Today took place the 12th stage of “Tour de France”, from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay: a long range stage with two demanding uphill sectors in the early part of the route. Luca Paolini was the best performer for Katusha Team: in the sprint of the main group, at the finishing line with a 7’54’’ from the breakaway, the Italian rider, which after ‘Grande Boucle’ will take part to Olympic Games with the Italian National Team, took the 10th position. Paolini tried also to be in the daily escape with no success, while Vladimir Gusev and Eduard Vorganov managed to: the breakaway at the start was made by 19 riders, but as the group approached the finishing line just 5 managed to resist the chase. David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) took the win over Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

“Today’s stage, for me, was a good test in order to try myself in long range distance – said Paolini – I think I did a good job and my legs responded very well. I tried to enter the breakaway, but sometimes it’s also a matter of luck. I think I did also a good sprint: I tried to stay with Sagan, but when he started his rush he took 2 or 3 meters and I couldn’t follow him”.