Sprint specialist Andre Greipel won a drizzly sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, as crashes again thinned the peloton of support riders for rivals hoping to strip Vincenzo Nibali of the maillot jaune.
The German champion collected his sixth career Tour stage victory in Champagne country and the celebrated capital of many French kings by outpacing Norway’s Alexander Kristoff in second and France’s Samuel Dumoulin in third.
At the end of the 194km ride from Arras to Reims, France, Lotto-Belisol’s Greipel burst out of the peloton with less than 300m left and clenched his fists, shouting, at the finish. His job was made a bit easier because Marcel Kittel, a fellow German who has won three stages and dominated the sprint finishes for Giant-Shimano, got a flat tire just before the finish line.
Photo: Reuters
“I had really good punch today, I am really happy,” said Greipel, who turns 32 on Wednesday. “Of course, I’m not looking at Kittel. I don’t need to hide. I am still one of the fastest in the bunch. There was a lot of pressure on us, on my shoulders, [for a win]. It’s a big relief for us.”
The top of the standings did not change, as most of the contenders for victory in the three-week race trailed close behind the muscular Greipel. He was not a challenger for the overall title — like many sprinters, he does not fare well on the climbs that are crucial to winning in Paris. He is more than 37 minutes behind Nibali.
Overall, Nibali had a two-second lead over Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark.
Photo: AFP
Cannondale Pro Cycling’s Peter Sagan of Slovakia was third, 44 seconds back. Two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador, a day after losing about two-and-a-half minutes to Nibali, was dealt another setback: His Tinkoff-Saxo teammate Jesus Hernandez dropped out after a crash.
Among the other possible contenders, Sky Pro Cycling’s Richie Porte was 1 minute, 54 seconds back, in eighth place. The Australian inherited the leadership of Sky after injured defending champion Chris Froome dropped out on Wednesday following two crashes in a rain-splattered ride.
Porte, too, lost a teammate: Spanish veteran Xabier Zandio was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital with a suspected rib fracture and severe back injury after a spill with about 79km left, according to the race medical report. It listed a total of 14 riders with varying injuries from “two big crashes.”
“It was such a stressful day — horrible actually,” Porte said. “The guys were around me all day, and while we lost Xabi Zandio to the crash, the rest of us kept out of trouble and we live to fight another day.”
Garmin-Sharp’s Andrew Talansky of the US, the winner of the Criterium du Dauphine last month, was ninth, 2:05 back. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of Movistar was 10th, 2:11 back, while his compatriot Contador was in 18th, 2:37 behind.
Nibali said that while Froome’s out, “I’m still afraid of Contador,” and he expects the Spaniard and the other aspirants to attack when the race enters the eastern Vosges mountains today — culminating with an tough uphill finish in Monday’s stage 10.
“It’s true that you can lose a lot of energy defending the yellow jersey, but I’ve been riding well,” Nibali said through a translator. “It’s a heavy task to wear it... [but] to have the jersey could be a little advantage in the coming stages. We’ll take it day by day.”
With the Tour giving a nod to 100 years since the start of World War I, French President Francois Hollande honored the fallen and took a ride with race director Christian Prudhomme on Thursday. The Tour chief led a ceremony honoring 1909 winner Francois Faber, one of three winners of early Tours who died in the war.
Yesterday’s mostly flat stage 7 was a 234.5km trek from Epernay to Nancy — the second-longest stage.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS