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Yaroslav Popovych

Italy's Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital/Ita), Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel/USA), France's Christophe Le Mevel (Credit Agricole/Fra) and Spain's Oscar Freire (Rabobank/Ned) ride through a cave during their breakaway in the 211.5 km twelfth stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race from Luchon to Carcassonne, 14 July 2006. Popovych won the stage in front of Ballan and Freire.

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About Yaroslav Popovych

Yaroslav Popovych (Ярослав Попович) (born in Drohobych, Ukraine on January 4, 1980) is a cyclist with the UCI ProTour Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, and considered as a possible successor to Lance Armstrong as team leader. The Ukrainian turned pro in 2002 and has delivered some strong showings, most notably in the Giro d'Italia where he finished third in 2003 and fifth in 2004. The former U-23 World champion has further illustrated his potential by winning the white jersey of the 2005 Tour de France as the top young rider in the event. Popovych's best victory to date was in winning the 2005 Volta a Catalunya. Popovych, along with the rest of the Discovery team, won stage four of the Team Time Trial in the 2005 Tour. In the 2006 Tour de France, Popovych was considered one the Discovery Channel team's four leaders, along with Jose Azevedo, Paolo Savoldelli and George Hincapie. However, no rider on the team had a good Tour Popovych won stage 12 by attacking his fellow break-away compatriots Alessandro Ballan, Óscar Freire and Christophe le Mével.

from Wikipedia

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