Tour de France 2006 Stage 12 - Luchon to Carcassonne

Today's Tour de France starts in Luchon, famous for its healing spa waters and attracting sports teams that come here for the restorative Pyrenean air and waters. It's also a fine place to spend the day skiing, followed by a soak at the thermal spa.

The day's riding ends in Carcassonne, an entire city that is a castle in La Cite, the fortified upper city. These Medieval ramparts atop a hill provide broad views of the lower city below. In Carcassonne, visitors stroll along the cobblestone streets, browsing shops selling Medieval wares, or nibbling on the classic peasant stew cassoullet at various cafes.

It is a few minutes from Limoux, a charming village and the true birthplace of sparkling wine (predating even Champagne). It is also a short drive to one of France's most enchanting monuments in Montsegur, where hundreds of Cathars willingly walked into the flames rather than revoke their religion.

Today's results:

Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych raced ahead of Oscar Freire, Alessandro Ballan and Christophe Le Mevel to claim stage honors and cracking into the top 10 for general classification rankings. Meanwhile, American Floyd Landis keeps the yellow jersey!

The top ten in Stage 12:

1. POPOVYCH Yaroslav (DSC, Ukraine)
2. BALLAN Alessandro (LAM, Italy) 00' 27"
3. FREIRE Oscar (RAB, Spain) 00' 29"
4. LE MEVEL Christophe (C.A, France) 00' 35"
5. BOONEN Tom (QSI, Belguim) 04' 25"
6. MC EWEN Robbie (DVL, Australia) 04' 25"
7. VENTOSO Francisco (SDV, Spain) 04' 25"
8. ZABEL Erik (MRM, Germany) 04' 25"
9. BENNATI Daniele (LAM, Italy) 04' 25"
10. HUSHOVD Thor (C.A, Norway) 04' 25"

The top 10 in general classification:

1. LANDIS Floyd (PHO, USA)
2. DESSEL Cyril (A2R, France) 00' 08"
3. MENCHOV Denis (RAB, Russia) 01' 01"
4. EVANS Cadel (DVL, Australia) 01' 17"
5. SASTRE Carlos (CSC, Spain) 01' 52"
6. KLODEN Andreas (TMO, Germany) 02' 29"
7. ROGERS Michael (TMO, Australia) 03' 22"
8. MERCADO Juan Miguel (AGR, Spain) 03' 33"
9. MOREAU Christophe (A2R, France) 03' 44"
10. POPOVYCH Yaroslav (DSC, Ukraine) 04' 15"

Find out more with my main Tour de France 2006 page. Also be sure to vote in my poll about who will win the Tour de France.

Photo: Carcassonne's La Cite (Copyright, Office de Tourisme de Carcassonne)