Tour de France leader Vincenzo Nibali played down suggestions he had finally cracked ahead of yesterday’s fearsome 17th stage in the Pyrenees.
The day before, Astana’s Nibali was slightly distanced by young French climber Thibaut Pinot of team FDJ.fr as the leaders crested the Port de Bales before a 20km descent to the finish.
Pinot himself said Nibali let him go because he knew he would catch him on the descent, the Italian being known as the best descender in the peloton, while the Frenchman openly admits it is his weakness.
Italian Nibali said he was more concerned with Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, who is second in the overall standings at 4 minutes, 37 seconds.
“On the climb, Movistar pushed it on and the man to control was Valverde because he can also do damage on the descent,” the 29-year-old said. “Pinot sprinted clear at the top , but I was getting some sugars on board — it was nothing, I was in control.”
Nibali also suggested he had been caught out in the wrong position when Pinot, who moved up to third overall at 5:06 with his strong showing, kicked at the top of the hill. The Italian also insisted he had not overlooked the potential danger Pinot can pose.
“I certainly am not underestimating anyone, I learned that last year at the Vuelta,” Nibali said, referring to the Vuelta a Espana, where he lost to outsider Chris Horner. “I was the one to close Pinot down in the last kilometer when he attacked and Valverde had left a gap.
“I tried to keep everything under control and I was also thinking about the race in next few days. Many people used a lot of energy and that showed in their legs,” he added.
Yesterday’s 17th stage is just 124.5km, compared with the 237.5km trek on Tuesday, and includes three first-category climbs before the hors category finish to Saint-Lary-Soulan.
Nibali says that will make it much tougher than Tuesday’s stage.
Pinot may have gained time on the likes of Romain Bardet and Tejay van Garderen on Tuesday, but he said he was expecting a reaction yesterday.
“It will be a very short and nervous stage and I expect my rivals to attack me,” he said.
AG2R have the next two in the standings behind Pinot, Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Peraud, fourth at 1:02 behind Pinot, and Bardet, who is fifth another 32 seconds further back.
Yet it is Peraud and Van Garderen, who dropped to more than 4 minutes behind Pinot after a dreadful day in the first Pyrenean stage, who most worry Pinot because of their time trial capabilities.
“I need to gain more time. I put time into Romain and Van Garderen, but I need to get more time on Peraud,” Pinot said.
Bardet was the big surprise on Tuesday after looking strong in the Alps. He cracked on the final climb, but said he is hoping to bounce back quickly.
“I lost a battle, but there are still two great [Pyrenean] stages to come,” he said.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS