With crashes taking down riders on rain-drenched roads, keeping team leaders safe was the order of the day on Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Tour de France.
By the time Andre Greipel of Lotto-Soudal attacked in the final 100m to win his second stage of the Tour, and a third in five days for German riders, the last of the day’s seven crashes had taken down 30 riders.
There had been a big spill in stage three too, involving some 20 riders, but once again Chris Froome and the other general classification contenders avoided them.
Photo: AP
“There was absolutely everything out there today. It rained, which made the roads slippery, and it was also windy,” said Ian Stannard, Froome’s Team Sky teammate. “That made for a stressful day.”
Peter Sagan, a Slovak rider seeking to win the green jersey as the Tour’s best sprinter for a fourth straight year, had even more reason to feel tired. He spent most of the day protecting his Tinkoff-Saxo teammate Alberto Contador and then contested the stage sprint, zooming ahead of British rider Mark Cavendish of Etixx-Quick Step to take second place behind Greipel.
“It was also very crazy today, with rain, wind and a lot of crashes, and I’m happy with how we finished,” Sagan said.
Photo: AP
Three of his teammates were involved in crashes, but not Contador.
“Everybody wants to be at the front on a day like this to protect the team leaders and that creates tension,” Sagan said. “I want to help and protect Alberto.”
The maillot jaune group rolled over the line with no change to the leading positions.
Photo: Reuters
German rider Tony Martin, the winner on stage 4, was still leading Froome by 12 seconds and BMC Racing Team’s Tejay van Garderen of the US by 25.
“Everyone thought today was going to be the relaxed day of the Tour, but the wind and the rain made it anything but,” Van Garderen said. “Luckily, I have one of the strongest teams here.”
Among the main contenders, Froome leads two-time Tour champion Contador by 36 seconds; defending champion Vincenzo Nibali by 1 minute, 38 seconds and Colombian rider Nairo Quintana of Movistar, the 2013 runner-up, by 1:56.
Photo: AP
The stage took the weary peloton over 189.5km from Arras to Amiens in northern France, passing some of the battlefields of World War I.
The rain, which largely stayed away the day before, thundered down and turned the roads into something of an ice rink.
Clinching the eighth stage win of his Tour career on damp tarmac, Greipel punched the air in delight.
Photo: EPA
German public broadcaster ARD restarted its live coverage of the race this year following a three-year hiatus due to the doping scandals of recent years, which included Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour titles.
“I’m happy that we can bring the Tour de France back to Germany,” said Greipel, adding that it is because of “mother nature” that German riders seem so strong in sprints.
“I have to thank my mother as I have some fast-twitching muscles,” he said.
The seventh crash happened at the back of the peloton with 25km to go. Three riders went off the road to the right, tumbling into crash barriers. Behind, others fell in a domino effect. Frenchman Thibaut Pinot of FDJ, third on last year’s Tour, had his second crash of the day.
Because speeds were not high, most riders were more groggy than hurt as they looked to see where exactly their bike was amid a myriad of spinning pedals and jutting-out handlebars.
The day’s first crash had taken down Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis, who injured his hips, ribs and a wrist, but did not break any bones.
With only 80km raced, it was already crash No. 5 — with Bryan Coquard of Team Europcar falling for a second time. MTN-Qhubeka’s Tyler Farrar of the US, Pinot and Portuguese rider Tiago Machado of Team Katusha also fell.
Wednesday was also a day for remembrance for soldiers who died in World War I. Before the stage, Froome and Sky teammate Peter Kennaugh laid a wreath on the Commonwealth Memorial at the Franco-British cemetery in Arras. Australian riders from the Orica-GreenEdge joined the tribute, wearing black armbands.
Yesterday’s sixth stage was due to be another mostly flat stage for the sprinters, taking the peloton over 191.5km from Abbeville to Le Havre, France’s biggest commercial port.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS