more exciting racing it is so far since the start of the tour back in San Brio every day has been a classic as Jelly now is 3 km in the finish but only of course 1 km one and a half km from top of this hill it starts sweeping down then a long fast not very fast but it’s a long sweeping bends then up into the finish so bar accident now Jalabar is going to be our stage winner well he’s looking back now probably just to check to see if anybody’s managed to come back up through those cars behind him yalabar took the yellow jersey on the stage three when we went to Pelos Vitra he kept the yellow jersey for a couple of days through until we went on the stage from Alansahara and here comes the powerhouse of the novel team and I still can’t come i’m going to be very interested tomorrow Steve when you can talk to some of the team what the hell the taxi are doing here there’s no way they should there’s no way that Nobel should chase this one down because they can sit there whe they coming 2 minutes down 10 minutes down 12 minutes down Abra is still in the same position well Abd Japarov is not going to get any points today what would have been good for them to do would have been to catch Jella Bear and then somebody else get the points then on the line but like that should have been thought about when Jella Bear went away in the first stage but the fact that Jella Bear being six seven minutes ahead there’s no way they’re going to catch him anyway so there’s no other reason to ride except to help injury and so he’s still in the lead here at the front doing his own lonely battle he had some superb help from his teammates further down nil Stevens the Australian absely buried himself to try and keep that break going that had a maximum of 10 minutes and 45 seconds then Marry took over sacrificing his chances of a position in the top 10 just to get this man in a stepping stone to maybe take him into the top three places overall on general classification and that has been superb teamwork by these team who’ve shown this year much more determination scene than we’ve seen them show before going away this is just up like I don’t know what they’re you know it’s like I’m just baffled Dave you know it’s uh you know well actually I was um I just baffled you know he’s riding for what for third for fourth fifth place now and yeah I thought sets up I mean this climb is only a second category climb in got to go now Zull’s on his wheel where is Reese and at least now the trouble is with those three they they can climb now unless his man can can break the the elastic and disappear down the He’s ching them along isn’t he he is but he has to break the elastic zul is going after him and in the wheel go on you keep going i’m in when he has injured his hands down the bottom of the bars is when he’s not in too great form so today we should say maybe another change in the GC GC today we have Ree here as well reys looking to have some difficulty and holding on to the wheel as well so this morning when they started out the overall classification in was leading pantan is gone dave as Pantani is now trying to win well not trying to win the stage he’s trying to get up there and close the gap but he took the stage of the outs in fine style this man they called the the bicycling KJAK i wonder if Terrace Sales has heard that commentary on that point then as Jabberg goes away looks like he’s got the victory got the gap be back to the yellow jersey when he finishes on the line getting up towards the air drrome at the top outside Mendley where we’ve got this finish i don’t think we finished here before i couldn’t find any in the record books in the past but in rain now has gone up there because he’s leading overall in the yellow jersey pantana here struggling to stay away from Zula second overall in classification 2 minutes 27 seconds back on this yellow jersey he’s on the right hand side in the pink jersey behind in the red with a white cross of Denmark is Van Ree they don’t seem to have Rome with them so he’s suffering now as Jalaba changes gear gets over the top of this King of the Mountains climb here he’s just got two and a half kilometers to go it’s a lot flatter but it still drags all the way up before long he’ll be able to see this the finish in the far far distance at the air dome at the top this is a very quick part the cause let’s hope he’s got enough left in his legs to stay away i’m sure he has but Pontani now is sticking breaking it off behind them pontani of course what he’s looking for is the fact that it’s going up now up to the finish he puts a a maximum amount of time into Injuran or into Zuri or into Ree i mean he’s getting closer to a place on the podium so that’s the reason why Pontani is going where is Zuli Dave zulu looks like he’s having trouble on this climb yep but also where is where is Ram he’s gone yeah and Induay now is tying Reese up reese lying third overall on classic occasion of course Ree will have to stay with him because at the moment this morning Jalabar was just 3 minutes and 16 seconds down on Ree and the last time check we had meant this man Jalabar could re go over Ree and take third spot look at this 1 kilometer to go he’s romping home he’s going flat out look at this right without the finishing straight we can see the crowd can see through the shimmering heat what an exciting finish yeah this going to be I’m sure one kilometer for Jelly Bear it’s only one me very memorable kilometer he’s had an incredible stage winning a stage on the best deal day in France on the 14th of July that the last guy to do was Larto in 1989 it’s an incredible feat for himself he’s not going to put himself up at third place overall on GC and the sun beating down the shadow there of Jallabar the pedals flying round still this man has been unburstable he went away something before the what 20 km mark so he’s done about 200 km on his own that’s 120 mi and Jello is riding in with 5 hours and 18 minutes of racing under his belt so far soon we’ve seen some epic performance this has got to go in the books as one of the greatest yeah we we talk a lot about the epics of Kapuchi over in recent years spoke the other day about the epics of Zoule now we have another incredible epic here which merits to go down which deserves to go into any book of any archives and here he comes in to come behind him dave yeah panzano then trying to cap out Billy Beast don’t forget there’s a lot of LS in between Jalaba and the group coming up here looks back over his shoulder then he had 11 wins in 1994 he had stage winners in the VA last year he had that terrible crash 12 months ago when he smashed his face into the finishing straight at Montier now he’s back with a bang he’s won the stage in the tour that’s his second stage victory he won one in 1992 but I’m sure he’ll save with this one as the one of the best because he’s going to lift him up on general classification probably into third place probably into second we’ll have to wait and see as Panzana comes across the line into second spot this is the man that also went away with that breakaway group that formed after some 20 km of racing today on this stage 12 of the tour of France 222 km race every one of these riders coming in now has ridden himself into the ground they’ve given us that cracking days racing when it could have been so dull so boring so unexiting just the countryside to look at we see bike racing at its best here live on Eurosport in the afternoon and here’s Maui coming in now as well mar has also done an epic ride because Mari since the group went away Mari had been riding his eyeballs out for Lauren Jalabar only seeding some 48 seconds to the finish it’s an incredible ride by Mari also Andre Pon the Italian riding for the Motorola team just couldn’t stand it when Jalabar went away he’s going to come in now another of the Stalwart in that breakaway group nice placing probably the best I think we’ve seen so far from the Motorola team this Italian rider coming across the line now and 1 minute and 12 seconds 113 keep your eye on that clock down there because yellow start this morning 960 down on Ingrain he’s certainly going to go past Gotti certainly could go past Ramigo can he take third spell Bond Ree who start this morning 3 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of Jalab watch that clock down left hand side 3:16 is a time as Pantani launched attack from that group well the Italian Pantani looks like he’s being pulled back the Italian that we just seen finish in Andre Peron he’s done very well today considering he’s 6 foot and not known as a climber the mountain climber Pantani who won the outdoors yesterday you see the Spanish flags flying in the background now biglin range still has that yellow jersey but the gap is coming down so many people can attack him now and Pantan is showing despite that terrible hard ride he did up the outdoors he’s still got some life left in his legs he has but at the same time he’s not riding away from Miguel miguel has all the time in sight so I think Miguel is actually I won’t say he’s been afraid of uh of Guantani getting too close to him before getting into Pyrenees but um he’s definitely not at ease but he probably sees now he has dropped Zul so that’s an important point for for Miguel having Zul out of the way uh we don’t know how far he is behind Miguel at the moment on the stage but um having dropping dropping Zula means he’s actually putting more time into a second place man because the second best man will then be Reese who will be some six six minutes down so Zula is only 227 down at the moment but putting more time into Zulu today is important for Inj but the other thing of course is that Zula with only what about 7 minutes or just under 7 minutes ahead of Jalabar so Jallab is closing up on Zulu who’s now been dropped if he’s taking awful pacing Jalab could find himself certainly perhaps in third spot and perhaps closing up on second as well this race really is is it’s going to go on and go on and go on so many riders are tired you speak to them in the in the in the hotels at the end of the day and speak to them at the uh at the village in the morning and you’ll just look at them in their eyes the gaunt look on their face and everyone is riding himself to a standill this year the amazing thing is Dave you go to a hotel after the race and everyone’s down very very tired and everything else you go to the village in the morning and everybody’s all smiling and saying “Oh it’s been a hard day yesterday but wait and see what happens today.” So but you look at the faces how gaunt they are Steven you know you can see it can’t you e Oh you do as Pan looks over his shoulder here and says “Well there’s no point in flogging that horse i wait for for in their wheel possibly i’m sure a little disappointed the fact that he didn’t actually ride off Miguel off his wheel but then the climb is only 3 km long and it’s not his sort of climb cuz he flattens out now you can see the airfield in the background that long shot showed you where everybody’s gathered here then to celebrate a great day i can see Jamie Leblon in the finishing area here with the cameras all around about him keeping his cool because undoubtedly on the 14th of July to have a Frenchman win the stage and it was no fix we said “Here here’s a little gift here’s a little gift go and win on the 4th in July.” And I’m sure that Jack Sherak will get the message back at the president’s palace as well but interesting enough we start this morning at Santien where I saw that there was a some frames there made by Andre Sablier he got some in Gural he supplied bikes to Fenol in the past he’s supplied to many top racing site he’s also supplied a bike to Jac Shirak so I don’t think Jack will go out for ride his bike tonight as a president but I’m sure it’ll be elated the fact that we’ve actually got a French victory on Bastile Day oh you can be sure lauren Gerald Bar will be getting a telegram from from Jack Shira tonight and there we are then with the uh the Terry Sealis of cycling wedged in between the big figure of of Indrain and the big figure of of John Reese he’s now I think thankfully got to take a toe from these these two because he’s only little chap and these these big fellas here and of course what Reese is trying to do is to drive some more time and to close up on Zullah because he knows Zullah’s gone and he’s quite happy now to tow in Range towards the finish isn’t he well he is but at the same time he knows that Roman that Jel bear is at this moment 5 minutes and 3 seconds ahead he know he be he would the last time he would have got would have been 7 minutes so what he wants to do is cut down as much time as he can on Jabar to ensure himself placing the first three whether it be second or third and we’re looking now to see him come across the finish line we’re going to write that time down to check to see where Jaliv would like to be on the general classification as these giants battled out then as Reese fighting his way through trying to get every vital second back migarindo is quite happy just to sit there he doesn’t mind losing the odd one or two seconds and Pantani fighting his way through the little devil himself trying to come in here just ahead of the two and he’s done it jellybear has taken third place anyway so now will he be able to get second place from Zulle zuli is at 227 minutes about 6 minutes and 50 seconds well Zula coming in here 650 has to have to get second place and it’s going to be he’s not going to quite get it 558 yeah so Mel will be in third place now so 15 and 20 seconds behind Zulle and here comes Cla Kapuchi on the far right hand side he’s going the Ramager thumping his way in here as well uh what a race we’ve had today the shimmering heat of the Aerod Drrome and launched it rosha Escarta Roinger and Goti so they really are coming in in penny numbers today this has been a tough old day in this race there’s Kapuchi now at the moment coming in with Yan Brunell and Vihank was put out it just shows you how hard it has been today there’s also another group then ladinho Cabino of the Cali team drifts across the line they’re going to be coming in for an awful long time yet by the looks of the speed of that final attack up from the the town of Mendai just down the valley and it’s probably going to take an awful long time to get down there fortunately the press office is up here in the aer drone buildings because the number of people that were on there with their motor car they were breaking down they were steaming they had great difficulty getting their cars up the slope it was a feral ride today though for Jalabar that won the state and moved up on general classification so you can see that the best lead they had was over 10 minutes and there that’s Skiibby I think in the center coming in here on his nice yellow bike there the rest of the on team will be happy with that one that they’ve got the stage victory and they have certainly seen their man in the green move even further makia for the Motorola team well he let his man Pelong go they’ve been really having a go all day today armstrong had a go then pen to go now Makia coming in 7 minutes and 39 seconds down on the victor not far behind in rain so Makia this morning 17th overall 1942 will be about the same i saw Brenil in that little group as well so a lot of these riders the general classification except for Jalabar may not change too many most of the top men have been coming in but certainly Veron looked like he was struggling today here’s the Japarov coming in now he’s great isn’t he i mean he’s not a mountain climber he’s going to come in what about 8 minutes down on Jalab who’s lost a lot of weight and but he’s only coming in at 4 minutes down on on Injuran which is not bad uh it does not less than four minutes even and uh so I think he he he’s quite right to keep his car the driver because the battle for the green jersey he’s not all over by any means because yellow is going to be a difficult position does he challenge for the yellow or just stay with the green today he showed like he’s more interested in going for the yellow didn’t he well Jellybear what he’s trying to do is his tactics of today was to put in under pressure and then then maybe Zulle would have a go on the last u have a go on on the last climb but Zulle unfortunately hadn’t got the legs as we saw getting dropped by by injur but he only lost less than a minute on Injuran so it wasn’t too bad i’m sure he still hasn’t really recovered from the his epic ride the other day into into La Plania confirmation then that Jalabar now moved up into third spot 335 down on Indra zuller is at two uh what race lost out today he’s now fourth 6 minutes down maui moved up into fifth spot 7 minutes 56 seconds down this morning he was eighth so really they’ve shaken the dice today the kaleidoscope has brought a whole new different ball of colors here at the finish at the Aerodrome just above the the town of Mendai and this look at this man Jall yeah what a what a character isn’t he he’s not built like a clown but he really you know he he just rides on guts doesn’t he he does yes he Many riders like himself was abandoned for this stage but Jarab just keeps going on and on and on just want to get to Paris maybe maybe win a stage between now and then that is the overall provisional classification on your screen at the moment we’ll let you know any change in that when we come on air tomorrow you can watch it on Euro Sport News you’re watching this evening we watch the slow motion replay here of Jalabar a man who really today has had a tremendous year so far having started the the scene by winning the Pares but he’s gone better and better today so this is surely the picture that will be on the front of every newspaper in France on Saturday lawrence Alair winning the stage of the tour to France on July the 14th Bastile Day and also moving up to a very interesting indeed third place in the overall standings and speaking in Spanish to Spanish TV said that at the beginning of the breakway he wasn’t sure if the gamble would come up because for the first 20 km he and had only 30 seconds then he saw the attacks of his teammates first marry and then they took an advantage they saw a group coming with Neil Stevens and decided to wait for them because they were sure that if there were three of them they could ride well together chel was asked if he could have done it without Mel Mari the Frenchman said he was the winner of the stage but that he had to divide it by two because Mari did some great work and that he doesn’t know how to thank him so Jalabar wins from Podenzana 30 seconds back then came Mari the hero of the day as well as Jalabar for the Beyonce team then Peron then Pantani leading in the group with Ree and Inerain alex Zula a little further back inane strengthening his lead but he now has two men of these team behind him as for the rest of the race Jalab said he was going to continue to ride day by day and to see what happens on every stage he said he rode today without thinking about the overall standings and that allowed him to win the stage and to get nearer to those leading positions he says he has to continue like that even though he knows now it’ll be almost impossible to break away again so Miguel Lingerin with another hard day out on the road he’s still in yellow he leads now by 2 minutes and 44 seconds from Alex Zula jalabar in third janarice now in fourth place 6 minutes back then Melt Mari slowly moving up the overall standings we’re moving towards the Pyrenees and Indrain’s hard work is far from over on Saturday the race continues its trek towards the Pyrenees it’s live here on Euro Sport why not join David Duffield and Steven Roach to see if injur has another hard day or not always wait along