Slovakia’s Peter Sagan on Wednesday clinched his second stage victory of this year’s Tour de France, defeating Sonny Colbrelli and Philippe Gilbert on the uphill finish of stage five.
Defending champion Chris Froome of Team Sky and the other overall contenders finished in or close to the main group as overnight leader and Olympic road race champion Greg van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team retained the yellow jersey.
Belgian Philippe Gilbert sparked the hostilities early on the uphill finish of the 204.5km ride from Lorient, but the Quick-Step Floors rider failed to open up a significant gap on the chasing bunch.
Photo: EPA
Van Avermaet then pulled to the front in a bid for the stage win as the finish line approached, but peaked too early.
The race leader was left powerless when Sagan sped past on his left.
Colbrelli pushed the Slovakian all the way, but, as he did on stage two, finished second-best.
Sagan said following the yellow jersey had helped land him the stage.
“I’d like to thank Greg [van Avermaet], because he did me a favor when he went for it. I don’t know if he did it on purpose, but he dropped a lot of people,” said Sagan, who has tightened his grip on the points classification’s green jersey.
Asked if it would be a battle all the way to Paris with Fernando Gaviria for the green jersey, Sagan said: “I hope not.”
The pair have two stage wins each from the first five and Sagan had on Tuesday said that the Colombian might struggle with the climbs.
“The fact he wasn’t in the sprint was good for me,” said Sagan, who now leads Gaviria by 33 points.
Despite a spectator-friendly slug up the final hill, race designer Thierry Gouvenou said that he had expected more fireworks.
“I’m not sure the riders knew how to take advantage of it, the stage really could have been much more interesting,” Gouvenou said of the course some have described as riddled with traps.
With five categorized climbs to be negotiated over the narrow, tree-lined Brittany roads, a breakaway was to be expected.
An escape group featuring Sylvain Chavanel embarked on a long-range bid with Van Avermaet’s BMC doing most of the work at the head of the chasing peloton, with Bora-Hansgrohe joining the chase late.
Sky were omnipresent over the final kilometers of racing and Luke Rowe said he felt they had been getting a more positive reaction from the crowds after being booed at the presentation.
“We have actually been getting quite a complimentary reception. Of course, for every thousand cheers you might get one negative person, but you take that in your stride.” Rowe said. “I’ve got broad shoulders; it’s in one ear and out the other for those who don’t appreciate what we’re doing.”
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
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
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