Sorensen powers to victory in 12th stage of Tour de France

BEIJING, July 17 -- Team Saxo Bank rider Nicki Sorensen of Denmark powered to a solo victory in the 12th stage of the Tour de France, a 211.5-kilometer ride from Tonnerre to Vittel Thursday.

The Saxo Bank rider beat France's Laurent Lefevre and Italian Franco Pellizotti, who were second and third, respectively.

Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini retained the overall leader's yellow jersey¹, six seconds ahead of Alberto Contador. The Spaniard's Astana teammate Lance Armstrong stayed third, two seconds further behind.

Sorensen featured in a seven-man breakaway at the 64-km mark that quickly built a gap of over four minutes - and he proved the strongest of the group.

Belgian Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans of Australia also tried their luck early but they were swiftly reined² in by the bunch.

Armstrong suffered a puncture³ after 150 km but the seven-time champion was quickly returned to the bunch by four teammates after having his rear wheel changed.

The stage went the fugitives⁴' way as the sprinters' teams proved unwilling⁶ to work in the finale to set up a mass sprint⁵.

Sorensen and Frenchman Sylvain Calzati attacked the breakaway group with 22 kilometers left with only Nocentini's AG2R team setting the pace.

The duo did not look back as the gap with the peloton went past the six-minute mark, and Sorensen went solo 5.5 km from the line.

Today's 13th stage will take the peloton over 209 kilometers to Colmar with the tricky⁷ ascent⁸ to the Col du Platzerwasel on the menu.

Earlier, the International Cycling Union overturned an earpiece ban set for today's stage, meaning riders will be able to race with electronic radio equipment as normal.

Tuesday's 10th stage was held without earpieces as an experiment, and a majority of riders and sports directors flayed⁹ the measure as being too dangerous.

"To put an end to the controversy¹⁰ which is compromising the running of the Tour de France, the (UCI) Management Committee has decided¹¹ not to repeat the experiment of a stage without radio communication," the UCI said yesterday.

However, the earpiece ban could be experimented with again at a future race. "The UCI pursues the debate on the appropriateness of using radios during racing¹² and will continue to consult all those involved in cycling as far as their use is concerned," the UCI said. (本文由在线英语听力室编辑整理)

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

3 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

4 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

5 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

8 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

9 flayed   

v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评

参考例句：

• He was so angry he nearly flayed his horse alive. 他气得几乎把马活活抽死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The teacher flayed the idle students. 老师严责那些懒惰的学生。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。