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vingegaaard · 4 months
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weshipyourride · 11 months
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2023 Tour de France Recap
With the ink just about dry on the 2023 Tour de France results, we’re looking back on what were 21 stages of exciting bike racing that both satisfied and exceeded our high expectations.
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The Tour got off to an interesting start in Bilbao, Spain, as the first two riders to cross the finish line of stage 1 were identical twin brothers, Adam and Simon Yates, who ride for rival teams. But the real excitement would come, day after day, from the general classification (GC) rivalry that first blossomed in 2022 between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingagaard. Stalwart TV commentator Phil Ligget repeatedly called the rivalry one of the best in the history of the Tour, and considering the duo’s average age is just 25 years old, we could be watching this battle for the next decade.
But the Tour wasn’t strictly a young person’s realm. Those of us decades removed from our 20s can find solace in the fact that five stages were won by riders in their mid-30s, not to mention Mark Cavendish who, before his untimely exit, was legitimately contending for a stage win at age 38. We also enjoyed watching cycling legends like Peter Sagan and French hero Thibaut Pinot, who were pedaling through their final Tour de France prior to retirement.
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In fact, the cagey sprint veteran Cavendish, affectionately nicknamed the “Manx Missile,” added an extra level of excited tension to the sprint stages as he vied for a Tour de France record breaking 35th career stage win. His primary rival, Jasper Phillipsen, perhaps looking ahead to toward his own potentially legendary status, showed no reverence for the record and outsprinted him for the win in the first four sprint stages. Unfortunately, Cavendish’s pursuit of the record came to an abrupt halt on stage 8, when he got caught in a small crash in the peloton and suffered a broken collarbone. As it stands, Cavendish continues to share the Tour de France stage win record, at 34, with icon Eddy Merckx.*
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Undeniably the focus ended up being on the two youngsters at the top of the GC. By the close of stage 6, Vingegaard and Pogacar were sitting at 1 and 2 respectively, separated by a mere 25 seconds. After stage 9, Pogacar shaved eight more seconds from the lead. And by the finish of stage 12, Pogacar had clawed back another eight seconds to bring Vingegaard’s lead to a negligible nine seconds.
Then came stage 16, the lone individual time trial and an uncommonly hilly 22.4 km (13.9 mile miles) route between Passy and Combloux. Starting in reverse order of the GC standings, Pogacar was second to last to start and turned in a time that was more than a minute faster than the fastest time of the day. Vingegaard would have to virtually match Pogacar’s time to hold onto the yellow jersey.
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In a performance that even shocked himself, Vingegaard smashed Pogacar’s time, adding an extra 1:38 to his GC lead, decisively winning the stage and keeping a firm grasp on the yellow jersey.
If the time trial was Vingegaard’s statement of intent to hold onto yellow all the way to Paris, stage 17 was the exclamation point at the end of the sentence. With the help of his Jumbo-Visma teammates, Vingegaard tested Pogacar’s limits up the final climb, Col de la Loze. Seven and a half kilometers from the summit Vingegaard attacked, and Pogacar uttered his now famous line over the team radio, “I’m gone. I’m dead.”
That decisive stage resulted in an insurmountable 7:35 deficit for Pogacar, and Vingegaard could feel comfortable wearing yellow.
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By stage 21, as the Tour rolled into Paris, all the awarded jerseys were uncontestable. Vingegaard wore yellow (GC leader), Pogacar wore white (best overall rider under 26-years-old), Phillipsen wore green (points leader) and Giulio Ciccone wore polka-dots (best climber). What is normally a largely ceremonial parade stage until the sprint on Champs-Élysées became a little more exciting than usual as Pogacar attacked, stringing out the peloton and making the riders work a little harder than they had been anticipating.
The final GC results gives both Pogacar and Vingegaard a claim of two consecutive Tour de France wins, the former winning 2020 and 2021 and the latter in 2022 and 2023.
Is it 2024 yet?
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Bikeflights Takes On The Tour
Bikeflights staff took in the excitement of the 110th Tour in various ways as we fit in 21 stages in 23 days between our own riding, racing and serving our customers.
Customer Experience Manager Gordon Wadsworth and his wife Emily took advantage of daily recaps to keep up with every stage.
“Emily and I really enjoyed catching up in spurts together via the 30-minute highlights. We would watch a few stages in a row every couple of days. This year’s Tour was so dynamic and exciting! Lots of new players, and some classic heroes! The Puy du Dome stage finish was probably my favorite for its almost slow motion excitement. What a ride!”
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Partnerships Director Michael Potter’s tactic for keeping up was to stick to watching the mountain stages, and he was thoroughly impressed.
“I think the GC battle between Jonas and Tadej was incredible and lived up to the hype we all heard in the lead up to the race. I forgot there were other GC ‘contenders.’ Jonas's time trial almost didn't seem possible. Then to see Tadej crack the next day. That was huge.”
Customer Experience Associate Sunny Singh is just plain in awe of the athletes competing in what many consider the most difficult sporting events in the world.
“My biggest impression is that I can't believe humans are capable of going so hard for so long on a bike. It’s wild to think about.”
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Vice President Sue George got a unique perspective of Tour coverage as she was on a bike tour in France herself.
“It was especially fun to watch the last few hours of each stage in real time while in France after we finished each day of our own bike tour, which sometimes took us up Cols that have been in other editions of the Tour. During the two weeks we were there, the heat was especially brutal, and I really don't know how they raced so hard in the hottest part of every day, day after day, for 21 days,” George says.
She also got a perspective on the gravity of Thibaut Pinot’s pending retirement that those watching outside of France may not have grasped.
“After each stage, French TV would interview Thibaut Pinot, who was riding his final Tour. I knew he was a star among French cycling fans, but never realized how beloved he is. It was fun to see him put in some great efforts during the Tour and to learn more about him and get his perspective every day.”
Ship Team Manager and Jumbo-Visma superfan Nicole Chretien is thrilled with the results, but laments that it has to end.
“I really do hate when the Tour de France ends,” she says.
Don’t worry Nicole, we’ve got five stages of the Tour de France Femmes left!
Bikeflights is proud to be the Official Bicycle Shipping Service of the Tour de France.
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Photos shot and provided by Jered and Ashley Gruber of Gruber Images. Thank you for your dedication to the sport and capturing these amazing moments in time. 
*Although it was declared that this Tour would be a farewell for Mark Cavendish, his untimely exit inspired Astana Qazakstan Team Manager Alexander Vinokourov to declare that Cavendish is welcome to postpone retirement and return to the 2024 Tour. We eagerly await the Manx Missile’s decision.
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erikay-blog1 · 4 years
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Here's the best kind of screwdriver to get
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Egan Bernal set to win from Geraint Thomas
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Egan Bernal is poised to become the first Colombian to win the Tour de France after finishing Saturday's penultimate stage in the yellow jersey. Tradition dictates that the race leader is not challenged on Sunday's largely processional final stage to Paris. Bernal, 22, will become the youngest Tour winner for 110 years, with Ineos team-mate Geraint Thomas in second. Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk moved up to third as Julian Alaphilippe faded on an Alpine stage won by Vincenzo Nibali. Italian Nibali, winner of the Tour de France in 2014, was in the day's break and attacked again on the climb to the finish at Val Thorens, winning by 10 seconds from Spain's Alejandro Valverde. Bernal and Thomas, who won last year's Tour, finished stage 20 a few seconds later, crossing the line arm-in-arm, with huge grins on their faces. They came into the race as joint leaders for Ineos and, providing they both reach the finish in Paris on Sunday, will end it first and second in the general classification. "We're now close to making it official," said Bernal. "There's one stage left but, normally, if everything goes well, I can say that I've won my first Tour. "It's incredible. I just want to get to the finish line in Paris and after I'll be calmer. "Colombia is on the verge of winning its first Tour, We already had won the Giro d'Italia and La Vuelta a Espana, but the Tour was missing and it's a great honour to think that I'm the one achieving this." Welshman Thomas, who ended the stage trailing in the overall standings by one minute, 11 seconds, wrote on Twitter: "Congrats Egan Bernal. What a rider. The first of many." Bernal, who will also collect the white jersey as the best young rider in the race, will put to an end a run of four successive British winners - Chris Froome winning three of his four titles from 2015 and Thomas triumphing last year. Listen: BeSpoke at the Tour: Stage 20 - Bernal victorious Tour 'night and day' compared to 2018 - Thomas Joint team leadership 'worked to perfection' Three-time world champin Sagan pulls a trademark wheelie as he crosses the finish line on stage 20 The green points jersey classification will be won for a record seventh time by Slovakian Peter Sagan, who pulled a wheelie as he rode over the finish line several minutes after the stage winner, while the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey will go to Frenchman Romain Bardet. That will be some consolation for the French supporters who had been hoping to see a home victory for the first time since Bernhard Hinault won his record-equalling fifth Tour in 1985. Alaphilippe, the world's number one-ranked male cyclist, had led the race for 14 days, and after holding the yellow jersey through the Pyrenees in week two also retained it after the first day in the Alps. However, he finally cracked on Friday's storm-shortened 19th stage and he again fell away on Saturday's final climb of the three-week race. He is set to finish fifth overall. France's other big hope, Thibaut Pinot, had also looked strong in the Pyrenees, but a freak injury, caused when his thigh hit his handlebar on stage 17, saw him eventually abandon the race from fifth place during stage 19. How stage 20 unfolded Saturday's stage was reduced by 71km to just 59.5km, with one major climb - the 19.9km ascent of the Cormet de Roselend - chopped from the race because a landslide, caused by stormy weather in the Alps, had blocked the road. That left the riders facing an unusual race along a dual carriageway across the valley from Albertville to the bottom of the day's solitary 33km climb to the ski resort of Val Thorens. More than 20 broke clear and opened a lead of around two minutes, 30 seconds as they reached the ascent but with the race for the overall title happening in the peloton behind them, their lead was gradually eroded. The Jumbo-Visma team of Kruijswijk, who started the stage in fourth, 88 seconds adrift of Bernal, set a furious pace from the bottom of the ascent. Kruijswijk started the day just 12 seconds behind third-placed Thomas and 40 behind Alaphilippe and his team's efforts were rewarded when Alaphilippe cracked with around 13km of the race remaining. However, Kruijswijk was unable to break the Ineos riders with Thomas and Bernal content to sit and ride tempo all the way to the finish line, Dutch rider Kruijswijk eventually finished eight seconds behind Thomas to cement third place overall, one minute, 31 seconds behind Bernal. Why the Bernal win will not be a surprise Bernal (right) was a key domestique for Thomas when he won his Tour title last year The climbing specialist, who was born on 13 January, 1997 in Colombia's capital city Bogota at an altitude of 2,600m, showed his potential at last year's Tour, when he rode as a domestique to Thomas and four-time champion Chris Froome. After pacing Thomas to victory on Alpe d'Huez and ultimately the overall title, Froome said: "He's got an amazing engine. You only have to look at what he did on Alpe d'Huez, for a 21-year-old, that's amazing. "There is a lot in Egan that reminds me of myself when I was younger. It's great having him on the team and he brings a lot of young, new energy to the group." He joined Team Sky for the 2018 season, after winning the prestigious Tour de l'Avenir - a stage race for under-23 riders that has seen many of its winners go on to Tour de France success. He won the Tour Colombia and Tour of California last year before making his Tour de France debut as a domestique to Thomas and four-time winner Chris Froome. This year, three crashes helped Bernal arrive at the Tour as joint leader of the Ineos team. The first was his own, on a training ride in Andorra, and it ruled him out of May's Giro d'Italia, where he had been due to lead the team for the first time in a Grand Tour. Froome's season-ending crash at June's Criterium du Dauphine then pushed Bernal up the Ineos pecking order for the Tour de France, while Thomas' spill at the Tour de Suisse later that month saw Bernal take over as the sole leader of that team and he went on to win the race. And he twice rode away from Thomas in the Alps this week to position himself as Ineos' strongest rider at the Tour and secure his first Grand Tour win in only his second attempt. Bernal will become the third youngest winner of the Tour. The youngest is France's Henri Cornet, who was 19 when he was controversially awarded victory in the second edition of the race in 1904, while Luxembourg's Francois Faber was a few days younger than Bernal when he took the 1909 title. Overall standings after stage 20: 1. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) 79hrs 52mins 52secs 2. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) +1min 11secs 3. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 31secs 4. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 56secs 5. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/ Deceuninck-Quick Step) +3mins 45secs 6. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +4mins 23secs 7. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +5mins 15secs 8. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +5mins 30secs 9. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +6mins 12secs 10. Warren Barguil (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) +7mins 32secs Stage 20 result: 1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) 1hrs 51mins 53secs 2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +10secs 3. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +14secs 4. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) +17secs 5. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) Same time 6. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +23secs 7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time 8. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +25secs 9. Wout Poels (Ned/Ineos) +30secs 10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) Same time   SOURCE:https://www.bbc.com/ Read the full article
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thisdaynews · 5 years
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Tour de France 2019: Egan Bernal set to win from Geraint Thomas
New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/tour-de-france-2019-egan-bernal-set-to-win-from-geraint-thomas/
Tour de France 2019: Egan Bernal set to win from Geraint Thomas
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Thomas congratulated Ineos team-mate Bernal as they crossed the finish line together at the end of stage 20
Egan Bernal is poised to become the first Colombian to win the Tour de France after finishing Saturday’s penultimate stage in the yellow jersey.
Tradition dictates that the race leader is not challenged on Sunday’s largely processional final stage to Paris.
Bernal, 22, will become the youngest Tour winner for 110 years, with Ineos team-mate Geraint Thomas in second.
Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk moved up to third as Julian Alaphilippe faded on an Alpine stage won by Vincenzo Nibali.
Italian Nibali, winner of the Tour de France in 2014, was in the day’s break and attacked again on the climb to the finish at Val Thorens, winning by 10 seconds from Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.
Bernal and Thomas, who won last year’s Tour, finished stage 20 a few seconds later, crossing the line arm-in-arm, with huge grins on their faces. They came into the race as joint leaders for Ineos and, providing they both reach the finish in Paris on Sunday, will end it first and second in the general classification.
“We’re now close to making it official,” said Bernal. “There’s one stage left but, normally, if everything goes well, I can say that I’ve won my first Tour.
“It’s incredible. I just want to get to the finish line in Paris and after I’ll be calmer.
“Colombia is on the verge of winning its first Tour, We already had won the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a Espana, but the Tour was missing and it’s a great honour to think that I’m the one achieving this.”
Welshman Thomas, who ended the stage trailing in the overall standings by one minute, 11 seconds, wrote on Twitter: “Congrats Egan Bernal. What a rider. The first of many.”
Bernal, who will also collect the white jersey as the best young rider in the race, will put to an end a run of four successive British winners – Chris Froome winning three of his four titles from 2015 and Thomas triumphing last year.
Three-time world champin Sagan pulls a trademark wheelie as he crosses the finish line on stage 20
The green points jersey classification will be won for a record seventh time by Slovakian Peter Sagan, who pulled a wheelie as he rode over the finish line several minutes after the stage winner, while the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey will go to Frenchman Romain Bardet.
That will be some consolation for the French supporters who had been hoping to see a home victory for the first time since Bernhard Hinault won his record-equalling fifth Tour in 1985.
Alaphilippe, the world’s number one-ranked male cyclist, had led the race for 14 days, and after holding the yellow jersey through the Pyrenees in week two also retained it after the first day in the Alps.
However, he finally cracked on Friday’s storm-shortened 19th stage and he again fell away on Saturday’s final climb of the three-week race. He is set to finish fifth overall.
France’s other big hope, Thibaut Pinot, had also looked strong in the Pyrenees, but a freak injury, caused when his thigh hit his handlebar on stage 17, saw him eventually abandon the race from fifth place during stage 19.
How stage 20 unfolded
Saturday’s stage was reduced by 71km to just 59.5km, with one major climb – the 19.9km ascent of the Cormet de Roselend – chopped from the race because a landslide, caused by stormy weather in the Alps, had blocked the road.
That left the riders facing an unusual race along a dual carriageway across the valley from Albertville to the bottom of the day’s solitary 33km climb to the ski resort of Val Thorens.
More than 20 broke clear and opened a lead of around two minutes, 30 seconds as they reached the ascent but with the race for the overall title happening in the peloton behind them, their lead was gradually eroded.
The Jumbo-Visma team of Kruijswijk, who started the stage in fourth, 88 seconds adrift of Bernal, set a furious pace from the bottom of the ascent.
Kruijswijk started the day just 12 seconds behind third-placed Thomas and 40 behind Alaphilippe and his team’s efforts were rewarded when Alaphilippe cracked with around 13km of the race remaining.
However, Kruijswijk was unable to break the Ineos riders with Thomas and Bernal content to sit and ride tempo all the way to the finish line,
Dutch rider Kruijswijk eventually finished eight seconds behind Thomas to cement third place overall, one minute, 31 seconds behind Bernal.
Why the Bernal win will not be a surprise
Bernal (right) was a key domestique for Thomas when he won his Tour title last year
The climbing specialist, who was born on 13 January, 1997 in Colombia’s capital city Bogota at an altitude of 2,600m, showed his potential at last year’s Tour, when he rode as a domestique to Thomas and four-time champion Chris Froome.
After pacing Thomas to victory on Alpe d’Huez and ultimately the overall title, Froome said: “He’s got an amazing engine. You only have to look at what he did on Alpe d’Huez, for a 21-year-old, that’s amazing.
“There is a lot in Egan that reminds me of myself when I was younger. It’s great having him on the team and he brings a lot of young, new energy to the group.”
He joined Team Sky for the 2018 season, after winning the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir – a stage race for under-23 riders that has seen many of its winners go on to Tour de France success.
He won the Tour Colombia and Tour of California last year before making his Tour de France debut as a domestique to Thomas and four-time winner Chris Froome.
This year, three crashes helped Bernal arrive at the Tour as joint leader of the Ineos team.
The first was his own, on a training ride in Andorra, and it ruled him out of May’s Giro d’Italia, where he had been due to lead the team for the first time in a Grand Tour.
Froome’s season-ending crash at June’s Criterium du Dauphine then pushed Bernal up the Ineos pecking order for the Tour de France, while Thomas’ spill at the Tour de Suisse later that month saw Bernal take over as the sole leader of that team and he went on to win the race.
And he twice rode away from Thomas in the Alps this week to position himself as Ineos’ strongest rider at the Tour and secure his first Grand Tour win in only his second attempt.
Bernal will become the third youngest winner of the Tour. The youngest is France’s Henri Cornet, who was 19 when he was controversially awarded victory in the second edition of the race in 1904, while Luxembourg’s Francois Faber was a few days younger than Bernal when he took the 1909 title.
Overall standings after stage 20:
1. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) 79hrs 52mins 52secs
2. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) +1min 11secs
3. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 31secs
4. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 56secs
5. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/ Deceuninck-Quick Step) +3mins 45secs
6. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +4mins 23secs
7. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +5mins 15secs
8. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +5mins 30secs
9. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +6mins 12secs
10. Warren Barguil (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) +7mins 32secs
Stage 20 result:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) 1hrs 51mins 53secs
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +10secs
3. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +14secs
4. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) +17secs
5. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) Same time
6. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +23secs
7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time
8. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +25secs
9. Wout Poels (Ned/Ineos) +30secs
10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) Same time
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technologyinfosec · 5 years
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Bernal all but wraps up maiden Colombian Tour title
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Climbing phenomenon Egan Bernal was poised to become the first Colombian to win the Tour de France when he retained the overall lead after Saturday's 20th stage, a 59-km ride from Albertville. The Team Ineos rider, 22, finished fourth in the stage won by 2014 champion Vicenzo Nibali, the only man to interrupt the British outfit's reign on the Tour since 2012. His team mate and defending champion Geraint Thomas is second overall ahead of Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk after France's Julian Alaphilippe cracked in the final ascent to the ski resort of Val Thorens. Sunday's final stage from Rambouillet to Paris is a largely processional ride with only the final sprint being contested. Bernal, who claimed the yellow jersey when he was the first at top of the Col de l'Iseran in Saturday's truncated 19th stage, was never bothered in a stage that had been shortened due to landslides on the initial course. "We still have to make it to Paris. I can't understand what's happening, I will need a few days, it's incredible," said Bernal. "I felt good in the climbs, I took it kilometre by kilometre." Three Colombians will feature in the top 10 as former podium finishers Rigoberto Uran and Nairo Quintana lie seventh and eighth overall, respectively. Alaphilippe cracked with 14km to go in the final 33-km climb ending 2,365 metres above sea level and slipped from second to fifth overall. Bernal is 1:11 ahead of Thomas, who was always bested by the Colombian in the mountains and never looked in a position to threaten him on his favourite terrain. Kruijswijk is 1:31 off the pace. The Dutchman's Lotto Jumbo-Visma team set a high pace at the foot of the climb to Val Thorens and Laurens De Plus stepped up a gear to trim the peloton as the breakaway riders' advantage melted. Sensing the main pack breathing down the neck of the breakaway, Nibali, looking to salvage a poor campaign with a stage win, went solo with 12.5km left. He never looked back and held off world champion Alejandro Valverde, who took second place 10 seconds behind with his Movistar team mate and fellow Spaniard Mikel Landa finishing third. "It was a difficult Tour for me but I never gave up and finally I win again on this race," said Nibali, who had no huge expectations after finishing the Giro d'Italia second overall this year. Bernal, who will also win the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider in the race, crossed the line 17 seconds off the pace to Thomas's accolade. In the absence of four-time champion and team mate Chris Froome, Bernal rose to the challenge after winning the Paris-Nice and Tour de Suisse week long races. He will become the youngest rider to win the Tour de France since the end of the Second World War. "Congratulations Egan Bernal. What a rider! The first of many," Thomas wrote on Twitter. Frenchman Romain Bardet, who dropped out of overall contention early in the race, is set to snatch the polka dot jersey for the mountain classification and Peter Sagan is expected to win a record seventh green jersey for the points classification. Read the full article
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junker-town · 5 years
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How mountains create Tour de France legends
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The Tour de France’s high mountains are perfect set pieces for the race’s greatest moments.
The Tour de France can be won or lost in a variety of ways, but mountain stages define almost every edition of the race. From the moment Octave Lapize, en route to victory in the 1910 Tour de France, screamed “assassins” at race director Henri Desgrange at the summit of the Col d’Aubisque, fans and riders have associated greatness at the Tour with success in the highest mountain passes.
But what makes for a great mountain stage of the Tour? Let’s rewind a bit.
Greatness is a slippery subject, but if a mountain stage battle is fixed in our memories after many years, it’s in the conversation. That tradition started with Lapize on the Col d’Aubisque.
The Tour began climbing mountains in its second edition in 1904, when the race ascended the Col de la République. But on July 21, 1910, the Tour upped the ante and ascended the Pyrénean giant Col du Tourmalet, a climb twice as high as the République. Reporters waiting at the third and final climb, the Aubisque, shouted a question to Lapize as he passed by, and he replied Vous êtes assassins! (“You are assassins!”).
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Photo by Maurice Branger/Roger Viollet via Getty Images
Octave Lapize
That day, the Tour posed a challenge well beyond what the sport had ever known, but the riders’ response to that challenge married mountains to the Tour from then on. Lapize was on a mission, chasing down Francois Lafourçade on the descent from the top of the Aubisque to win and put 10 minutes into his competitors by day’s end. Lapize won the Tour in large part thanks to that heroic (and temperamental*) effort.
(*In fairness to Lapize, if someone made you ride up and down the Pyrénées on a 1910 bike, with one gear, and next to nothing in the way of real brakes, you’d probably come up with something worse than “assassins.”)
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Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Fausto Coppi in the Alps
Lapize’s win showed us all the key ingredients of a great mountain stage: ultra-challenging terrain, an unbelievable effort, and a pinch of myth-making. The great climbing battles can happen anywhere, but have been most likely to occur on the Tour’s iconic climbs, like the Tourmalet, Galibier, Alpe d’Huez, the Joux-Plane, Mont Ventoux, and of course the stadium of suffering known as Alpe d’Huez. History is dotted with rides like this:
In 1952, Alpe d’Huez was introduced to the Tour, and summited first by Fausto Coppi, the great Italian Il Campionissimo. That put him in yellow by a slim margin, but the next day he embarked on a rampage for the ages, putting 20 minutes into all of the competition on a race over several Alpine passes before finishing over the Italian border at Sestriere.
In 1969, Eddy Merckx salted away his first Tour de France victory with a solo attack of 140 kilometers on the race’s 17th stage, a Pyrénean beast featuring Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, and Aubisque. Merckx, in his first Tour, was in the process of winning the yellow, green, polka-dot, and combativity jerseys, and doubled his commanding lead that day from eight to 16 minutes. At the finish line he told waiting journalists, “I hope I have done enough now for you to consider me a worthy winner.” I’m going with “yes” here.
No long-time Tour fans will forget the day in 1986 when Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond, who would finish with eight combined Tour wins, rolled over the finish line on Alpe d’Huez together, hand-in-hand, after putting a two-man beating on the rest of the peloton to pad their hold on the top two overall spots by more than five minutes. It was all smiles between the two, like the calm in the eye of the hurricane that was their rivalry before and after that moment. Their feud would resume the next day and rage all the way to Paris.
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Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images
Hinault and LeMond at Alpe d’Huez, 1986
The list of all-time greats doing memorable things in the mountains is long, but lately, such heroic exploits have been a bit harder to come by. Innovative 21st Century tactics, from the US Postal days to Sky/Ineos’ current reign, have come to grind down the competition, making long-range attacks either suicidal or impossible. It has become a downer to see riders winning the Tour with just a handful of attacks in the final few kilometers of the biggest stages, pocketing 30 seconds here and there. That’s why some of us still have mixed, or even fond feelings about Floyd Landis’ all-day assault on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, when the American rebounded from a disastrous stage with a 120-kilometer attack and solo victory that put him back in yellow all the way to Paris.
A couple days later, he was disqualified for doping. But after the suffocating tactics of the Armstrong years, and the conservative riding that had marked the ‘06 race until that point, Landis’ performance felt like a throwback to days that seemed lost forever, a ride that (if not so horribly tainted) would have put smiles on the faces of Hinault, Merckx, and the other dominant champions of Tour history.
The relatively meager gains on mountain stages in recent Tours suggest not just a shift tactics, but also tighter competition (and arguably, a cleaner peloton as well). At least in that context, there’s still plenty of charm to find in the Tour’s mountain stages, and in the last decade riders have found unique ways to make memories. They still feature classic courses, soaring finishes on iconic peaks like Alpe d’Huez. And they still feature athletes waging fierce and fearless battles into thin air. Here are a few of my favorites.
In the 2008, Carlos Sastre, the Schleck brothers, and pre-race favorite Cadel Evans, riding with minimal support in the mountains from his Lotto squad, waged a nip-and-tuck battle. Evans was mere seconds out of yellow at the start of Stage 17, and secure in his knowledge that he could paste his CSC rivals in a Stage 20 time trial if he could hang onto their wheels on Alpe d’Huez. Frank Schleck was in yellow, and young Andy was riding brilliantly, so the pair took turns softening up Evans as the race hit the base of the Alpe. From there, Sastre, who was 41 seconds behind Evans in the standings, launched a pair of vicious attacks, the second sending him clear, and he soloed to the top of the Alpe, gaining two minutes — enough cushion to hold on to the yellow jersey for good.
Three years later, Evans and the Schlecks waged another memorable battle across the Alps, joined by Alberto Contador, who had emptied his tank at the Giro d’Italia and lost too much time in the Pyrénées to compete for yellow. Evans skillfully marked his rivals and seemed destined to seal his only Tour de France victory during the stage 20 time trial, but not before Andy Schleck went for broke, attacking on the forbidding desert slopes of the Col d’Izoard, 60 kilometers from the finish. He carried his advantage, which reached more than four minutes, up to the finish on the Col du Galibier. Evans would eventually lose a manageable two minutes, but Schleck’s effort seemed to reawaken the sport to its heroic past.
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Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
As good as it gets: Schleck solos on the Galibier
And as much as Chris Froome has been criticized for plying his team’s financial might en route to four Tour wins, he has proven his champion’s mettle on all of the race’s most forbidding slopes. At the 2013 Tour, Froome was the heir apparent to the yellow jersey when Bradley Wiggins didn’t return to defend his 2012 title. Having secured yellow in the Pyrénées, he silenced any critics by outdueling Contador and upstart Nairo Quintana on the windswept Mont Ventoux. Froome and Contador aggressively dropped everyone, but then Froome slipped away from the Spanish champion, catching Quintana. The pair, destined to be rivals for a few years, rode away from the competition, until Froome cracked the Colombian to win the stage.
Noble mountain victories aren’t the sole providence of great champions; greatness can come from watching anyone dig beyond a reasonable limit to win a stage or hang on to the yellow jersey, against all odds. Julian Alaphilippe, who is known as a Very Good but not Elite climber, turned the 2019 Tour on its head in its first two weeks with a string of unforgettable efforts. We have seen memorable stage wins by riders who are far out of contention but still want to show fans what a world-class climbing looks like. The last decade has seen the King of the Mountains competition turn back into a war of pure climbers, as it had been through much (though not all) of the Tour’s history. In 2017, Frenchman Warren Barguil cemented his place in national cycling lore with a successful polka-dot campaign that he topped off with a solo win on the Col d’Izoard. The man known as “Wawa” had been part of the day-long breakaway, got caught on the final climb, but the mustered a last reserve of energy to attack with three kilometers remaining.
Similarly, in 2013 Quintana put himself in dots with a long-range attack on the Col du Semnoz, the final mountain climb of the Tour, where he and longtime Tour hopeful Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain dueled to the summit. That effort, days after Froome had swatted him on Mont Ventoux, landed the young Colombian the KOM title, second overall at the Tour, and hero’s welcome when half of Bogota turned out to celebrate him and his future. That promise has since gone unfulfilled, but a lot of fans can remember back to when Quintana was the only rider who could put a dent in Froome’s invincibility.
You get the point by now. Great riders digging deep make for memorable stages. But I’ll throw in one more ingredient that can make for a great climb: polemics.
Ask any cycling fan about the 2010 race, and you are sure to get an earful about whether Contador knew that Schleck had thrown his chain on the Port de Balès as the Spaniard attacked over the summit. Contador gained 39 seconds that day against a backdrop of howling protests over Tour etiquette, which generally says you should avoid attacking your rival during a mechanical problem or crash. Contador would go on to win the Tour by ... 39 seconds, only to be stripped of his title in a spasm of karma and litigation.
Then ask around about 2016, a fairly unmemorable competition, and the talk will turn to Froome running up Mont Ventoux without a bike, following a crash caused by fans crowding the road to the point where the leading trio of Froome, Bauke Mollema, and Richie Porte ran into a stopped motorbike. Ask about 1975 and you’ll hear about a fan punching Merckx in the kidney on the Puy-de-Dome. Bring up 2003, or any of the Armstrong wins, and you’ll hear pretty quickly about the time he caught his bars on a spectator’s musette, crashing to the deck before getting up and coming back to win at Luz Ardiden. I’m not sure how great any of these moments are, but if there’s one thing cycling fans love as much as heroic riding, it’s a good controversy.
Every October when the Tour de France releases its next route to the public, cycling fans begin to dream, conjuring visions of heroic climbers dancing across the mountainscapes of France. Whether the riders and the circumstances of the race combine to deliver true greatness is only for the Cycling Gods to answer, but when they do, there are few things in sports that can match the spectacle.
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fabulousport · 5 years
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The Criterium du Dauphiné (CDD) is a great cycling event that is usually held in the month of June in the beautiful region of France, which is the territory in the South -east of the country, that includes the departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes.
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Criterium du Dauphiné 2018 Stage 6 La Rosière Avergne Rhone Alpes Savoie
This cycling race is a great opportunity for the professional cyclists and teams to get an idea about where they stand with their preparation compared to their rivals, at only three weeks away from the more important ” Tour de France” (TdF). Most of the CDD stages are ridden on the same roads of the TdF, therefore is also a great opportunity to inspect the terrain on which they’ll be competing again in three weeks time. Been mainly an alpine region, the Dauphiné presents stunning landscapes and beathtaking sceneries with beautiful mountains always in the background. The race itself is therefore usually more suitable for a climber type of cyclist, however usually a couple of flatter stages and a Time Trial day can help an overall rider with a strong team to aim for victory.
Battle between Gregor Muehlberger and Julian Alaphilippe
Michal Kwiatkowski leading the chase on Col de la Baune stage 6
This 2019 edition has been won by Jakob Fuglsang of Team Astana ahead of Tejay Van Garderen of Team EF Education First, and Emanuel Buchmann of Team Bora – Hansgrohe. Adam Yates of Team Mitchelton-Scott was in the lead of the race up until stage 7, then unfortunately had to retire from the competition due to a stomach problem.
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Adam Yates of Team Mitchelton – Scott in Yellow Jersey @FabrizioMalisan
Julian Alaphilippe of Team Deceuninck-Quickstep came to this CDD without expectation he said, but been the amazing talent he is, he’s won a stage and finished in Champéry with the climber’s Polka Dot jersey on his shoulders. Wout Van Aert has won the Green Jersey for the points classification, and BJORG LAMBRECHT is the winner of the White Jersey, for the young rider’s classification. Amongst all the great riders in this year’s Criterium du Dauphiné, there was Chris Froome of Team Ineos that unfortunately had to pull out pretty soon due to an accident that unfortunately seem to keep him out from competing also in the TdF. Let’s hope he’ll be able to get back as soon as possible and so, we wish hil all the best for a speedy recovery.
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Nairo Quintana of  Team Movistar, Dan Martin of Team UAE Emirates and Romain Bardet of Team Ag2r were also in the group but probably mainly just in preparation for the TdF. Anyway, this CDD has clearly given an indication of the conditions of riders and teams leading to the TdF 2019, of course this is only a week-long event, whether the “Grande Boucle” is a much heavier 3 WEEKS of challenging long stages where anything can happen.
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Dan Martin of UAE Team Emirates spinning his legs towards the Tour de France 2019
More of my images of the event on here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabriziomalisan/albums/72157709084626247
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    Criterium du Dauphiné 2019 Pro Cycling Tour The Criterium du Dauphiné (CDD) is a great cycling event that is usually held in the month of June in the beautiful region of France, which is the territory in the South -east of the country, that includes the departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes.
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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years
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Tour de France: How Geraint Thomas became third British winner
Tour de France: How Geraint Thomas became third British winner
Tour de France: How Geraint Thomas became third British winner
Thomas has the help of seven Team Sky team-mates in his quest for Tour glory
Geraint Thomas has become the third British winner of the Tour de France.
The 32-year-old set out on the three-week, 3,000km race as one of Team Sky’s two leaders, alongside four-time Tour champion Chris Froome.
Fellow Briton Froome was clear favourite to win a joint-record fifth Tour, but he ended up reversing roles with Thomas to help his team-mate to victory.
This is the story of how Thomas won the 2018 Tour de France…
Stage 1: Saturday, 7 July – Noirmoutier-en-L’Ile – Fontenay-le-Comte, 201km
Froome ran wide on a left-hand bend and ended up in a field
Winner: Fernando Gaviria (Col/Quick-Step Floors)
Report: Froome crashes as Gaviria wins to take yellow jersey
Defending champion Chris Froome crashes late on in a chaotic end to the opening stage. The four-time Tour winner is quickly back on his bike but finishes 51 seconds behind several rivals for the overall victory, but alongside others including fellow Briton Adam Yates and Australia’s Richie Porte. Mark Cavendish does not feature in the sprint finish, won by Colombian debutant Fernando Gaviria who takes the yellow jersey.
Stage 2: Sunday, 8 July – Mouilleron-Saint-Germain – La Roche-sur-Yon, 182.5km
Peter Sagan (left) holds off the fast-finishing Sonny Colbrelli to win his ninth Tour de France stage
Winner: Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Report: Sagan sprints into yellow jersey as Froome avoids crashes
Peter Sagan avoids a crash inside the final two kilometres, that delays stage one winner Fernando Gaviria, and then surges past Arnaud Demare on the slight incline to the finish to take his ninth Tour de France stage win and the yellow jersey. Defending champion Chris Froome also avoids the crash as he finishes safely inside the peloton, while team-mate and fellow Briton Geraint Thomas climbs to seventh overall.
Stage 3: Monday, 9 July – team time trial, Cholet, 35.5km
BMC beat Team Sky by four seconds to win the team time trial and put Greg van Avermaet in the yellow jersey
Winner: BMC Racing (US)
Report: Van Avermaet in yellow after BMC win team time trial
BMC secure an impressive victory in the team time trial to put Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet into the yellow jersey. Team Sky finish second to help Chris Froome climb the standings and restore parity with most of the overall contenders after losing time in a crash on stage one. Peter Sagan is never in contention to defend the race lead as he is dropped by his Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates.
Stage 4: Tuesday, 10 July – La Baule – Sarzeau, 195km
Winner: Fernando Gaviria (Col/Quick-Step Floors)
Report: Gaviria wins second stage in thrilling sprint finish
Tour de France debutant Fernando Gaviria wins his second stage, kicking twice to deny Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel in a thrilling finish in Sarzeau, after the peloton finally catch a four-man breakaway just before the final kilometre. Mark Cavendish is boxed in and cannot contest the sprint. Greg van Avermaet retains the leader’s yellow jersey, avoiding a crash at 5km to go to finish safely in the bunch alongside the likes of Chris Froome and Adam Yates.
Stage 5: Wednesday, 11 July – Lorient – Quimper, 204.5km
Peter Sagan celebrates his second tour win of Tour de France 2018
Winner: Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Report: Sagan sprints to second stage win
World champion Peter Sagan outstays his rivals to win a dramatic uphill sprint finish in Quimper on stage five of the Tour de France. He makes his move with 200m to go, beating Sonny Colbrelli and Philippe Gilbert for his second stage win. Greg van Avermaet stays in the yellow jersey, extending his overall lead with a two-second bonus during the stage.
Stage 6: Thursday, 12 July – Brest – Mur-de-Bretagne, 181km
Dan Martin took his second Tour stage victory, having won in the Pyrenees in 2013
Winner: Dan Martin (Ire/UAE Team Emirates)
Report: Martin wins stage as Thomas climbs to second overall
Ireland’s Dan Martin produces a superb late attack to win stage six, kicking with a kilometre to go on the final climb and holding off the late challenge of Pierre Roger Latour by a second. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas is part of a group three seconds behind but climbs to second overall after securing two bonus seconds during the stage, while Chris Froome finishes a further five seconds behind his team-mate.
Stage 7: Friday, 13 July – Fougeres – Chartres, 231km
Dylan Groenewegen won his first Tour stage on the Champs Elysees last year
Winner: Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo)
Report: Groenewegen sprints to victory as Thomas stays second
After little drama on the longest stage of this year’s Tour, Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen blitzes past Fernando Gaviria to take an impressive sprint victory in Chartres, with Peter Sagan third. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas stays second overall but falls to six seconds behind leader Greg van Avermaet after the Belgian grabs three bonus seconds.
Stage 8: Saturday, 14 July – Dreux – Amiens, 181km
Dylan Groenewegen pulled level with Fernando Gaviria and Peter Sagan on two stage wins at the 2018 Tour
Winner: Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo)
Report: Groenewegen makes it two in two
Dylan Groenewegen makes it two stage wins in two days, kicking from deep to overhaul Andre Greipel and Fernando Gaviria, who are later relegated for two separate incidents during the finale. That hands Peter Sagan second place and increases his lead in the green jersey points classification, while Mark Cavendish finishes eighth. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas stays in second overall but is now seven seconds off Greg van Avermaet in the leader’s yellow jersey after the Belgian grabs a bonus second.
Stage 9: Sunday, 15 July – Arras – Roubaix, 156.5km
John Degenkolb won Paris-Roubaix in 2015 and took his first Tour stage over the same cobbles
Winner: John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo)
Report: Degenkolb wins crash-packed stage nine as Porte abandons
John Degenkolb sprints to his first Tour stage win from a select group at the end of a crash-packed race across many of the cobbles found in the one-day classic Paris-Roubaix. Greg van Avermaet takes second and extends his lead in the yellow jersey to 43 seconds over Geraint Thomas. BMC’s Richie Porte abandons the race after crashing just 10km into the stage, while Chris Froome also crashes but is unscathed and finishes safely in the main bunch.
Rest day: Monday, 16 July – Annecy
Stage 10: Tuesday, 17 July – Annecy – Le Grand-Bornand, 158.5km
Julian Alaphilippe also claimed the polka dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification in victory on stage 10
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Quick-Step Floors)
Report: Alaphilippe wins solo as Van Avermaet extends overall lead
Julian Alaphilippe claims his first Tour stage victory with an impressive attack on the penultimate climb to remain clear to the finish in Le Grand-Bornand. Greg van Avermaet gets in the early breakaway and holds on to finish fourth on the stage, extending his lead in the yellow jersey to two minutes and 22 seconds over Geraint Thomas, though still expects to lose the race lead in the Alps. Chris Froome and Adam Yates finish safely in the bunch to move up to sixth and seventh respectively.
Stage 11, Wednesday, 18 July – Albertville – La Rosiere, 108.5km
Thomas’ victory was his second Tour de France stage win
Winner: Geraint Thomas (Gbr/Team Sky)
Report: Thomas takes Tour overall lead with stage 11 victory
Britain’s Geraint Thomas becomes the Tour de France’s overall leader with an impressive victory on stage 11. Team Sky rider Thomas attacks with six kilometres left on a frenetic final climb up La Rosiere, to finish 20 seconds ahead of team-mate Chris Froome and second-placed Tom Dumoulin. Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet, who had led since the third stage, finishes well down the field.
Stage 12: Thursday, 19 July – Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs – Alpe d’Huez, 175.5km
Thomas showed his sprinting prowess as the stage reached its climax
Winner: Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky)
Report: Thomas wins back-to-back Tour stages
Geraint Thomas becomes the first Briton to win on the fabled Alpe d’Huez, his victory in a five-man sprint finish securing back-to-back stage wins and seeing him extend his lead in the yellow jersey. The quintet, which also included Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome and Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin, attack and counter-attack one another on the way up one of cycling’s most famous climbs, but come back together in the final few hundred metres before Thomas accelerates out of the last bend.
Stage 13: Friday, 20 July – Bourg d’Oisans – Valence, 169.5km
Sagan edged his rivals on the line in Valence to secure the 11th Tour stage win of his career
Winner: Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Report: Sagan surges late to secure third stage win
World champion Peter Sagan claims his third stage victory of the 2018 Tour de France, kicking from deep to beat Alexander Kristoff and Arnaud Demare on the line. With leading sprinters Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, Fernando Gaviria and Dylan Groenewegen all exiting the race in the Alps, Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team work with Groupama-FDJ and UAE Team Emirates to reel in the breakaway. Geraint Thomas enjoys a relatively calm day to retain the yellow jersey.
Stage 14: Saturday, 21 July – Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux – Mende, 188km
Omar Fraile took the biggest victory of his career by overhauling Jasper Stuyven to win stage 14
Winner: Omar Fraile (Spa/Astana)
Report: Fraile wins from the breakaway as Thomas keeps yellow
Omar Fraile claims his first Tour de France stage win, overtaking Jasper Stuyven inside the last 3km on a brutal final climb after Stuyven had attacked a large breakaway group with 35km to go. The peloton arrives 20 minutes later and Geraint Thomas retains the leader’s yellow jersey, closing down attacks by Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome as those leading three riders on general classification finish alongside each other.
Stage 15: Sunday, 22 July – Millau – Carcassonne, 181.5km
Magnus Cort took his first stage win in his debut Tour de France on stage 15
Winner: Magnus Cort (Den/Astana)
Report: Cort wins first Tour stage as Thomas takes yellow into final week
Magnus Cort makes it two stage wins in two days for Astana, easily holding off Ion Izagirre and Bauke Mollema in a three-man sprint. A breakaway of 29 riders finally go up the road and are gradually whittled down, with Cort getting into the key selection to win his first Tour stage. Geraint Thomas enjoys a relatively sedate ride to ensure he retains the yellow jersey into the final week.
Rest day: Monday, 23 July – Carcassonne
Stage 16: Tuesday, 24 July – Carcassonne – Bagnères-de-Luchon, 218km
Alaphilippe won the first stage in the Pyrenees after taking stage 10 in the Alps
Winner: Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Quick-Step Floors)
Report: Alaphilippe wins after Yates crashes while leading
An eventful day sees the race stopped for 15 minutes early on after a protest by French farmers, during which police use spray that blows into the peloton and forces riders to pull over and douse their eyes with water. After resuming, a large break goes up the road is whittled down until Adam Yates goes solo over the final climb. But the Briton crashes on the descent with just 7km to go, under pressure from Julian Alaphilippe, who swings past to win his second stage of the race. Geraint Thomas enjoys a relatively easy day to retain the yellow jersey.
Stage 17: Wednesday, 25 July – Bagneres-de-Luchon – Saint-Lary-Soulan, 65km
Quintana’s second Tour de France stage victory came more than five years after his first
Winner: Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar)
Report: Thomas extends lead as Froome falters
Britain’s Geraint Thomas extends his lead in the Tour de France as defending champion Chris Froome falters on the final climb on stage 17. The Welshman, 32, who is chasing his first Grand Tour victory, leads Team Sky team-mate Froome by two minutes 31 seconds with four stages left. Thomas’ closest general classification rival is now Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who is 1:59 behind, with Froome in third. Nairo Quintana holds off Ireland’s Dan Martin to win the 65km (40-mile) stage.
Stage 18: Thursday, 26 July – Trie-sur-Baise – Pau, 171km
Demare (left) held of fellow Frenchman Laporte to win his second Tour de France stage
Winner: Arnaud Demare (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)
Report: Thomas retains lead after Demare wins in Pau
Britain’s Geraint Thomas retains his overall race lead on a quieter day for those in the hunt for the yellow jersey – although Colombian Nairo Quintana cuts his arm in a crash – as the top of the standings remain unchanged. The expected bunch sprint finish comes to fruition with Arnaud Demare pipping fellow Frenchman Christophe Laporte.
Stage 19: Friday, 27 July – Lourdes – Laruns, 200.5km
Primoz Roglic claimed his second Tour stage win to move into third place overall
Winner: Primoz Roglic (Slo/LottoNL-Jumbo)
Report: Thomas edges closer to Tour victory as Roglic wins final mountain stage
Britain’s Geraint Thomas follows all the attacks of his rivals over the final mountains of the Tour before sprinting to finish second on the stage and extend his lead over Tom Dumoulin to two minutes and five seconds heading into the individual time trial on stage 20. Primoz Roglic kicks clear of a group of all the favourites on the final descent to win in Laruns and overtake Chris Froome into third place overall.
Stage 20: Saturday, 28 July – individual time trial, Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle – Espelette, 31km
Geraint Thomas finished third in the time trial to make sure of carrying the yellow jersey into Paris
Winner: Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Sunweb)
Report: Thomas set to win Tour as Dumoulin claims time trial victory
Britain’s Geraint Thomas finishes third in the individual time trial to ensure he is set to win the 2018 Tour de France, with convention dictating the yellow jersey is not challenged on the final stage in Paris. World time trial champion Tom Dumoulin wins the stage by one second over Team Sky’s Chris Froome, after initial confusion over the finishing times. The Dutchman’s win sees him secure second overall. Froome’s performance is enough to see the four-time Tour winner reclaim third place overall from Primoz Roglic.
Stage 21: Sunday, 29 July – Houilles – Paris, 116km
Geraint Thomas is the first Welshman to win the Tour de France
Winner: Alexander Kristoff (Nor/UAE Team Emirates)
Report: Thomas crowned Tour champion as Kristoff wins in Paris
Britain’s Geraint Thomas rolls safely over the line in Paris to become the Tour de France champion, linking arms with team-mate Chris Froome, who secures third overall, while Tom Dumoulin finishes runner-up. Norway’s Alexander Kristoff claims his first win on the Champs Elysees, holding off John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare on the line after Yves Lampaert fails with a late breakaway.
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marilynngmesalo · 6 years
Text
Welsh rider Geraint Thomas wins his 1st Tour de France title
Welsh rider Geraint Thomas wins his 1st Tour de France title https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Welsh rider Geraint Thomas wins his 1st Tour de France title
PARIS — Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race.
The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage.
Thomas rode a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey and shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris before buckling down to keep up with the other leaders on the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees.
“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said before draping the flag of Wales over his shoulders during the podium ceremony. “Normally that stage is really hard but today I just seemed to float around it. I had goose bumps going around there. The support from the Welsh, British flags. … To ride around wearing this (yellow jersey) is a dream.”
Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind, and rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line, with Froome applauding.
Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.
Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with UAE Team Emirates won the last stage in a sprint finish, narrowly beating John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare.
“I’ve dreamed about this victory for many years,” Kristoff said. “I’ve been close many times before but never managed to beat the faster guys like (Mark) Cavendish, (Andre) Greipel, or (Marcel) Kittel, but today they’re not here, they’re out after the mountains, and today I was the fastest, so I’m super happy.”
The mostly flat 116-kilometre (72-mile) leg began in Houilles just outside Paris and concluded with nine laps up and down the Champs-Elysees.
Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees held their arms high to record the riders on their smart phones as they went past on the cobblestones, and there were more cheers when 11 jets flew overhead leaving trails in the blue, white and red colours of the French flag.
Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cake and sweets, while the smell of crepes filled the air.
Glenn Roberts, from Newtown in mid-Wales, was in attendance with his wife and children. The family timed its summer vacation to coincide with the Tour’s finish.
“Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales but we didn’t know if he was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win it, if I’m being honest,” Roberts said. “It’s the best thing a Welshman has ever done in sport.”
French rider Sylvain Chavanel, riding his record 18th Tour, rode ahead of the pack as the first rider onto the Champs-Elysees.
World champion Peter Sagan matched Erik Zabel’s record by winning the green jersey points competition for a sixth time. French riders Julian Alaphilippe and Pierre Latour secured the polka-dot mountains jersey and best young rider white jersey, respectively.
The three-week race covered 3,351 kilometres (2,082 miles).
Canoe Click for update news world news https://ift.tt/2LKCpn4 world news
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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years
Text
Welsh Rider Geraint Thomas Wins First Tour De France Title
New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/welsh-rider-geraint-thomas-wins-first-tour-de-france-title/
Welsh Rider Geraint Thomas Wins First Tour De France Title
PARIS — Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race.
The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage.
Thomas rode a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey and shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris before buckling down to keep up with the other leaders on the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees.
Benoit Tessier / Reuters
From left: Pierre Latour of France, wearing the white jersey for best young rider, Geraint Thomas of Britain, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, Julian Alaphilippe of France, wearing the polka-dot jersey, and Peter Sagan of Slovakia, wearing the green jersey, celebrate on the podium.
“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said before draping the flag of Wales over his shoulders during the podium ceremony. “Normally that stage is really hard but today I just seemed to float around it. I had goose bumps going around there. The support from the Welsh, British flags. … To ride around wearing this (yellow jersey) is a dream.”
Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind, and rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line, with Froome applauding.
Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.
Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas of Britain celebrates his overall victory on the podium with a Welsh flag. 
Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with UAE Team Emirates won the last stage in a sprint finish, narrowly beating John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare.
“I’ve dreamed about this victory for many years,” Kristoff said. “I’ve been close many times before but never managed to beat the faster guys like (Mark) Cavendish, (Andre) Greipel, or (Marcel) Kittel, but today they’re not here, they’re out after the mountains, and today I was the fastest, so I’m super happy.”
The mostly flat 116-kilometer (72-mile) leg began in Houilles just outside Paris and concluded with nine laps up and down the Champs-Elysees.
Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees held their arms high to record the riders on their smart phones as they went past on the cobblestones, and there were more cheers when 11 jets flew overhead leaving trails in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.
POOL New / Reuters
Thomas drinks champagne with Great Britain Team Sky team principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, who rides in a car.
Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cake and sweets, while the smell of crepes filled the air.
Glenn Roberts, from Newtown in mid-Wales, was in attendance with his wife and children. The family timed its summer vacation to coincide with the Tour’s finish.
“Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales but we didn’t know if he was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win it, if I’m being honest,” Roberts said. “It’s the best thing a Welshman has ever done in sport.”
French rider Sylvain Chavanel, riding his record 18th Tour, rode ahead of the pack as the first rider onto the Champs-Elysees.
World champion Peter Sagan matched Erik Zabel’s record by winning the green jersey points competition for a sixth time. French riders Julian Alaphilippe and Pierre Latour secured the polka-dot mountains jersey and best young rider white jersey, respectively.
The three-week race covered 3,351 kilometers (2,082 miles).
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clusterassets · 6 years
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New world news from Time: Welsh Rider Geraint Thomas Wins First Tour de France Title
(PARIS) — Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race.
The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage.
Thomas rode a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey and shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris before buckling down to keep up with the other leaders on the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees.
“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said before draping the flag of Wales over his shoulders during the podium ceremony. “Normally that stage is really hard but today I just seemed to float around it. I had goose bumps going around there. The support from the Welsh, British flags. … To ride around wearing this (yellow jersey) is a dream.”
Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind, and rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line, with Froome applauding.
Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.
Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with UAE Team Emirates won the last stage in a sprint finish, narrowly beating John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare.
“I’ve dreamed about this victory for many years,” Kristoff said. “I’ve been close many times before but never managed to beat the faster guys like (Mark) Cavendish, (Andre) Greipel, or (Marcel) Kittel, but today they’re not here, they’re out after the mountains, and today I was the fastest, so I’m super happy.”
The mostly flat 116-kilometer (72-mile) leg began in Houilles just outside Paris and concluded with nine laps up and down the Champs-Elysees.
Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees held their arms high to record the riders on their smart phones as they went past on the cobblestones, and there were more cheers when 11 jets flew overhead leaving trails in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.
Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cake and sweets, while the smell of crepes filled the air.
Glenn Roberts, from Newtown in mid-Wales, was in attendance with his wife and children. The family timed its summer vacation to coincide with the Tour’s finish.
“Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales but we didn’t know if he was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win it, if I’m being honest,” Roberts said. “It’s the best thing a Welshman has ever done in sport.”
French rider Sylvain Chavanel, riding his record 18th Tour, rode ahead of the pack as the first rider onto the Champs-Elysees.
World champion Peter Sagan matched Erik Zabel’s record by winning the green jersey points competition for a sixth time. French riders Julian Alaphilippe and Pierre Latour secured the polka-dot mountains jersey and best young rider white jersey, respectively.
The three-week race covered 3,351 kilometers (2,082 miles).
___
Associated Press writers Ciaran Fahey and Samuel Petrequin contributed.
July 30, 2018 at 12:02AM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com
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junker-town · 6 years
Text
Tour de France 2018: Results, standings, and more after each stage
Tumblr media
Follow as the yellow jersey, green jersey, and polka-dot jersey all exchange hands across 2,100 miles in France.
The competition for the 2018 Tour de France yellow jersey is going to be as tight as it has been in years. Chris Froome is still the favorite — he’s won four of these, after all — but he is also attempting a Giro-Tour double, which may be too much even for him, and his opponents are stronger than ever.
Not only will Froome have to combat the likes of Romain Bardet, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, and Richie Porte, but he’ll also be taking on a difficult and varied course. This year’s Tour covers nearly 2,100 miles, and includes team and individual trials, a brutal cobbles stage, and mountains stages both long and very short over devilish climbs old and new.
There is going to be a ton of ways to fall in love with this Tour, from the white jersey competition and a glimpse at cycling’s future, to the green jersey competition, in which young gun Fernando Gaviria will try to dethrone Peter Sagan. You can keep up with all of it below.
General classification (yellow jersey)
1. Fernando Gaviria - 4h 23’ 32”
2. Peter Sagan - “
3. Marcel Kittel - “
Points classification (green jersey)
1. Fernando Gaviria
2. Peter Sagan
3. Marcel Kittel
Mountains classification (polka-dot jersey
Kevin Ledanois (Fortuneo–Samsic) - 1 point
Stage results
Stage 1, 201 kilometers from Noirmoutier-en-L’île to Fontenary-le-Comte
Saturday, July 7
Summary: The first breakaway of the Tour de France consisted of French riders Yoann Offredo, Jerome Cousin, and Kevin Ledanois. Ledanois won the polka-dot jersey on a dinky climb. They all gave a valiant effort under the sun, but the were completely closed down with 10 kilometers to go.
Young Colombian star Fernando Gaviria won a bunch sprint over Peter Sagan, but the big story will be the crashes that took place in the final kilometers, taking out several general classification contenders. Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Nairo Quintana, and Adam Yates all lost siginificant time.
1. Fernando Gaviria - 4h 23’ 32”
2. Peter Sagan - “
3. Marcel Kittel - “
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netunleashed-blog · 6 years
Text
Tour de France: Geraint Thomas wins as Chris Froome finishes third
http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=24242 Tour de France: Geraint Thomas wins as Chris Froome finishes third - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=24242 Geraint Thomas was keen to show off the Welsh flag on the run-in to ParisGeraint Thomas became Britain's third winner of the Tour de France when he crossed the finish line in Paris.The Team Sky rider, 32, follows Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and four-time Tour champion Chris Froome as Britain celebrates a sixth win in seven years.Alexander Kristoff won the final sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees as Thomas crossed the line arm-in-arm with Froome after three weeks of racing.He beat Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by one minute 51 seconds, with Froome third.The Welshman, who rode in support of Froome in each of his four wins, had built up that lead over the previous 20 stages and Tour convention dictates that the yellow jersey is not challenged on the final stage."When I rode on the Champs-Elysees for the first time in 2007, that was insane - just to finish the race and just to be a part of it," Thomas told ITV."To now be riding round winning it is just incredible. It's just a whirlwind. I seem to be floating around on cloud nine."Maybe when I'm 70, sat in a corner of a pub telling some 18-year-old what I used to be, it will sink in. It's incredible, the stuff of dreams."Froome was heavy favourite to become the fifth rider to win a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title. He came into the race as defending champion and holder of all three Grand Tour titles, having won the Vuelta a Espana last September and the Giro d'Italia in May.However, he was only cleared to race the week before the Tour started, after his anti-doping case was dropped by cycling's world governing body, the UCI.The 33-year-old was under investigation after more than the permitted level of legal asthma drug salbutamol was found in his urine during his Vuelta victory.But his hopes of matching Eddy Merckx's record of four consecutive Grand Tour victories were ended in the Pyrenees mountains in the final week as Thomas proved the strongest rider.A procession into Paris The moment Thomas crossed the finish line in Paris - with four-time champion FroomeThe final 116km stage began in Houilles, to the north-west of Paris, and the riders took a leisurely pace into the capital before embarking on eight laps of the city centre.Team Sky led the peloton into Paris, having allowed France's Sylvain Chavanel to ride clear for one lap in his final Tour in recognition of his achievement of completing a record 18th race.Six riders built an advantage of about 45 seconds but they were eventually reeled in on the final lap, with 6km remaining.World champion Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates did the bulk of the chasing, hoping to help the winner of the green points classification jersey to a first win in Paris, but Norwegian Kristoff outsprinted Frenchman Arnaud Demare and Germany's John Degenkolb.Thomas rode over the line a few seconds later, alongside Froome, the man he dethrones as champion.Thomas' Tour pedigreeThomas' victory comes in his ninth Tour, one fewer than the record for most appearances before winning, held by 1980 winner Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands.Thomas first rode in the Tour in 2007, when he finished 140th of the 141 finishers.Like many British riders, he raced on both the track and the road in the early part of his career, winning two Olympic and three world team pursuit titles on the track between 2007 and 2012. His sacrifice in helping Froome win four Tours has meant Thomas' best finish before this year was 15th.He has also been dogged by bad luck. He fractured his pelvis on stage one in 2013 but rode the remaining 20 stages to help Froome win; in 2015 he crashed head first into a telegraph pole; and in 2017 broke a collarbone on stage nine.This year, he has ridden a near faultless race to cement his place among Britain's greatest cyclists.Cavendish leads praise for 'G'Mark Cavendish, a former Team Sky and Great Britain team-mate of Thomas, said he was "so, so proud" of his achievement.Asked if he ever thought Thomas could win a Grand Tour, Cavendish, who has won 30 Tour de France stages, told BBC Sport: "Recently, yes. But there is a definite hierarchy in Team Sky so I didn't know if he'd get the opportunity."If they (Team Sky) had said to Geraint 'right, now you've got to work for Froome' he'd have done it. That's the kind of guy he is. That's what is special about him and why he deserves the win. "He's the most loyal guy you'll ever meet. He's incredible. I love him. I'm so so proud of him."Peter Kennaugh, another former Team Sky and GB team-mate, added: "It's incomprehensible. It's G and he's won the Tour de France. I can't imagine how he feels. I'm just so proud of him."Ex-Team Sky team-mate Ben Swift, who shared a house with Thomas when they lived in Manchester, said: "It's amazing to see. We've grown up together, been at the British Academy together, lived together, so to see him do this is incredible."Three-time world team pursuit world champion Dani Rowe said: "I did see him as a Tour winner. He's one of the most hard-working riders I've ever come across, so I think he deserves this more than anyone."Former British cyclist Chris Boardman, who won three Tour stages and wore the yellow jersey, said: "He's the most popular winner for years. No disrespect to those who have gone before him but he's always laid it down for someone else and sacrificed himself for someone else."The stages that defined Thomas' victoryThomas went in to this year's race saying he was hoping to challenge his team leader Froome.He told BBC Sport: "The team have said that with the way I've been riding they're confident to give me that role of a back-up guy and to race at least until the first rest day (after stage nine)."He was second after stage nine and took hold of the race leader's yellow jersey on stage 11.Stage 3: Team Sky finish second in the team trial to propel Thomas up the standings to third overall, three seconds adrift of race leader Greg van Avermaet.Stage 6: A tactically aware Thomas picks up two bonus seconds near the finish to move himself up to second overall.Stage 11: Thomas attacks with 6km remaining on the final ascent to the summit finish at La Rosiere in the Alps to finish 20 seconds ahead of Dumoulin and Froome and take the race leader's yellow jersey.Stage 12: Another late surge sees Thomas become the first British rider to win on the fabled Alpe d'Huez as he again leaves Dumoulin and Froome in his wake to cement his position as a real threat in the race. "There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to win," Thomas said. "I just kept following Dumoulin and Froome. Can we just go to Paris now?"Stage 17: Into the Pyrenees and an attack in the closing few hundred metres helps Thomas finish third to put another nine seconds into Dumoulin as Froome falters on the final climb, finishing 48 seconds behind his team-mate.Stage 19: The final stage in the mountains and Thomas follows the attacks of all his rivals before sprinting to second on the stage to pick up more bonus seconds and move two minutes five seconds clear. He has accrued 33 bonus seconds, 21 more than Dumoulin.Stage 20: Dumoulin wins the time trial, beating Froome by one second, but Thomas finishes third on the stage to maintain a lead of 1min 51secs.How did the other Britons fare?Mark Cavendish set out looking to make further inroads in Eddy Merckx's record of 34 Tour stage wins, but the Dimension Data rider was unable to add to his tally of 30. He missed out on the early sprint stages and was eliminated when he missed the time cut on the mountainous 11th stage.Mitchelton-Scott rider Adam Yates won the young rider classification in 2016 and was tipped to go well this year, but dehydration in the Alps - he was dropped on the way to La Rosiere on stage 11 and again on the next stage to Alpe d'Huez. To end a miserable Tour, he crashed while leading on stage 16 as Julian Alaphilippe won.The third British rider in Team Sky's squad, Luke Rowe, finished 130th - almost four hours behind the winner - but his sacrifices to help compatriot Thomas win will live long in both their memories.Who won green, polka dot and white jerseys? Three-time world champion Sagan romped away with the green points jersey, which rewards consistently high finishes on each stage. It is a joint record sixth victory in the classification for the Slovak, matching Germany's Erik Zabel.Sagan won three stages and finished in the top 10 on nine others to amass 477 points, more than double Kristoff in second.The polka dot 'king of the mountains' jersey was claimed by Julian Alaphilippe, who comfortably beat fellow Frenchman Warren Barguil.Another home rider, Pierre Roger Latour, won the white jersey awarded to the best young rider (under the age of 26).Final standings: 1. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 83hrs 17mins 13secs2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Team Sunweb) +1min 51secs3. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +2mins 24secs4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Team LottoNL-Jumbo) +3mins 22secs5. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Lotto NL-Jumbo) +6mins 8secs6. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R La Mondiale) +6mins 57secs7. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +7mins 37secs8. Daniel Martin (Ire/UAE Team Emirates) +9mins 5secs9. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha-Alpecin) +12mins 37secs10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar Team) +14mins 18secsStage 21 result:1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/UAE Team Emirates) 2hrs 46mins 36secs2. John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo) same time3. Arnaud Demare (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Dimension Data)5. Christophe Laporte (Fra/Cofidis)6. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg/Quick-Step Floors)7. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain-Merida)8. Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)9. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita/Wanty-Groupe Gobert)10. Jasper de Buyst (Bel/Lotto-Soudal) Source link
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alamante · 6 years
Link
Arm-in-arm with 2017 champion and Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, the 32-year-old Thomas crossed the finishing line after the 21st and final stage in Paris in triumph.
His eventual victory had been a mere formality after Saturday’s individual time trial stage which left him with a one minute 51 second advantage over second-placed Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands.
Four-time champion Froome completed the podium, having started the three-week Tour as race favorite.
Sunday’s stage, which started in the Paris suburbs before eight high-speed laps of a circuit taking in iconic landmarks in the French capital, was won by Alexander Kristoff of Norway, the European champion.
But the spotlight was firmly on Thomas, so long in the shadows of teammates past and present, Bradley Wiggins, the first British winner of the famous race in 2012, then Froome.
His victory continued Team Sky’s domination of the Tour de France, with its British riders claiming six of the last seven editions, much to the disquiet of the French sporting public, who have given Thomas, Froome and their teammates a mixed reception over the course of the three-week race.
Thomas, a two-time Olympic champion for Great Britain in track cycling before turning his full attention to the road, took it all in his stride and after dominating the mountain stages in the Alps with two superb victories, maintained his advantage in the Pyrenees and on the final time trial to hold off his closest rivals for the prized crown in cycling.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas told Eurosport.
“Riding around wearing this (the yellow jersey) is the stuff of dreams.”
Thomas also paid tribute to his teammates, who had held strong in the face of a sometimes hostile environment.
“We have stuck together through tough times, I owe them a lot,” he added.
Slovakia’s Peter Sagan was unable to round off another fine Tour with a sprint victory, but sealed his record-equaling sixth Green Jersey, while French honor was upheld by Julian Alaphilippe, who won two stages to clinch the Polka Dot jersey for King of the Mountains.
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investmart007 · 6 years
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PARIS  | Welsh rider Geraint Thomas wins his 1st Tour de France title
New Post has been published on https://is.gd/bdb8Vs
PARIS  | Welsh rider Geraint Thomas wins his 1st Tour de France title
PARIS  — Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race.
The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage around the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
Thomas rode a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey and shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris.
Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind, and rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line, with Froome applauding.
Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.
Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with UAE Team Emirates won the last stage in a sprint finish, narrowly beating John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare.
The mostly flat 116-kilometer (72-mile) leg began in Houilles just outside Paris and concluded with nine laps up and down the Champs-Elysees.
Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees held their arms high to record the riders on their smart phones as they went past on the cobblestones, and there were more cheers when 11 jets flew overhead leaving trails in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.
Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cake and sweets, while the smell of crepes filled the air.
Glenn Roberts, from Newtown in mid-Wales, was in attendance with his wife and children. The family timed its summer vacation to coincide with the Tour’s finish.
“Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales but we didn’t know if he was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win it, if I’m being honest,” Roberts said. “It’s the best thing a Welshman has ever done in sport.”
French rider Sylvain Chavanel, riding his record 18th Tour, rode ahead of the pack as the first rider onto the Champs-Elysees.
World champion Peter Sagan matched Erik Zabel’s record by winning the green jersey points competition for a sixth time. French riders Julian Alaphilippe and Pierre Latour secured the polka-dot mountains jersey and best young rider white jersey, respectively. ___
Associated Press writers Ciaran Fahey and Samuel Petrequin contributed.
By ANDREW DAMPF ,Associated Press
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