2012 Tour of Belgium
Different comparing to the previous years was that the leader in the race will wore a red jersey (instead of black), whereas the black jersey went to the most combative rider. To decide the combativity, there were three sprints in each stage (except for the time-trial), where in case of a breakaway, the first five riders earned points (10, 8, 6, 4 and 2). Based on the lead the breakaway has on the peloton, these riders received bonus points, going from 1 point for a 30-second lead up to 5 points for a lead of 4 minutes or more. Another change, as introduced during the 2011 Tour de France, was the so-called "supersprint": each stage had one supersprint, where riders earned points that counted for the yellow sprint jersey and bonification seconds for the general classification.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Teams
Twenty-one teams have been invited to the 2011 Tour of Belgium: 7 teams are from the UCI ProTeams, 7 are UCI Professional Continental Teams and 7 are UCI Continental Teams.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 1
23 May 2012 – Mechelen to Buggenhout, 162 km (101 mi)


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 1
Early throughout the race, a breakaway of eight riders formed, consisting of Paolo Ciavatta, Leonardo Duque, Simon Geschke, Arnaud Jouffroy, Egidijus Juodvalkis, Philippe Legrand, Michael Schär and Jelle Wallays. With only 17 kilometres to go, Ciavatta, Schär and Wallays sprinted away from the group. They were however not able to stay out of the grasp of the peloton, where mainly Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Lotto–Belisol had been chasing hard.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 1
The peloton sprinted for the stage win in Buggenhout, where a photo finish was necessary to decide the winner as three riders crossed the line nearly simultaneously. Although Danilo Napolitano ostensively gestured and seemed sure of the victory, the photo finish clearly showed André Greipel to cross the line first, with Napolitano in second and Kenny van Hummel in third. Due to the bonification seconds, Greipel became the first overall leader. He also took the first yellow jersey as leader in the sprint classification, while Leonardo Duque took the black jersey as most combative.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 2
24 May 2012 – Lochristi to Knokke-Heist, 169.5 km (105.3 mi)


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 2
With still 145 kilometres to go, a group of five pelotonriders broke away from the peloton, achieving a lead of up to five minutes over the main bunch. The five riders were Pim Ligthart, Mark McNally, Aleksejs Saramotins, Ramon Sinkeldam and Jay Thomson. Again Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Lotto–Belisol were chasing the group, but were unable to bring te gap down below three minutes with 20 kilometres to go. It was only when BMC Racing Team stepped up to help, the gap reduced further.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 2
In the lead group, Sinkeldam sped away from the others and while the others were caught, he managed to stay out of the grasp of the peloton up to two kilometres of the finish line. For the second day in a row, the peloton sprinted for the stage win, with André Greipel and Danilo Napolitano again finishing first and second. Jacopo Guarnieri was the third man on the podium and due to the bonification seconds he became the new leader in the youth classification. Because of his win, Greipel strengthened his lead in both the general classification and the sprint classification. Leonardo Duque was still leading the combativity classification.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 3
25 May 2012 – Knokke-Heist to Beveren, 163 km (101 mi)


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 3
Maxim Belkov, Tijmen Eising, Alessandro Donati, Pieter Vanspeybrouck en Coen Vermeltfoort were the attackers of the day. Belkov held out the longest, being caught only 8 kilometres from the finish line, before the third peloton sprint in three days was a fact. André Greipel and Danilo Napolitano again took the top two places. The jerseys did not change hands, except for the white jersey, which went to Adam Blythe.


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 4
26 May 2012 – Turnhout to Arendonk, 20.5 km (12.7 mi)


2012 Tour of Belgium, Stages, Stage 5
27 May 2012 – Clavier to Engis, 212 km (132 mi)


2012 Tour of Britain
The 2012 Tour of Britain was the ninth running of the current Tour of Britain and the 73rd British tour in total. The race consisted of eight stages, starting on 9 September in Ipswich, and finishing on 16 September in Guildford. The race was part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, and was categorised by the UCI as a 2.1 category race.


2012 Tour of Britain
The race was originally won by Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who became the first British rider to win the race in its current guise and the first to win a British tour since Chris Lillywhite won the 1993 Milk Race. Tiernan-Locke assumed the race lead with a second-place finish on the sixth stage and maintained the lead until the end of the race.


2012 Tour of Britain
He won by eighteen seconds ahead of Australia's Nathan Haas, who rode for the Garmin–Sharp squad, and the podium was rounded out by Liquigas–Cannondale's Damiano Caruso, who finished five seconds behind Haas and twenty-three seconds in arrears of Tiernan-Locke. In 2014 however, following investigation for biological passport irregularities, Tiernan-Locke was banned for two years and stripped of his 2012 victory.


2012 Tour of Britain
In the race's other classifications, UnitedHealthcare rider Boy Van Poppel won the points classification for the most consistent finisher in each of the stages; despite not winning any stages, Van Poppel placed four times inside the top three placings of a stage. The mountains classification was won by a Rapha Condor–Sharp rider for the second year in succession, as Kristian House succeeded Tiernan-Locke as the winner; the sprints classification was won by Peter Williams of the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, while Saur–Sojasun won the teams classification.


2012 Tour of Britain, Teams
The winner of the 2012 Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins, participated in the race, alongside 2011 World Champion Mark Cavendish for Team Sky. Two-time Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso also contested the race for Liquigas–Cannondale – the squad making their début in the race – and Samuel Sánchez also competed in the race for the first time as part of the Euskaltel–Euskadi team. Among the domestic teams, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was the designated leader of the Endura Racing team.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 1
The opening stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain was a primarily flat stage, with the first of the Yodel intermediate sprint points coming in the village of Melton, before the first Škoda King of the Mountains climb came in another Suffolk village, in Snape. The second King of the Mountains point came at the village of Westleton, with the second sprint coming in Great Yarmouth. The final sprint was at Coltishall, with the final King of the Mountains climb coming at Swanton Morley; all three climbs during the stage were third-category ascents.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 1
A quartet of riders – An Post–Sean Kelly's Niels Wytinck, Rapha Condor–Sharp rider Kristian House, Rony Martias of Saur–Sojasun and Jonathan Clarke, representing the UnitedHealthcare team – made the early breakaway from the field, locking out the top placings at each of the three intermediate sprint points and the three categorised climbs during the stage.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 1
Martias finished first at two of the three sprints, and thus took the race's first sprints jersey, while House earned the polka-dot jersey for heading the mountains classification, and Wytinck earned the award for the day's most combative rider. The breakaway, which had an advantage of seven minutes over the field at one point during the stage, was caught with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, which was expected set up a sprint finish at the Royal Norfolk Showground.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 1
However, a large crash with around 2 km (1.2 mi) remaining delayed a large portion of the peloton, leaving few riders to contest the final sprint; Team Sky rider Luke Rowe prevailed to take his first professional victory ahead of Clarke's team-mate Boy Van Poppel and Endura Racing's Russell Downing. Rowe took the first leader's jersey by three seconds ahead of Martias, who was sixth on the stage but moved up due to bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
The first sprint point on the second stage was contested just over 20 km (12.4 mi) into the stage, at Duffield. After the sprint point, there were three successive first-category climbs on the 180.7 km (112.3 mi) parcours, coming at Cross o' th' Hands, Alstonefield and finally Morridge. The two final sprint points were at Chelford and Culcheth with the stage finishing, for the first time, at Knowsley Safari Park on the outskirts of Liverpool.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
The breakaway for the stage consisted of six riders, and they managed to remain off the front of the field for the majority of the stage. Making up the group were Liquigas–Cannondale stagiaire Matthias Krizek, Jack Bobridge of Orica–GreenEDGE, Peter Williams representing the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, Rapha Condor–Sharp's Richard Handley, Team Raleigh–GAC rider Russell Hampton and Pablo Urtasun for the Euskaltel–Euskadi squad.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
The sextet managed to establish a lead of over four minutes at one stage on the roads, but were gradually brought back by the peloton, led once again by Team Sky with assistance from Endura Racing; both teams were looking to set up their sprinters Mark Cavendish and Russell Downing respectively.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
The leaders managed to remain clear until around 25 km (15.5 mi); Bobridge and Williams resisted capture for another few kilometres, but all was together before the 20 km (12.4 mi) to go banner. There were several late-stage attacks from riders representing the domestic teams, but it was ultimately a sprint finish within the safari park for the stage honours. Team Sky were on the front with race leader Luke Rowe leading out Cavendish, but the pair became separated in the closing stages, allowing Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Bobridge's team-mate Leigh Howard into space.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 2
Howard beat a recovering Cavendish to the line for his first win of the year, while a third place for Van Poppel, compared to a tenth for Rowe – with a one-second time gap – allowed Van Poppel to take the lead in the general and points classifications from Rowe. This was despite Rowe receiving the leader's jersey during the post-stage podium ceremonies.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 3
The third stage of the race started with an almost immediate sprint point, 10 km (6.2 mi) into the stage at Hawick. Like the second stage, there were three successive King of the Mountain points, with two first-category climbs and a second-category climb coming at Roberton, Turner Cleuch and Grey Mare's Tail respectively. The two final sprints were contested at 107 km (66.5 mi) and 122 km (75.8 mi) respectively, at Lochmaben and Whitesands in Dumfries. Following a finishing loop of around 30 km (18.6 mi) in length, the finish of the stage itself was contested on Whitesands for the second successive year; Mark Cavendish led home HTC–Highroad team-mate Mark Renshaw in a 1–2 finish in the race-opening stage, in 2011.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 3
Five riders were part of the breakaway during the stage; the group consisted of riders mainly from the domestic teams – all bar one of the five – as Bernard Sulzberger of Team Raleigh–GAC was joined by Team IG–Sigma Sport rider Peter Hawkins, Rapha Condor–Sharp's Kristian House and Peter Williams, representing the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, with the group completed by Vacansoleil–DCM stagiaire Wesley Kreder. Williams was looking to defend his lead in the sprints classification, while House was out to regain the lead in the mountains classification, that he had lost the previous day to Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Pablo Urtasun. House ultimately regained his mountains lead with a first and two seconds – both to Sulzberger – while Williams extended his lead with two intermediate sprint wins.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 3
The peloton had given them a maximum advantage of four minutes during the stage, before gradually pulling them back, being led by the UnitedHealthcare team of race leader Boy Van Poppel. Hawkins and Kreder left their breakaway companions behind on the finishing loop around Dumfries, while Garmin–Sharp rider Sep Vanmarcke attacked out of the peloton to join up with the two leaders around 10 km (6.2 mi) later.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 3
Hawkins was almost immediately dropped after that, with Kreder and Vanmarcke managing to hold off the peloton until around 2 km (1.2 mi) to go, as the Team Sky and Orica–GreenEDGE had ramped up the pace in the peloton ahead of the sprint finish. With a lead-out from opening stage winner Luke Rowe, Cavendish took victory in Dumfries for the second consecutive year, ahead of Orica–GreenEDGE pairing Leigh Howard and Aidis Kruopis. With six bonus seconds on the line, Howard assumed the overall lead of the race, with Cavendish level on time; Van Poppel fell to third but held on to the lead of the points classification.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 4
The fourth stage of the race started in Carlisle, where two sprints and two King of the Mountain points were all contested within the first 80 km (49.7 mi) of the stage. The first two sprint points were held at Shap and Kendal, interspersed with two-second-category climbs at Shap Fell and Old Hutton. The final sprint of the day was situated at Caton and the final King of the Mountain point of the day was the third-category climb at Quernmore.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 4
The stage finished on the Golden Mile in Blackpool, where André Greipel had won the most recent finish there in the race-opening stage in 2010; the stage scheduled to finish in Blackpool in 2011 was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions after the remnants of Hurricane Katia hit the country. The main breakaway of the day was initiated during the opening kilometres of the stage, and involved six riders.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 4
The group – consisting of mountains classification leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor–Sharp), Ronan McLaughlin of An Post–Sean Kelly, Team UK Youth's Niklas Gustavsson, Team IG–Sigma Sport rider Dan Craven, Matt Cronshaw of Node 4–Giordana Racing and David Lelay representing the Saur–Sojasun team – quickly gained an advantage of around seven minutes on the peloton, before they started attacking one another with around 40 km (24.9 mi) remaining. House and Gustavsson were initially dropped, while in the peloton, echelons were formed with 25 km (15.5 mi), reducing the group to twenty-seven riders in depth.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 4
McLaughlin and Craven pushed on together off the front, before they were caught with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining. This ultimately set up a reduced sprint finish, where Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish won for the second day running, ahead of Australian pair Steele Von Hoff (Garmin–Sharp) and race leader Leigh Howard of Orica–GreenEDGE. Cavendish assumed the race lead from Howard by six seconds, having previously stated that he did not want to hold the leader's jersey, to remain in the world champion's jersey ahead of defending his title in Valkenburg in the Netherlands.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
For the fifth successive year the Tour of Britain held a stage in Stoke-on-Trent, with the fifth stage of the race commencing at Trentham Gardens. The first sprint of the day was contested at only 7.3 km (4.5 mi) into the stage, at Stone. The second sprint point was situated at Uttoxeter and the final such point was located at Rocester. There were three categorised climbs during the stage, with two-second-category climbs coming in Glacial Boulder – at Cannock Chase – and Oakamoor respectively, while there was also a first-category climb at Gun Hill. The field remained together for the first hour of racing during the stage; at the first intermediate sprint point, Orica–GreenEDGE's Leigh Howard took three bonus seconds towards the general classification, ahead of Luke Rowe of Team Sky and Endura Racing rider Russell Downing.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
Three riders – Liquigas–Cannondale rider Ivan Basso, Bartosz Huzarski of Team NetApp and Team Raleigh–GAC's Bernard Sulzberger – were able to break clear before the second climb of the day at Oakamoor, also taking maximum points in the process at both of the intermediate sprints en route to the climb. Strong crosswinds at this point allowed the main field to split apart, forming echelons, and also allowed a group of 21 riders to break clear of the peloton, and ultimately joined up with Basso and Huzarski after Sulzberger was dropped to form a 23-man group.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
Thirteen of the race's seventeen teams were represented in the group, including four members – Howard, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Garmin–Sharp pairing Sep Vanmarcke and Nathan Haas – of the overnight top ten in the general classification. The distance between the leaders and the remains of the main field continued to increase, eventually reaching four minutes with around 20 km (12.4 mi) remaining, while race leader Mark Cavendish, of Team Sky, was four minutes further behind after losing contact on the earlier climbs.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
Cavendish eventually lost almost twelve minutes on the day, comfortably losing his race lead. In the lead group, Paul Voss (Endura Racing) misjudged a right-hand turn with 9 km (5.6 mi), with Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare and Saur–Sojasun rider Jérémie Galland also hitting the tarmac as a result. Galland had to abandon the race with a fractured collarbone. Galland's team-mate Jérôme Coppel then put in an attack on the group, closely followed by Haas before this was chased down.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 5
De Maar, having returned to the group after his fall, went on the attack with 6.5 km (4.0 mi) and was not brought back as the Curaçao national champion soloed to his first victory of the year by fifteen seconds. Vanmarcke beat out Van Poppel, Haas and Howard for second place, with Howard retaking the leader's gold jersey by seven seconds ahead of Van Poppel.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 6
The sixth stage started and ended in Wales with a profile similar to the Welsh stages that had been held during previous Tours of Britain, while it was also denoted as the queen stage of the race. Stage 6 also marked one of the hardest days in terms of climbing, with four first-category climbs at Cwm Owen, Brecon Beacons, as well as two ascents of Caerphilly mountain. The three sprint points were contested at 25.2 km (15.7 mi), 71.9 km (44.7 mi) and 154.2 km (95.8 mi) respectively, located at Kerry, Llandrindod Wells and Mountain Ash.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 6
Six riders formed the breakaway for the stage, which was instigated within the opening few kilometres of the stage; it consisted of mountains classification leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor–Sharp), 2011 sprints winner Pieter Ghyllebert of An Post–Sean Kelly, Node 4–Giordana Racing rider Marcin Bialoblocki, Team IG–Sigma Sport's Dan Craven, Graham Briggs representing Team Raleigh–GAC and Team UK Youth's Magnus Bäckstedt. The group held a lead of eight minutes after the first intermediate point in Kerry, which was won by Bialoblocki, before the peloton – led by Endura Racing and Orica–GreenEDGE – started to gradually cut into their lead.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 6
House continued to extend his mountains classification lead by taking the first two climbs of the day, while the peloton remained four minutes behind at the Brecon Beacons, although the group splintered on the descent from the climb – with eleven riders going clear – before eventually coming back together before the Mountain Ash intermediate sprint. At the foot of Caerphilly mountain, Endura Racing's Jonathan Tiernan-Locke attacked out of the peloton, surpassing the remnants of the breakaway, with only Briggs catching up with Tiernan-Locke.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 6
Team NetApp's Leopold König linked up with the leaders from a small chasing group, while Ghyllebert tried to rejoin the leaders before being dropped again. Briggs was also dropped with König and Tiernan-Locke remaining clear until the end, where König won the stage and Tiernan-Locke assumed the leader's gold jersey, after Orica–GreenEDGE's Leigh Howard finished 33 seconds behind on the stage.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 7
The penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain started in north Devon, and contained two first-category climbs at Merrivale and Coffin Stone, as well as a second-category climb at South Hill. The day's intermediate sprint points were heavily favoured towards the latter part of the stage, with the final two sprints both coming within the final 30 km (18.6 mi) of the stage.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 7
These were situated at Kingsbridge Promenade and Slapton Ley, with the day's first sprint contested at Great Torrington; the field had remained as one complete entity until this point, where Leigh Howard of Orica–GreenEDGE reduced the overall lead of Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke by three bonus seconds to ten seconds.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 7
After that, the race split apart on the first climb at South Hill, before eventually reforming; the breakaway was formed during this phase of the race, with ten riders eventually going clear at the front. They eventually established an advantage of around four minutes at its maximum before Tiernan-Locke's squad along with Team NetApp started bringing them back at a gradual rate, falling to 1' 20" with around 25 km (15.5 mi) before the advantage started to increase once again.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 7
Tiernan-Locke attacked with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, taking the other race contenders Nathan Haas of Garmin–Sharp and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas–Cannondale) with him. Their group eventually finished 46 seconds down on the stage-winning group of four riders, who had remained out front from the breakaway; Pablo Urtasun took his first win of the season for Euskaltel–Euskadi ahead of fifth stage winner Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare), Caruso's team-mate Ivan Basso and team-mate of Urtasun, Samuel Sánchez.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 8
The final stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain contained four categorised climbs: two third-category climbs at Staple Lane and Crocknorth Road, a second-category climb at Leith Hill and a final first-category climb at Barhatch Lane. Early in the stage there were two sprint points: the first at Dorking just over 10 km (6.2 mi) into the stage, the second on the High Street in the finish town of Guildford; the final sprint of the 2012 Tour was at Ockley. Four riders formed the day's breakaway, consisting of Node 4–Giordana Racing rider Peter Williams – the sprints classification leader, who secured the jersey by getting into the breakaway – as well as Vacansoleil–DCM's Wesley Kreder, Jack Bobridge of Orica–GreenEDGE and Simon Richardson, representing Team IG–Sigma Sport.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 8
The break only got three minutes clear before the peloton gradually brought them back. On the final categorised climb of the race, Barhatch Lane, the overall leader Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) ramped up the pace and split the main field for a time before it eventually reformed on the descent. Bobridge attacked on his own with 30 km (18.6 mi) remaining of the stage, pulling clear by around half a minute before Team Sky set up station on the front of the peloton to keep Mark Cavendish out of trouble ahead of a likely sprint finish.


2012 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 8
After Bobridge was caught, three other riders tried solo attacks on the run-in to Guildford without success; setting up the sprint finish, Luke Rowe led it out for Cavendish again, and Cavendish won the sprint – for his third win of the race – by several bike lengths ahead of UnitedHealthcare's Boy Van Poppel, who secured the points classification on the line. Tiernan-Locke finished within the peloton to secure the overall victory.


2012 Tour of California
The 2012 Amgen Tour of California was the seventh running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 13–20, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. It began in Santa Rosa and concluded in front of Los Angeles's Staples Center after eight stages. As per the Union Cycliste Internationale rules adopted in 2011, the use of race radios was prohibited, since only the events which are designated UCI World Tour events can use the devices.


2012 Tour of California
The event was marked by two major performances: Rabobank's Robert Gesink winning Stage 7 finishing in Mount Baldy to secure the overall classification victory and Peter Sagan of Liquigas–Cannondale dominating the sprint finishes, taking 5 stage wins and the sprinter jersey.


2012 Tour of California, Participating teams
Sixteen teams were participating in the Tour of California, including eight UCI ProTeams, four UCI Professional Continental teams, and four UCI Continental teams. They were:


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
Eight men escaped very early in the race and built a sizable gap with the peloton. Among them was Canadian David Boily (SpiderTech–C10), who won all four of the King of the Mountains competitions along the way, claiming the red jersey. The climbs were graded category 3 and 4, and the break held a maximum lead of eleven minutes.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 1
With 4.5 miles (7.2 km) to go in the race, the 3 remaining breakaway companions, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), Maxime Bouet (Ag2r–La Mondiale) and Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthcare) shook hands to congratulate each other for the nice effort since the bunch was 10 seconds behind them and reeled them in moments later. Almost at the same time the peloton caught the break, Peter Sagan (Liquigas–Cannondale) had a puncture. He worked his way back and avoided a crash that occurred with 2 miles (3.2 km) to go. His teammate Daniel Oss piloted him in the last few kilometers, and Sagan out sprinted his rivals.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
The stage included two major climbs: racers were faced with the Empire Grade difficulty (Category 1) at 123.9 kilometres (77.0 mi) from the start, and they tackled with the Bear Creek climb (Category 2) at the 154.7 kilometres (96.1 mi) mark. Race leader Peter Sagan was part of a crash that occurred near the top of the Empire Grade climb, but he could recover and got back on his bike after some on-the-fly repairs by the team's mechanic.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
Alexandre Geniez from Argos–Shimano was part of an early break with 5 other riders and was the lone surviving escapee, but was caught on the last climb of the day with 35 kilometres (22 mi) to go. He was rewarded for his efforts with the "Most Aggressive rider" jersey. A bunch composed of about 60 units came charging in Santa Cruz, with all the overall classification contenders present.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 2
Rory Sutherland from UnitedHealthcare broke away with about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to cover in a bid to win the stage and the 10 seconds bonus given to the victor, but his effort proved to be in vain as he was reeled back in shortly after the 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) mark. The Liquigas–Cannondale train dragged Sagan to the last corner, a right bend with the finish line only a couple hundred meters away. Sagan was first out of the corner and accelerated to the finish, taking his second victory in a row.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
For the first time in the race's history, the riders were set to climb Mount Diablo (Category 2) about midway through the course. The crowd of spectators was densely packed at that well-known landmark. Another crucial part of the journey was the Patterson Pass (Category 3), which summit is situated 9.3 miles (15.0 km) away from the finish line in Livermore.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
A breakaway composed of 4 men formed atop the first climb of the day, Calaveras Road (Category 4), including Sebastian Salas of Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies whose team manager stated prior to the stage that their main objective was now the red jersey awarded to the best climber. Salas did exactly what his team had planned, raking in enough points to take the lead in the King of the Mountains competition. The peloton got back to the break with 25 kilometres (16 mi) to race, and they prepared for a bunch finish as they descended towards the line.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 3
Heinrich Haussler (Garmin–Barracuda) led the sprint, but was passed shortly before the finish by the winner of the first 2 stages, Peter Sagan of Liquigas–Cannondale. Sagan stated after his third consecutive success that he was surprised to be a part of the finale since the Patterson Pass' climb was a steep one and was situated very close to the end of the race.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
The longest stage of the 2012 Tour of California was also the one with the greatest number of categorized climbs, since the peloton had to tackle with six of them and compose with high temperatures. Red jersey wearer Sebastian Salas (Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies) conquered the first difficulty of the day in front of the peloton, ultimately earning enough points to keep the best climber's jersey at the end of the stage.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
A number of breaks formed, but ultimately all of them were swallowed by the bunch, the most significant effort being led by a group of 11 riders with a maximum lead of 5' 25". After going past the last climb of the day, category 3 Crane Valley Road, the peloton regrouped on the descent to Clovis with all the favorites.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 4
After an attempt by David Zabriskie of Garmin–Barracuda to solo onward to victory failed near the 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) mark, Peter Sagan sprinted out of his teammate's wheel, edging Heinrich Haussler on the line for the fourth day in a row. With this performance, Sagan broke the record for most Tour of California victories with seven, surpassing Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step).


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
The event was taking place under a sunny sky and temperatures exceeding 100 °F (38 °C). David Zabriskie of Garmin–Barracuda took the yellow jersey off the shoulders of Peter Sagan, with an advantage of 3' 27" over the former race leader, who finished in 52nd position. Zabriskie stopped the clock at 35' 59", and raced wearing a Captain America themed skinsuit. Forty-year-old RadioShack–Nissan rider Jens Voigt came in second place, with American Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing Team rounding up the podium.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 5
Following the 18.4 miles (29.6 km) effort, the victor stated: “I came out here in February and videotaped the course. I had a few spots where I wanted to soft pedal but maintain speed. [ ...] Any course where I don’t have to get out of the aerobars is good for me.” Zabriskie had a 40 seconds deficit in the general classification coming into the stage.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
Seven riders broke away almost from the starting line, including David Boily and Sebastian Salas, who were battling it out for the red jersey. Boily came first atop the first difficulty of the day, but ultimately could not keep up with the pace of the breakaway and Salas remained the leader of the mountain's competition as the stage finished. Also included in this early break was Ag2r–La Mondiale rider Sylvain Georges, who remained in the escapee's bunch until it was reduced to two riders, very late in the stage.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
Sebastian Salas, approaching the last climb that would lead the race to Big Bear Lake, reportedly told Georges that he did not have the legs to continue cooperating with him, with 48 kilometres (30 mi) still to go. Georges continued on solo as he enjoyed a sizable lead, having a five minutes advantage on the peloton with 30 kilometres (19 mi) to go.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 6
He managed to hold on to sail to victory, taking the second win of the day and of the year for his team, since Sébastien Hinault took the third stage of Circuit de Lorraine a little earlier in the day. As he crossed the finish line, the bunch was in his back-view mirror, and Peter Sagan sprinted his way to second place.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
The race included three categorized climbs, including a finish at the base of the Mount Baldy ski lifts, an ascension that would take the riders to an altitude of 1,950 metres (6,400 ft). Right from the start, a breakaway formed, initiated by Jens Voigt (RadioShack–Nissan) and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step). After 20 kilometres (12 mi) of racing, the break had ballooned to 14 riders, including four units from the RadioShack–Nissan squad.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
Back in the group, general classification contender Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing Team survived a scare when he punctured while descending the first categorized difficulty of the day, but a teammate was there to promptly give him his wheel. Chris Horner (RadioShack–Nissan), who was part of the break, left the escapees behind, accompanied by Darwin Atapuma of Colombia–Coldeportes. At one point, the duo enjoyed a 3' 50" advantage over the bunch and David Zabriskie, making Horner the virtual leader.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
On the slopes of Mount Baldy, with 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) to go, the chasing bunch was reduced to 15 riders including Zabriskie. Rabobank's Robert Gesink then accelerated toward the top of the climb, dropping everyone in his group except Tom Danielson (Garmin–Sharp) who was the last to go away. Gesink caught Atapuma near the final kilometer banner, was passed by the Colombian on the inside in the penultimate turn, passed him again but took the final left bend very wide, almost colliding with the barriers.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 7
Gesink produced a last sprint that would carry him over the line as the victor. With that victory, Gesink took the yellow jersey. He stated: “This is amazing. At the end of last year I crashed and broke my leg. In January I still had to learn how to walk. Now I’m back. I’ve been working really, really hard the last few months.”


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
The final stage was a relatively flat affair with a modest elevation gain of 2,069 feet (631 m) over the entire course, which included 6 laps of a 5 miles (8.0 km) circuit in Los Angeles where the riders went by the Staples Center. A breakaway occurred, but it never gained more than a 35 seconds advantage over the field, since the Rabobank team dictated a fast pace to protect Robert Gesink's lead. The last escapee, Nathan Haas of Garmin–Barracuda, was caught with about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) to go. The Omega Pharma–Quick-Step train took care of the pacing from that point, trying to set up a win for Tom Boonen, but to no avail: Peter Sagan of the Liquigas–Cannondale squad got the better of the massive sprint, taking his fifth win of this edition of the Tour.


2012 Tour of California, Stages, Stage 8
The 2012 Tour of California was the last professional event in Orica–GreenEDGE's Robbie McEwen's career, as he had stated he would retire by the end of the race. He humorously said after the arrival: "This was a good race to pick as my last because I suffered so much this week I won't miss it." The overall classification winner Robert Gesink dedicated his victory to the memory of his father, who died as a result of a cycling accident in October 2010. In his own words: "I dedicate this win for my father. For me emotionally it is something really big to be back at this high level and to win a stage here, the toughest stage of all. It's a good thing to be back in California and to be winning again."


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
In the 2012 Tour of California, six different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Tour of California, and the winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the Tour of California.


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
Additionally, there was also a sprints classification, akin to what is called the points classification in other races, which awarded a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. The winner received 15 points, second place 12, third 10, fourth 7, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for tenth. In addition, some points could be won in intermediate sprints.


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized, either first, second, third, or fourth category, with more points available for the harder climbs.


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a youth classification. This classification was calculated the same way as the general classification, but only young cyclists (under 23) were included. The leader of the young rider classification received a gold and white jersey.


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
The other jerseys were not awarded on the basis of a time or points-based classification. A white jersey with blue trim was awarded for each stage's "Most Courageous" rider, akin to the combativity award in the Tour de France. The rider who received this award wore a blue jersey in the next stage. Unlike the Tour de France's combativity award, there was no overall award given. A black jersey for the Most Aggressive rider on each stage was also awarded, but this one was only worn on the podiums and not in competition.


2012 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage were added, and the team with the lowest time was the leader.


2012 Tour of Flanders
The 2012 Tour of Flanders was the 96th edition of the Tour of Flanders single-day "Monument" cycling race. It was held on 1 April 2012 over a distance of 256.9 kilometres (159.6 miles) – between Bruges and Oudenaarde – and was the eighth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.


2012 Tour of Flanders
In a three-man sprint finish, the race was won by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step Belgian Tom Boonen, who in the process, became the fifth different rider to win the race three times, and took the lead of the overall World Tour standings. Boonen finished ahead of Farnese Vini–Selle Italia's Filippo Pozzato and 2007 winner Alessandro Ballan of BMC Racing Team, who completed the podium.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Course change
The course of the classic was changed drastically. The finish was changed from Meerbeke to Oudenaarde due to the result of a changed parcours to the race. Famous hills like the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg were the final two hills in almost every edition from 1975 but were removed from the course. The new final featured the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, both were climbed three times. Also included in the final were the infamous Koppenberg – climbed after the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg – as well as the Steenbeekdries and the Kluisberg.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Course change
2010 winner Fabian Cancellara stated in the Belgium TV show De Laatste Show that he liked the new route of the race. He said that he disliked the dead moment from Tenbosse until the Muur in the old route and also the flat kilometres after the Bosberg until the finish. While Cancellara liked the new route, some riders expressed negative feelings about the new route. Two-time winner Stijn Devolder stated that: "This is no longer the Ronde van Vlaanderen". Former Belgian cyclist and three-time winner Johan Museeuw stated that the course was potentially made too hard: "Three times up the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg can blow you away. The course didn't really need to be made harder, I think."


2012 Tour of Flanders, Course change
Many cycling fans, especially those in Belgium, also expressed against the changes in the route and thinking that the changes were made for commercial reasons. The omission of the Muur was not received well by the fans and was like "removing the Poggio from Milan–San Remo. The "Muur" was included in the first World Tour E3 Harelbeke in 2012.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Course change
First lap of the circuit (red) and transition to the second lap (green).


2012 Tour of Flanders, Course change
Second lap of the circuit (red) and transition to the third lap (green).


2012 Tour of Flanders, Participating teams
As the Tour of Flanders was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
Two main favourites were named before the race, 2005 and 2006 winner Tom Boonen and 2010 winner Fabian Cancellara, with outsiders including Matti Breschel, Sylvain Chavanel, Peter Sagan, Filippo Pozzato and Sep Vanmarcke.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
A group of 15 riders, including amongst others Tyler Farrar, Pablo Lastras and Maarten Tjallingii, formed the early breakaway, but due to the size of the group there were not allowed to gain more than five minutes over the peloton.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
In the peloton, the first attacks came during the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont after about 180 km (111.8 mi), eliminating some of the lesser riders, but still leaving a big group chasing the leaders. But the first major event happened some 10 km (6.2 mi) later, as Cancellara crashed out of the race, fracturing his collar bone in four places.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
At the start of the second ascent of the Paterberg, several riders crashed in the first part of the peloton, allowing a very select group of riders to take some advantage over the rest of the peloton. This elite group, which amongst others contained Boonen, Niki Terpstra, Chavanel, Sagan, Vanmarcke, Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan, Luca Paolini and Vincent Jérôme, raced past the remainder of the breakaway group and at that point seemed to be battling it out for the win.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
However, the riders stopped cooperating and in the peloton Team Sky chased hard in an attempt to bring Edvald Boasson Hagen back to the lead group, succeeding just before the third ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. During this ascent, Ballan raced away from the pack, only to be caught a few minutes later by Pozzato and Boonen.


2012 Tour of Flanders, Race summary
Ballan, Boonen and Pozzato climbed the final ascent of the Paterberg together and despite numerous attempts by Ballan to get away from the other two, the three riders contested the sprint for the victory. In Oudenaarde, Boonen outsprinted Pozzato by one bike-length at the line, with Ballan taking third place. In a group of 43 riders finishing within one minute of the three leaders, Greg Van Avermaet finished in fourth place, edging out Sagan in fifth. Omega Pharma–Quick-Step were represented three times within the top ten; along with Boonen's win, Terpstra and Chavanel also placed highly.


2012 Tour of Flanders for Women
The 2012 Tour of Flanders for Women was the ninth edition of the Tour of Flanders for Women single-day cycling race. The race took place on April 1, 2012, covering a distance of over 127.4 kilometres (79.2 mi). It was the third race of the 2012 UCI Women's Road World Cup season. Both the start and finish were in Oudenaarde, Belgium and 70 cyclists took part in the race.


2012 Tour of Norway
The 2012 Glava Tour of Norway was the second edition of the Glava Tour of Norway cycle race. It forms part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour.


2012 Tour of Oman
The 2012 Tour of Oman was the third edition of the Tour of Oman cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 14 to 19 February 2012, in Oman.


2012 Tour of Oman
The race was won by Slovakia's Peter Velits, of the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team, taking the race lead on the penultimate day and holding it to the finish. Velits' winning margin over runner-up Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas–Cannondale) – winner of the race's queen stage to Jabal al Akhdar – was just one second, after Nibali tried to gain bonus seconds at one of the final day's intermediate sprints but could not gain time. The final place on the podium went to RadioShack–Nissan's Tony Gallopin, sixteen seconds behind Nibali and 17 seconds down on Velits.


2012 Tour of Oman
In the race's other classifications, Peter Sagan of Liquigas–Cannondale won the points classification on the final stage, Gallopin won the white jersey for the youth classification with his third place overall in the general classification, BMC Racing Team's Klaas Lodewyck won the combative classification for the race's intermediate sprints, and RadioShack–Nissan finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Tour of Oman, Teams
Sixteen teams competed in the 2012 Tour of Oman. These included eleven UCI ProTour teams, three UCI Professional Continental teams, and two Continental teams. The teams participating in the race were:


2012 Tour of Qatar
The 2012 Tour of Qatar was the eleventh edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held between 5 and 10 February 2012, in Qatar.


2012 Tour of Qatar
The race was won for the fourth time by Belgium's Tom Boonen, of the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team, leading the race from start to finish and taking two stage victories along the way. Boonen's winning margin over runner-up Tyler Farrar (Garmin–Barracuda) – the winners of the team time trial stage near the Losail International Circuit – was 28 seconds, and Team Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha completed the podium, five seconds behind Farrar and 33 seconds down on Boonen.


2012 Tour of Qatar
In the race's other classifications, Boonen also won the points classification, having held the lead of the standings from start to finish, Farrar's teammate Ramūnas Navardauskas won the white jersey for the youth classification, by placing eighth overall in the general classification, and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Tour of Qatar, Teams
Sixteen teams competed in the 2012 Tour of Qatar. These included eleven UCI ProTour teams, three UCI Professional Continental teams, and two Continental teams.


2012 Tour of Turkey
The 2012 Tour of Turkey was the 48th edition of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey cycling stage race. It was held from 22 April–29 April 2012, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. Bulgarian Ivailo Gabrovski originally won the race after dominating the third stage, but was later found to have used EPO and was disqualified. It was officially announced in October 2012 that the winner of the Tour of Turkey is Alexsandr Dyachenko of Astana.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Teams and cyclists
There are 25 teams in the 2012 Tour of Turkey. Among them were 9 UCI ProTeams, 14 UCI Professional Continental teams, and 2 Continental teams. Each team was allowed eight riders on their squad, giving the event a peloton of 194 cyclists at its outset.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 1
A huge crash decimated about half the field with a few kilometers to go. Some riders had to withdraw from the race due to injuries. As per the UCI rules, since the crash occurred less than 3 kilometers away from the finish, all riders caught in the accident were credited the same time as the winner.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 2
A breakaway formed at kilometer 48 composed of Alexander Vinokourov (Astana), Laurent Pichon (Bretagne–Schuller), Paolo Locatelli (Colnago–CSF Bardiani), László Bodrogi (Team Type 1–Sanofi) and Matteo Fedi (Utensilnord–Named). They were caught with 5 kilometers to go, leading to a mass sprint finish.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 3
Bulgarian Ivailo Gabrovski (Konya–Torku Şekerspor) accelerated 8 kilometers away from the finish line in the first mountain top finish stage in the race's history. He went on to win solo and took the leader's jersey. A doping test performed after this stage would eventually lead to Gabrovski's disqualification.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 4
The mass sprint was very close with Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) taking the win over fellow Australian Matthew Goss (GreenEDGE) by a margin that was impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 5
First professional victory for 23-year-old Andrea Di Corrado (Colnago–CSF Bardiani), who dropped his 5 breakaway companions to solo his way to the finish line.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 6
Gabrovski defended his leader's jersey with the few of his teammates of Konya - Torku Seker Spor who had the resources to help, as they were left in front of the peloton without any help to catch the 3 escapees. They ultimately reeled them in, and a long series of attacks ensued with about 20 kilometers to go, all of which were covered by Gabrovski himself since his team did not have the resources to keep the frantic pace up. Twenty-four-year-old Sacha Modolo (Colnago–CSF Bardiani) won the sprint finish.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 7
Belgian Iljo Keisse of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step won the stage after dropping his 6 breakaway companions with 6 kilometers to go, building a sizable gap with them and the surging peloton. In a finish that was most dramatic, Keisse crashed while negotiating the final bend with 1 km to go. He picked himself up and was almost swept up by the charging bunch, who were on his back wheel as he crossed the finish line.


2012 Tour of Turkey, Stages, Stage 8
General classification contender Vladimir Gusev of Team Katusha (12th before the stage) got away with 3 other cyclists so the bunch chased relentlessly. They caught the escapees with less than 7 kilometers to go. Theo Bos of Rabobank won the sprint after a crash eliminated some top sprinters from the race. Ivailo Gabrovski kept the turquoise jersey and was declared the general classification winner.


2012 Tour of Utah
The 2012 Tour of Utah was the ninth edition of the Tour of Utah. Once again, the race was included on the UCI America Tour, with a UCI classification of 2.1. As such, the race is only open to teams on the UCI Pro Tour, UCI Professional Continental and UCI Continental circuits. The race took place between August 7–12, 2012 as a six-day, six-stage race, with some major differences to the prior editions, such as the elimination of the prologue and the inclusion of a team time trial instead of an individual time trial. The 2012 Tour of Utah was one of five UCI-ranked stage races in the United States in 2012 and one of three (along with the 2012 Tour of California and the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which are both ranked 2.HC) that attracted multiple ProTeams to compete.


2012 Tour of Utah, Teams
In July, the Tour of Utah announced a 17-team field, made up of six ProTeams (up from five), five UCI Professional Continental teams (up from four) and six UCI Continental teams (down from seven), thus giving the race a total of 17 teams (up from 16). In total, eight of the 16 teams that competed in 2011 were invited to return to this event, as well as a ProTeam that merged into another ProTeam (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) and a team that competed in 2010, but did not get a place in 2011 (Bontrager-Livestrong). EPM-UNE is based in Colombia, and four of the five Professional Continental teams are not US-based, coming from Canada, China, the Netherlands and Germany.


2012 Tour of Utah, Contenders
In addition to all of the last four champions of the race -- (Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthcare), Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist) and two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)) -- the race included potential contenders Tom Danielson (Garmin), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin), David Zabriskie (Garmin) and Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek). The race was held during the 2012 Summer Olympics, and 11 current or former Olympians competed. Although each of the 17 teams was permitted to bring up to 8 starters (for a maximum of 136), the race included only 129 starters, because 3 of the ProTour teams (BMC, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, and Liquigas-Cannondale) brought only 6 and a fourth (Rabobank) brought only 7.


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 1
August 7, 2012 -- Ogden - Ogden, Medium mountain stage, 131 miles (211 km)For the first time, the Tour of Utah started with a full stage instead of a prologue. Although the route included five categorized climbs, a select peloton of 40 returned to  downtown Ogden with the lead, resulting in a sprint finish. After a few attempted breakaways in the final kilometers were thwarted, Rory Sutherland of UnitedHealthcare outsprinted the field, finishing several bike lengths ahead of Damiano Caruso of Liquigas–Cannondale, Brent Bookwalter of BMC Racing Team and Lawson Craddock of Bontrager–Livestrong. Although the lead pack all finished in the same time, the first three across the finish line and intermediate sprint placers received time bonuses that gave them the lead.


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 2
August 8, 2012 --  Miller Motorsports Park, team time trial, 13.5 miles (21.7 km)Team time in the team time trial was determined by the fifth member of the team to cross the finish line. The stage was easily won by the Garmin–Sharp team, pushing American Christian Vande Velde into the overall lead.


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 2
Levi Leipheimer's chances to defend his championships probably came to an end on this stage, as his weak Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team, which only started with six riders, quickly dropped one rider and then repeatedly had to sit up to avoid dropping a second rider, placing last among the 17 teams and losing over two minutes as a result.


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 3
August 9, 2012 -- Ogden to University of Utah, 88.5 miles (142.4 km)


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 4
August 10, 2012 -- Lehi - Salt Lake City, 134.3 miles (216.1 km)


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 5
August 11, 2012 -- Kimball Junction to Snowbird, 101.1 miles (162.7 km)


2012 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 6
August 12, 2012 -- Park City - Park City, 76.73 miles (123.48 km)


2012 Tour of the Basque Country
The 2012 Tour of the Basque Country was the 52nd running of the Tour of the Basque Country cycling stage race. It started on 2 April in Güeñes and ended on 7 April in Oñati, and consisted of six stages, including a race-concluding individual time trial. It was the ninth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country
The race was won by Spain's Samuel Sánchez of the Euskaltel–Euskadi team, after winning two stages including the final stage time trial, to take the general classification on the final day. Sánchez won the general classification by 12 seconds over runner-up Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha, who had led into the final stage; Sánchez also beat Rodríguez to the points classification title. Third place was taken by Rabobank's Bauke Mollema after he finished second to Sánchez in the time trial, and gained sufficient time to move up from eleventh overnight. In the race's other classifications, Marco Pinotti of the BMC Racing Team won the green jersey for the most points gained in intermediate sprints, while Team Saxo Bank rider Mads Christensen won the King of the Mountains classification, and Team Katusha finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Schedule
After the race was bailed out by Spanish bank Banco Sabadell on 5 March, race organisers announced the itinerary ten days later.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Participating teams
As the Tour of the Basque Country was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Two other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 20-team peloton.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
Two riders – Utensilnord–Named's Davide Mucelli and David de la Fuente of Caja Rural – advanced clear of the main field at the 20 km (12.4 mi) mark of the stage, as they reached the race's first categorised climb, the third-category Alto Humaran; they managed to extend their advantage to a maximum of over five minutes at one point during the early running of the stage.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
Euskaltel–Euskadi and Astana came to the front of the peloton towards the midpoint of the stage; making their move on the Alto del Suceso, another categorised climb with de la Fuente taking the maximum points on offer. Mucelli and de la Fuente's advantage had dropped to around two-and-a-half minutes, before spanning back out to the four-minute mark with 50 km (31.1 mi) remaining.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
Rabobank then established themselves on the front of the pack; protecting their main sprinter for the race, Michael Matthews. As such, by the time the race had advanced another 20 km (12.4 mi) of the parcours, the duo out front only held a lead of around a minute over the advancing peloton. The catch was inevitable, and just shy of 15 km (9.3 mi) remaining, Mucelli and de la Fuente were brought back by the field with Lotto–Belisol on the front.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
On the final climb of the day, the Alto de San Comse, a crash in the pack delayed several riders, with the peloton momentarily stalling the pace in the mayhem. This delay allowed Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEDGE) to sneak off the front; the first of several mini-attacks that were ultimately unsuccessful on the run in to Güeñes.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
Liquigas–Cannondale looked to set up the sprint finish for their rider Daniele Ratto, but he faded in the closing stages; Vacansoleil–DCM's Wout Poels launched his attack for the line, but he was usurped by the Spanish national champion, Movistar Team's José Joaquín Rojas, who earned his first victory of 2012 at the finish.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
Heavy rain greeted the riders at the start of the stage, with an early climb of the third-category Alto de San Cosme coming after just 4 km (2.5 mi) of the parcours. It was on the descent from the climb that the primary breakaway of the stage began to form; Jérôme Pineau of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step went clear with FDJ–BigMat's Thibaut Pinot and Team Saxo Bank rider Mads Christensen.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
The trio were later joined by another pair of riders – representing the wildcard teams in the race, Utensilnord–Named and Caja Rural – as Gabriele Bosisio and Julián Sánchez both ventured off the front of the peloton, eventually catching up with the breakaway after 32 km (19.9 mi). Of the five members of the breakaway, only two – Pinot and Pineau – had finished in the same time as stage one winner, Movistar Team's José Joaquín Rojas.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
As such, Movistar Team were driving the pace on the front of the main pack, in order to keep within a suitable distance of the five leaders; the gap at that point was around the seven-minute mark. Pinot continued to close in on David de la Fuente (Caja Rural) and the mountains classification lead, as he claimed maximum points on offer at the Alto de La Barrerilla and the Alto de Zaldiaran. Euskaltel–Euskadi, GreenEDGE and Rabobank all placed riders towards the front of the peloton, to help close the gap between the leaders and themselves.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
The gap had been cut to just over five minutes by the time the race reached the next categorised climb, the Alto de Vitoria, with Pinot again leading the breakaway across the summit. More teams sent riders forward to help with the work to bring back the leaders, taking back four minutes from the next 30 km (18.6 mi); the lead quintet held an advantage of just 1' 22" at the summit of the Alto de San Martin.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
Alas, the breakaway was not to succeed; with 13 km (8.1 mi) remaining of the stage, and on the second climb of the Alto de Zaldiaran – the final climb of the stage – the peloton brought back the lead quintet, allowing more riders to try an attacking move in the closing stages, on the run-in to Vitoria-Gasteiz. With GreenEDGE leading the main pack, another five-man move tried to get clear on the climb itself, including one of the team's riders, Wesley Sulzberger.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 2
Also part of the move were Pinot's team-mate Anthony Roux, Astana's Alexsandr Dyachenko, Team Katusha rider Eduard Vorganov and Dominik Nerz of Liquigas–Cannondale. Nerz then attacked his companions, but all five were caught before the summit of the climb. Lampre–ISD, Astana and GreenEDGE all had riders towards the front of the pack, many expecting a bunch sprint for the stage honours. As it transpired, an opportune move by Daryl Impey at the flamme rouge proved fruitful, and he managed to stay clear of the ever-closing pack to take his first victory for GreenEDGE, and the team's seventh of the year. Team-mate Allan Davis, like Impey, crossed the line arms aloft in second place ahead of Team Sky's Davide Appollonio and Rojas, who maintained his overall lead.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 3
The race's queen stage consisted of seven categorised climbs over the 154 km (95.7 mi) parcours, including two first-category climbs; the Alto de Ixua and also the climb of the Alto de Usartza, a climb with gradient in places at over 11%, cresting out with 1.4 km (0.9 mi) remaining of the stage. The Usartza featured for the third successive year; Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel–Euskadi) was the rider in which most observers deemed to be the favourite for the stage, as he had won each of the previous two finishes to be held in Eibar. Mini-attacks set the course for the stage as the field remained as one, for much of the first half-hour of racing; it was not until after 24 km (14.9 mi) that the stage's primary breakaway had been formed.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 3
Five riders went clear; two of whom had previously been in the breakaway in the race, Davide Mucelli of Utensilnord–Named and Team Saxo Bank's Mads Christensen. The pair were joined by FDJ–BigMat's Jussi Veikkanen, Movistar Team rider José Herrada and Antonio Piedra of Caja Rural, eventually gaining an overall advantage of five-and-a-half minutes over the peloton. By this time, the lead quintet had split into two; Herrada and Christensen had accelerated away from their companions and were later joined by Veikkanen, who had been dropped in the initial move along with Piedra and Mucelli. Christensen led over the next two categorised climbs, before Herrada accelerated his pace and attacked off the front on the first of the first-category climb of Alto de Ixua.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 3
Team Katusha were prominent in attempting to break away from the main field, utilising Alberto Losada, Giampaolo Caruso and Ángel Vicioso in a bid to get clear ahead of the finish. Caruso and Vicioso closed in on the leaders out front, passing Christensen on the road before eventually catching Herrada with 20 km (12.4 mi) remaining of the parcours; however their advantage over the main pack had dwindled considerably as the trio were less than a minute clear of the peloton, led by Euskaltel–Euskadi for their captain, Sánchez.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 3
The gap was eighteen seconds at the final intermediate sprint point in Eibar, with Liquigas–Cannondale helping out with the chase, and the trio were caught at the base of the Alto de Usartza. Chris Horner (RadioShack–Nissan) then attacked with Astana's Robert Kišerlovski, and were joined by another Team Katusha rider, Joaquim Rodríguez and Lampre–ISD's Michele Scarponi. Sánchez bridged up to the leaders, and as Kišerlovski and Scarponi struggled, it was left to Sánchez, Rodríguez and Horner to contest for the stage honours.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 3
Sánchez attacked in the closing stages and did enough to beat Rodríguez and Horner – to win for the third successive year – with Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) leading the chasers over the line, 12 seconds in arrears of Sánchez, who took the race lead from Movistar Team's José Joaquín Rojas as Rojas lost over 16 minutes on the stage.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Mini-attacks were again key to the first hour of racing on the fourth stage; with cool and damp conditions again for the riders, it was almost a carbon-copy to what had occurred on the previous stage. Evgeni Petrov was the most active rider in that first hour; after an earlier unsuccessful attempt to get clear on the first of the stage's five categorised climbs – the Alto de Itziar – at the 23.5 km (14.6 mi) mark, Petrov did manage to clip clear of the peloton almost 20 km (12.4 mi) later to initiate the breakaway move.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Over the next few kilometres, Petrov was joined by four other riders; Maciej Paterski (Liquigas–Cannondale) moved forward first at 45 km (28.0 mi), with Movistar Team's Ángel Madrazo, Diego Ulissi of Lampre–ISD, and Caja Rural rider Marcos García joining Petrov and Paterski 3 km (1.9 mi) later.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Euskaltel–Euskadi were keeping their riders towards the front of the field in support of their team captain, and the overall race leader Samuel Sánchez; in effect, stopping the breakaway from getting too far clear on the stage, and were less than two minutes behind at the second climb of the day, the Alto de Aritxulegi.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Wesley Sulzberger made his third attack of the race from the break for GreenEDGE, and was joined by team-mate Simon Clarke as they looked to bridge up to the breakaway; the pair caught García on the descent, after he had been dropped by his four companions. With the climb of the Alto de Agiña coming several kilometres later on the parcours, fresher legs for Sulzberger and Clarke told as they brought themselves, and Garciá, up to the breakaway and reforming the move as a seven-man group.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Four riders attacked on the descent, although only one – Patxi Vila (Utensilnord–Named) – was there for a move to catch the breakaway as Team Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso and Euskaltel–Euskadi pair Igor Antón and Gorka Verdugo were there to protect their respective team leaders Joaquim Rodríguez and Sánchez.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Vila caught the breakaway on the first ascent of the finishing climb, sans the steep finish reserved for the second and finishing ascent, while two other riders attacked on the Alto de Ibardin; Volta a Catalunya winner Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE) and Team Saxo Bank's Nicki Sørensen had crossed the summit marginally ahead of the peloton, before catching the lead octet with 25 km (15.5 mi) to go.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
With several fresher riders in the breakaway, the move started to fracture in the terrain and by the time the move reached the Alto de Ibardin for the second and final time with 6 km (3.7 mi) to go, only five riders remained in the move: Albasini, Clarke, Paterski, Petrov and Sørensen. Clarke and Paterski were dropped on the climb itself as Omega Pharma–Quick-Step looked to establish themselves on the front of the pack along with Team Katusha, looking to position Tony Martin in a prime position to attack late on.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Albasini was caught with 2.6 km (1.6 mi) to go, and a lead group of some 25 riders was established for the closing stages. Maxime Monfort and Fränk Schleck looked to set the pace for their RadioShack–Nissan team-mate Chris Horner, while Simon Špilak looked to do so for Rodríguez.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Vacansoleil–DCM's Wout Poels and Team Sky's Sergio Henao both looked to go clear in the final kilometre, but Rodríguez prevailed comfortably in the closing stages – an 18% gradient in some places – to win by nine seconds, taking the overall lead from Sánchez, who was second ahead of Henao and Astana's Robert Kišerlovski.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Again, rain made conditions slightly treacherous on the stage itself, and may have contributed to the fact that there were no successful attacks by the breakaway until near the midpoint of the day's running, after almost two hours of racing. At around 80 km (49.7 mi), an initial four-rider move went clear, consisting of FDJ–BigMat rider Benoît Vaugrenard, Lampre–ISD's Diego Ulissi, Kevin De Weert of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Caja Rural got a rider into the break once again – as they had done on every stage to that point – with Hernâni Brôco representing the team this time around. Not long later, twelve other riders from nine more teams brought reinforcement to the lead quartet and soon accelerated their pace to get a gap over the main field.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
The sixteen had been over five minutes clear at one point, but the bunch closed the gap quickly after that; it was 3' 15" at the summit of the stage's third climb, the Alto de Elosua. The breakaway's advantage continued to diminish and not long after the next categorised climb, the Alto de Descarga where Ulissi had led them across the summit, the move was thwarted as the peloton caught them.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
A counter-attack of nine riders immediately acted, including Robert Kišerlovski (Astana) who commenced the stage in fourth place in the general classification, trailing overnight leader Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha by just 24 seconds. This move could not gain sufficient ground off the front of the field; 20 km (12.4 mi) after the move had begun, their gap over the main field was just 25 seconds, with the pace being set by Rodríguez's team-mates.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
With Kišerlovski being in a prime position overall, he then attacked off the front of the breakaway in order to preserve his position in the rankings. The pace split the remaining breakaway riders apart; BMC Racing Team rider Marco Pinotti, Lampre–ISD's Adriano Malori and Jesús Hernández of Team Saxo Bank chased after Kišerlovski, while the remaining five leaders surrendered back to the peloton.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Kišerlovski held a 35-second lead over the main field with 5 km (3.1 mi) to go but was struggling on the uncategorised Garagaltza climb – a 900 m (3,000 ft) climb with an average gradient of 11% – when Rodríguez and Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel–Euskadi) attacked from the bunch. The top two overall caught Kišerlovski, and tried to distance themselves from him in the closing metres. Rodríguez launched his sprint first and just held off Sánchez at the line to keep his lead at nine seconds going into the time trial. Kišerlovski finished two seconds behind in third, but moved into third place overall. Chris Horner (RadioShack–Nissan) gave up 21 seconds to Kišerlovski, and 23 to Rodríguez and Sánchez, dropping to tenth overall.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
As was expected, the battle for the race victory came down to the final stage of the race; a technical 18.9 km (11.7 mi) individual time trial around Oñati. On the parcours were three steep climbs, made tougher due to the continued unsettled weather conditions in the Basque country; damp roads greeted the riders, and the stage favourite Tony Martin – the world time trial champion – riding for the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team crashed during a reconnaissance overview of the course.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
As was customary of time trial stages, cyclists set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. Thus, Travis Meyer of GreenEDGE, who, in 122nd place, trailed overall leader Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) by one hour, three minutes and forty-four seconds, was the first rider to set off on the final stage. Meyer recorded a time of 29' 12" for the course; a time that was ultimately good enough for him to place inside the top ten of the stage classification.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
Meyer held the lead for around twenty minutes until Stef Clement assumed the lead for Rabobank; the Dutch national champion had trailed his rival by three seconds at the midway intermediate point – at 9.8 km (6.1 mi) – but put in a stronger second half of the course to overhaul the time of Meyer, recording a time of 29' 10".


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
Clement, who had been 102nd overnight, managed to hold his stage lead well into the top 40 riders; Moreno Moser got closest to his time to that point, coming within six seconds, but eventually settled for a ninth-place finish on the stage for Liquigas–Cannondale. Clement's time was eventually beaten by BMC Racing Team's Marco Pinotti, wearing the green jersey as the sprints classification leader. Pinotti, a five-time Italian champion in the discipline, recorded a similar time to Clement at the intermediate point but went quicker in the second half to end up seven seconds ahead at the finish, in a time of 29' 03".


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
Martin then beat that time later, becoming the first rider to break 29 minutes for the course; in a time of 28' 55", later stating that the time trial was "dangerous" in places. Bauke Mollema, a team-mate of Clement, then put in one of the strongest time trials of his career to beat Martin's time by a solitary second, having received extra guidance in his time-trialling abilities over the off-season. Mollema's performance eventually lifted him onto the podium in the general classification, after gaining sufficient time over eight riders that had been ahead of him prior to the stage.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 6
It came down to the top two overall for the race honours: Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel–Euskadi) and Rodríguez. Sánchez's greater proficiency in the discipline compared to Rodríguez proved vital; although he trailed Mollema at the intermediate sprint, Sánchez repeated the feat of many other riders as a strong second half of the course gave him the stage victory, six seconds quicker than Mollema. Rodríguez also put in a strong performance, finishing 21 seconds slower than Sánchez, giving the latter victory by nine seconds overall; despite this, Rodríguez was pleased with his stage effort.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Classification leadership table
In the 2012 Tour of the Basque Country, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2012 Tour of the Basque Country, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a white jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 25 points, second place earned 20 points, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a blue jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.


2012 Tour of the Basque Country, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the sprints classification, marked by a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 3 at intermediate sprint points during each stage, with the exception of the final individual time trial stage. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.


2012 Towson Tigers football team
The 2012 Towson Tigers football team represented Towson University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Rob Ambrose and played their home games at Johnny Unitas Stadium. They are a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 7–4, 6–2 in CAA. Due to Old Dominion (7–1 in CAA play) being ineligible for the conference title, the Tigers claimed a four way share of the CAA title. Despite the conference title, the Tigers were not invited to the FCS playoffs.


2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
The 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 15, 2012 in Long Beach, California, United States at Streets of Long Beach.


2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Report, Background
The first two races of the 2012 IndyCar Series season were held in St. Petersburg and Barber. The races were dominated by Team Penske with two poles and two wins in a row. In St. Petersburg, Will Power took the pole and Hélio Castroneves won the victory, but at Barber things were reversed. Going into Long Beach, Castroneves led in the drivers' championship with 86 points, while Chevrolet led the manufacturers' championship.


2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Report, Background
Before the first practice, all Chevrolet entries were penalized because of unauthorized engine changes. This penalty moved the polesitter, Ryan Briscoe, from starting in the first position down to the 11th spot. Dario Franchitti, in the quickest non-Chevrolet car, started in the first position.


2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Classification, Race results
Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.


2012 Toyota Premier Cup
The 2012 Toyota Premier Cup featured Buriram United, the winners of the 2011 Thai League Cup against Vegalta Sendai, the fourth placed team from the 2011 J. League Division 1.


2012 Toyota Racing Series
The 2012 Toyota Racing Series was the eighth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheeler motorsport category held in New Zealand. The 15-race competition was won by Nick Cassidy.


2012 Toyota Racing Series, Teams and drivers
The series announced a 20-driver entry list on 28 December 2011.


2012 Toyota Racing Series, Calendar
The calendar for the series was announced on 11 July 2011, and was held over five successive weekends in January and February.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350
The 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 24, 2012, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps, it was the sixteenth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the first of two road course competitions on the schedule. Clint Bowyer of Michael Waltrip Racing took his first win of the season, while Tony Stewart finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Background
Sonoma Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International. The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long; the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout. In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Background
Before the race, Matt Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship with 565 points, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stood in second with 561. Greg Biffle was third in the Drivers' Championship with 548, sixteen points ahead of Jimmie Johnson and thirty-four ahead of Denny Hamlin in fourth and fifth. Kevin Harvick, with 504, was seven points ahead of Martin Truex, Jr., as Tony Stewart with 491 points, was ten ahead of Clint Bowyer and thirty-three in front of Brad Keselowski. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 105 points, eighteen points ahead of Toyota. Ford, with 77 points, was twenty-eight points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Kurt Busch was the defending race winner.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Background
Five teams chose to temporarily replace their regular drivers with road course ringers. One of which was Tommy Baldwin Racing, who replaced regular David Reutimann with Tomy Drissi, while another was FAS Lane Racing who chose Boris Said to replace regular drivers, Reed Sorenson and Ken Schrader. Humphrey Smith Racing also changed drivers, with Mike Bliss, racing at Road America in the Nationwide Series on the weekend, being replaced with Chris Cook, while Phil Parsons Racing replaced Michael McDowell with David Mayhew and Inception Motorsports co-owner David Stremme stepped aside in favor of Brian Simo. Robby Gordon also qualified for his first race since Auto Club Speedway.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were scheduled to be held before the Sunday race—one on June 22, 2012, and two on June 23, 2012. The first session lasted 90 minutes. The second session was 45 minutes, while the final session finished after 75 minutes. Jeff Gordon was quickest with a time of 75.653 seconds in the first session, less than two-tenths of a second faster than Truex, Jr. Bowyer was just off Truex, Jr.'s pace, followed by Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Newman. Marcos Ambrose was seventh, still within a second of Gordon's time.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Practice and qualifying
Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Ambrose clinched the second pole position of his career, with a record setting time of 75.203 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Gordon. Johnson qualified third, Biffle took fourth, and Truex, Jr. started fifth. Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Kenseth and Newman rounded out the top ten. The driver that failed to qualify for the race was Brian Simo.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Practice and qualifying
Following the qualifying session, Ambrose stated, "I beat myself up here in 2010.It was nothing to do with the car or the track. It was me. I know what not to do on the last restart." Afterward, third-placed Johnson commented, "It was on edge the whole lap. I don't want to drive 110 laps the way it drove today."


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Practice and qualifying
In the second practice session, Gordon remained quickest with a time of 75.961 seconds. Ambrose, with a time of 76.718, was second quickest, ahead of Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Keselowski. Kyle Busch, Johnson, Truex, Jr., Bowyer, and McMurray completed the first ten positions. Gordon continued to be quickest through the third practice session with a time of 76.846, 0.885 slower than his fastest lap during the second session. Biffle was second quickest in the session, while Montoya was scored third. Johnson followed in the fourth position ahead of Allmendinger, Hamlin and Edwards. Truex, Jr., Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the first ten positions in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.


2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Report, Race
The race, the fifteenth in the season, began at 3:21 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race with the air temperature around 74 °F (23 °C). Track minister Tim Boeve began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation. Next, University of California Straw Hat Band performed the national anthem, while Tony LaRussa and Toby Appleton, a Toyota Military Hero, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, David Gilliland had to start last on the grid after missing the mandatory drivers meeting. After leading 13 laps, Gordon would reach the 23,000 career laps led mark, the most of any current Sprint Cup Series driver .


2012 Trading Post Perth Challenge
The 2012 Trading Post Perth Challenge was a motor racing event for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was the fourth event of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship, featuring Races 7, 8 & 9. The unusual three race format is a staple of the Barbagallo Raceway event, in part caused by the different time zone of Western Australia compared to eastern states. It was held on the weekend of 4–6 May at the Barbagallo Raceway, in Perth, Western Australia. It was also the first time the series utilised the new pitlane on the infield of the circuit as opposed to the original one on the outside of the circuit.


2012 Trading Post Perth Challenge
The meeting saw a clean sweep of race wins by the Ford Performance Racing team. Mark Winterbottom won Saturday's Race 5 of the championship, while Sunday's two races were both won by Will Davison, the third and final race saw Davison on tyres no longer capable of sustaining front running speed being caught rapidly by Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup of the Triple Eight Race Engineering team. Davison won as his team-mate Winterbottom snuck past Whincup on the last lap to defuse the hostile challenge from the Holden driver.


2012 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Trafford Council were held on 3 May 2012. One third of the council was up for election, with each successful candidate serving a four-year term of office, expiring in 2016. The Conservative Party held overall control of the council.


2012 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results
The results for individual wards in the Election are as follows:


2012 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results, Bucklow-St. Martins ward
Cllr. Ian Platt left the Labour Party in late 2015 and served the remainder of his term in office as an Independent councillor.


2012 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results, St. Mary's ward
The Liberal Democrat candidate defected to the Labour Party two days before the election.


2012 Trans-Am Series
The 2012 Trans-Am Series was the 44th season of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans American Road Racing Championship.


2012 Trans-Am Series, New management
From 2012 onward, Trans-Am Race Company, LLC, has managed the series. They will manage the series until at least 2016. They are looking to "bring the series back to its glory years". Their plan is to get away from the new, three-class format and return to the pony cars that made the series famous.


2012 Trans-Am Series, New management
The series has also established a media partner, GoRacingTV. Select markets will also be able to view Trans Am races on MAVTV. GoRacingTV is a website providing highlights of various racing events.


2012 Trans-Am Series, News
It was announced on November 17, 2011, that a new Ford Mustang was in the works for entry into the series during the 2012 season. The car will use the 302 cubic inch (5 liter) engine from the production model.


2012 Trans-Am Series, Highlights
Though he won only one race, Chuck Cassaro would go on to overcome Tim Gray's four victories and win the GGT Championship by a comfortable 36 points, giving (American manufacturer) Panoz its first ever Trans Am title. With a GGT win at Mid Ohio, courtesy of Belgian driver Jan Heylen, Dodge garnered its first Trans Am victory since 2001.


2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League
The 2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League was the inaugural tournament between the Australian Ice Hockey League and the New Zealand Ice Hockey League played on July 7 and 8, 2012. It was held at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne. Each league fielded their best two teams from the 2011 season, and in a single field game round robin, played against the teams of the other league.


2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League
The Southern Stampede finished fourth after losing both games and finishing with a minus 18 goal differential, Botany Swarm finished third after losing both games but finishing with a goal differential of minus six, and the Newcastle Northstars finished second after winning both games and finishing with a plus 11 goal differential. The Melbourne Ice finished in first place with a 2-0 record and a +13 goal differential.


2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League, Background
The Trans-Tasman Champions League was first announced in August 2011 by the Australian Ice Hockey League and the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The 2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League was held on 7 and 8 July at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament consisted of four teams, two from each of the represented leagues. The Australian Ice Hockey League was represented by the Melbourne Ice, the 2011 regular season and Goodall Cup winner, and the Newcastle North Stars, the runner-up of the 2011 Goodall Cup.


2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League, Background
The New Zealand Ice Hockey League was represented by the Botany Swarm, the 2011 regular season and Birgel Cup winner, and the Southern Stampede, the runner-up of the 2011 Birgel Cup. Teams played two games during the tournament with both games being played against the opposing league teams. Prior to the start of the tournament it was announced that the City of Melbourne had signed as the official sponsors for the tournament. The Melbourne Ice won the tournament after winning both of their games and finishing with the best goal difference in the tournament. Newcastle finished second after winning both of their games against the New Zealand teams but fell short of first place based on goal difference. Both New Zealand teams failed to win either of their games however the Botany Swarm finished ahead of the Southern Stampede with a better goal difference.


2012 Trans-Tasman Champions League, Scoring leaders
List shows the top ten skaters sorted by points, then goals, assists, and the lower penalties in minutes.


2012 Tri-Cities Fever season
The 2012 Tri-Cities Fever season was the team's eighth season as a professional indoor football franchise and third in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of sixteen teams competing in the IFL for the 2013 season, the Kennewick, Washington-based Tri-Cities Fever were members of the Intense Conference. Founded in 2005 as part of National Indoor Football League, the Tri-Cities Fever moved to the af2 in 2007 then jumped to the IFL before the 2010 season.


2012 Tri-Cities Fever season
Under the leadership of owner/general manager Teri Carr and head coach Adam Shackleford, the team played their home games at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Washington. Shackleford's staff includes assistant coach Cleveland Pratt and defensive line coach Kimo von Oelhoffen. The Fever Girls are the official dance team.


2012 Tri-Cities Fever season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated July 14, 201223 Active, 0 Inactive→ More rosters


2012 Triglav Trophy
The 2012 Triglav Trophy was held on April 4–8, 2012. It was an international figure skating competition held annually in Jesenice, Slovenia. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's and ladies' singles on the senior, junior, and novice levels.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield
The 2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield (known as the Digicel Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural edition of the Charity Shield, which was a football match that opened the 2012–13 TT Pro League season. The match was played at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella on 8 September 2012, between the winners of the previous season's Pro League and Pro Bowl competitions. The match was contested by the 2012 Digicel Pro Bowl winners, Defence Force, and the champions of the 2011–12 Pro League, W Connection. The Savonetta Boys won the match 2–0 with goals from Shahdon Winchester and Joevin Jones, who was later named the Man of the Match.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield
The winners of the Charity Shield, W Connection received TT$10,000 donated to a charitable cause of choice. It was announced that the charitable cash prize would be given to the captain of W Connection, Jan-Michael Williams, to offset medical expenses for his fiancée Candice Worrell. Worrell was brutally assaulted while being relieved of her mobile phone in January 2012 and was comatose for nearly three months. Additionally, part proceeds generated from the gate receipts will also go towards introducing the "Read to Rise" Primary Literacy Program to a school within W Connection's community.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield, Pre-match, Entry
Defence Force qualified by winning the 2012 Digicel Pro Bowl, beating Caledonia AIA 5–2 in the final at Hasely Crawford Stadium. Defence Force beat San Juan Jabloteh 6–0 and T&TEC 2–0 en route to the final. The 2012 victory was the Teteron Boys' first Pro Bowl triumph and consequently gained a berth in the 2012 Digicel Charity Shield.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield, Pre-match, Entry
W Connection qualified for the inaugural Charity Shield by clinching the TT Pro League title in the 2011–12 season. W Connection made a moderate start to the league season, having trailed T&TEC by seven points following the first round conclusion. However, a rise in form in December and January meant they rose to within one point behind leaders T&TEC after the Electricity Boys recorded just two wins from seven matches in the second round of fixtures. W Connection recorded a draw against T&TEC on 23 March to remain within two points of the leaders heading into the last match day.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield, Pre-match, Entry
Needing just a draw from their last league match on 29 March to be crowned champions, T&TEC fell 3–2 to Caledonia AIA after W Connection defeated Police 8–1. The league being decided by a single point was the closest finish since Joe Public and W Connection in 2006 and ensured the Savonetta Boys their second TT Pro League title and fourth top-flight league title overall since 2000.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic
The 2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic was the eighth season of the TOYOTA Classic, which is a knockout tournament competition for teams in Trinidad and Tobago's TT Pro League and the National Super League. The tournament began on 23 November with 16 teams (8 each from the Pro League and Super League) competing in single elimination matches until the final on 7 December. W Connection entered as the tournament's defending champion having defeated T&TEC with a penalty shootout after the match ended 0–0.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Qualification
Every club from the TT Pro League automatically qualified for the competition. In addition, following the conclusion of the National Super League season, the top eight teams ranked according to the league table qualified. All teams entered the competition at the first round.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Qualification
The draw for the first round for the eighth edition of the tournament was conducted by Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene on 20 November 2012, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium VIP Lounge. The 16 teams in the competition, valued at TT$70,000 in total sponsorship, were drawn into four groups. Each Pro League club was drawn with a club from the National Super League for the first round of the single-elimination tournament. In addition, the top four clubs in each league's table were drawn as the home team for their first round fixture.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Qualification
The following clubs have qualified for this year's edition of the TOYOTA Classic:


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Schedule
The schedule for the 2012 TOYOTA Classic, as announced by the TT Pro League and National Super League:


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Results
All matches were played over two 45 minute halves, and in the process if the match were drawn at the end of regulation time, penalty kicks determined the winner.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Results, First round
The first round of the competition witnessed three giant-killers from the Super League surprising their Pro League competition after Central FC, Police, and St. Ann's Rangers were booted from the Classic following defeats to Westside Super Starz, Stokely Vale, and WASA respectively. Defending champions W Connection advanced easily into the quarterfinals with a 5–0 win over Defence Force from the Super League. Joevin Jones and Jerrel Britto provided a brace each in support of the Savonetta Boys' win. However, the Soldiers' Pro League counterparts recorded a clean sheet against 1976 FC Phoenix.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Results, First round
The Morvant/Laventille Stallions progressed into the quarterfinals following a hard fought 3–2 victory over 1.FC Santa Rosa. In the other first round matches, North East Stars defeated Siparia Spurs 2–0 at Manny Ramjohn Stadium and T&TEC won 4–3 on a penalty shootout over Joe Public after the matched ended 1–1 in regulation.


2012 Trinidad and Tobago Classic, Results, Quarterfinals
The upset of the tournament occurred on 27 November 2012 in the quarterfinals when defending CFU Club Championship holders Caledonia AIA were eliminated by Stokely Vale. The Super League club won 6–5 in a penalty shootout after the match ended 3–3 after 90 minutes. North East Stars used six goals to prevail over T&TEC in a high scoring affair between the two Pro League sides. The two other quarterfinal matches witnessed a hat-trick from Josimar Belgrave to power Defence Force to a 7–0 win over Westside Super Starz. In addition, W Connection recorded another clean sheet 4–0 over WASA to advance into the semifinals.