VITTEL, (Reuters) – Dane Nicki Sorensen powered to a  solo victory in the 12th stage of the Tour de France, a 211.5-km  ride from Tonnerre to Vittel yesterday.

The Saxo Bank rider attacked twice in the finale to beat  France’s Laurent Lefevre and Italian Franco Pellizotti, who were  second and third respectively 48 seconds behind.

Italy’s Rinaldo Nocentini retained the overall leader’s  yellow jersey ahead of Spaniard Alberto Contador and Lance  Armstrong, second and third respectively.

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

“I am extremely happy, it is something than I hardly thought  of. I was lucky to win this one,” said the 34-year-old Sorensen,  one of Andy Schleck’s domestiques on the Tour.
“I don’t get many chances for myself but I got it today.”

Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans also tried their luck early in  the stage but they were swiftly reined in by the bunch.
Lance Armstrong suffered a puncture after 150 kilometres but  the seven-times champion was quickly brought back into the bunch  by four team mates after he had had his rear wheel changed.

His Astana team suffered a potential blow when American  Leipheimer, fourth overall, crashed towards the end of the  stage.

Leipheimer, who will be credited with the bunch’s time as  his fall happened in the last three kilometres, has bruises on  his left thigh, said Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens.“I’m OK folks, wrist hurts but not broken, lost some skin,  it could’ve easily been much worse. Not sure what happened. All  I remember is seeing the curb coming and thinking it was game  over,” Leipheimer wrote on his Twitter page.

Australian Cadel Evans, runner-up in the last two editions,  also fell off his bike in similar circumstances.
The stage went the fugitives’ way as the sprinters’ teams  proved unwilling to work in the finale to set up a mass sprint.Sorensen and Sylvain Calzati attacked the breakaway group  with 22 km left with only Nocentini’s AG2R team setting the pace  in the main pack.

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

Briton Mark Cavendish came home in eighth place as he won  the sprint of the peloton ahead of Norway’s Thor Hushovd.

Today’s 13th stage will take the peloton over 209 km to  Colmar with the tricky ascent to the Col du Platzerwasel on the  menu.