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The two man breakaway consisting of Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom) and Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) had an advantage of 5:21 when they creasted the big (and lone significant) mountain climb of the day with 50k’s to the finish, it looked as though they very well might have succeeded, except for the headwind and chasing peloton that quickly reduced their lead on the downhill run into Castres. They were caught by the peloton with 3k to go after being away for more than 120k. Lampre and Française des Jeux did all the chasing for their sprinters Daniele Bennati and Sébastien Chavanel, but it was Quickstep’s Tom Boonen who won the “bonus” sprint ahead of Erik Zabel and yesterday’s winner, Robbie Hunter.

But the big news of the day has to be that of Michael Rasmussen, the Yellow Jersey again today. He now has alligations against him that in 2002 he asked cross-country racer Whitney Richards to transport what he claims to be doping products to Italy. When VeloNews asked about he allegations all Rasmussen would say was “I cannot confirm any of that. I do know the name.”

The allegations come on the heels of a decision by the Danish cycling federation to exclude the Rabobank rider from that country’s world-championship and Olympic teams, citing a dispute over Rasmussen’s failure to notify the agency’s anti-doping officials about his whereabouts in the months leading to the Tour.

Richards said he decided to go public with his allegations after he heard the Tour leader comment on doping in the sport, promising that cycling fans could “trust me.” For the complete story go to VeloNews.

Results of Stage 12
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 4.25.32 (40.33 km/h)
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
4 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
6 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team
7 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux
8 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel
9 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
10 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
11 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel
Full Results and Live Text Coverage by Cyclingnews

General Classification After Stage 12
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 57.37.10
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 2.35
3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.39
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 2.41
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.08
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 3.39
7 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 3.50
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.53
9 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 5.06
10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5.20
11 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 5.34
12 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 5.56
13 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 6.36
14 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 6.38
15 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.42
16 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 6.45
17 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 6.49
18 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 7.10
19 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 8.05
20 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 8.16

Full Report by CyclingNews
The final 1 km by Versus
Tom Boonen Post-Race Interview by Versus
Stage 12 Recap by Versus
Interview with Michael Rasmussen by Versus
Top 5 Crashes of the Tour by Versus
Graham Watson Stage 12 Photo’s