Three for Bennati

172 kms of racing and it comes down to a couple of centimetres. Bennati manages to hold off a hard-charging Cavendish to take the win. McEwen is third. With the exception of Bennati, these are of course Matt's men. So is Julian Dean, who finished 13th. So I'd Fight Gandhi wins another sprint stage with 265 points. That's enough to move them into second place overall, just 431 points back of the lead. Listen Up Maggots is right there as well with a bargain basement collection of fast men (Forster, Fernandez, Dean). Another 205 points for the potty-mouthed princess of Pinedale. The prince of Pinedale, otherwise known as the poosher, was just behind with 200 points. More from CN.

Top 20:

1 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 4:05:29 0:00 24"
2 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 4:05:29 0:00 12"
3 MCEWEN Robbie AUS SIL 4:05:29 0:00 8"
4 FERNANDEZ Koldo ESP EUS 4:05:29 0:00
5 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 4:05:29 0:00
6 FORSTER Robert GER GST 4:05:29 0:00
7 PAGLIARINI Luciano BRA SDV 4:05:29 0:00
8 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 4:05:29 0:00
9 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 4:05:29 0:00
10 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 4:05:29 0:00
11 JEGOU Lilian FRA FDJ 4:05:29 0:00
12 GREIPEL André GER THR 4:05:29 0:00
13 DEAN Julian NZL TSL 4:05:29 0:00
14 BOSSONI Paolo ITA LAM 4:05:29 0:00
15 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 4:05:29 0:00
16 CHEREL Mikael FRA FDJ 4:05:29 0:00
17 SUTTON Christopher AUS TSL 4:05:29 0:00
18 GATES Nick AUS SIL 4:05:29 0:00
19 BROWN Graeme AUS RAB 4:05:29 0:00
20 PEREZ ARANGO Marlon A. COL GCE 4:05:29 0:00


GC after stage 12:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 53:05:46 0:00
2 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 53:11:36 5:50
3 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 53:12:45 6:59
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 53:13:38 7:52
5 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 53:13:40 7:54
6 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 53:13:50 8:04
7 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 53:13:55 8:09
8 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 53:14:18 8:32
9 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 53:14:19 8:33
10 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 53:14:19 8:33
11 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 53:14:43 8:57
12 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 53:14:56 9:10
13 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 53:14:56 9:10
14 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 53:15:01 9:15
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 53:15:29 9:43
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 53:15:32 9:46
17 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 53:15:34 9:48
18 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 53:15:42 9:56
19 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 53:16:00 10:14
20 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 53:16:02 10:16


Stage 12 results:

I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 265
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 205
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 200
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 180
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 170
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 145
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 110
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 100
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 100
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 80
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 75
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 75
Remaining Men Together (David S) 65
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 60
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 45
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 45
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 40
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 40
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
Grande Latte Enema (James) 0
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 0
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 0
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 0
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1929
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1498
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1398
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1357
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1280
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1272
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1266
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1234
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1231
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1104
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1060
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1018
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 969
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 965
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 929
Remaining Men Together (David S) 922
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 886
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 880
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 754
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 696
Project Mayhem (Donna) 584
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 565
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 520
Chemical Burn (Cam) 513
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 457


For the record, here's a list of all the guys who are no longer racing. Anyone still racing with a full squad?

Stage 1 DNS: Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
Stage 2 DNS: Igor Astarloa (Team Milram)
Stage 2 DNF: David Zabriskie (Slipstream Chipotle – H30)
Stage 3 DNF: Bradley McGee (Team CSC)
Stage 4 DNF: Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC)
Stage 4 DNF: Dominique Cornu (Silence-Lotto)
Stage 4 DNF: Tom Stubbe (Française des Jeux)
Stage 5 DNS: Nick Nuyens (Cofidis)
Stage 6 DNF: Enrico Poitschke (Team Milram)
Stage 6 DNF: Kevin De Weert (Cofidis)
Stage 6 DNF: Rene Mandri (AG2R La Mondiale)
Stage 7 DNF: Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff Credit Systems)
Stage 7 DNF: Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux)
Stage 7 DNF: Aitor Galdos (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
Stage 7 DNF: Patrick Calcagni (Barloworld)
Stage 8 DNF: Steve Morabito (Astana)
Stage 8 DNF: Sergio Ghisalberti (Milram)
Stage 9 DNF: Bingen Fernandez Bustinza (Cofidis)
Stage 9 DNF: Filippo Savini (CSF Group Navigare)
Stage 10 DNS: Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems)
Stage 10 DNS: Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream)
Stage 10 DNS: Steve Zampieri (Cofidis)
Stage 11 DNS: Francesco Bellotti (Barloworld)
Stage 11 DNS: Andrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner)
Stage 11 DNS: Geert Steurs (Silence - Lotto)
Stage 11 DNF: Volker Ordowski (Gerolsteiner)
Stage 11 DNF: Mauro Santambrogio (Lampre)
Stage 11 DNF: Mauricio Soler (Barloworld)
Stage 11 DNF: Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis)