Rarely in the spotlight, Nils Politt on Thursday struggled to believe victory was his when it finally came at the Tour de France.
After dropping his last remaining rivals on the road leading to Nimes in southern France, the German rider hit his helmet several times and shook his head as if to say: “I can’t believe it.”
After the strange feeling sank in, with the finish in sight, Politt made a big heart sign with his hands and crossed the line on his own to post only the second stage win of his professional career.
Photo: Reuters
Politt was part of a larger group that jumped out of the peloton in the early stages of the windy 159.4km stage 12 between Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux and Nimes.
The German rider from the Bora-Hansgrohe team had attacked with three other rivals from the 13-man breakaway about 40km from the finish. He then went solo with 12km left with a sudden acceleration that was left unanswered.
“There were quite a lot of sprinters in our group, so I had to make the race hard and attack quite early,” Politt said. “I made [the] first attack. I gave everything. To finish solo is unbelievable.”
Imanol Erviti and Harry Sweeny finished second and third respectively, 31 seconds behind.
A one-day classic specialist, 27-year-old Politt has posted many honorable results at prestigious events in the past, including a runner-up finish at Paris-Roubaix two years ago, but despite his combative skills, Politt had never tasted victory on the biggest stage.
“Winning a Tour stage is a dream, it’s really the best moment of my career,” he said through a translator. “It’s my second win, but here it’s different.”
Politt’s victory brought comfort to his team just hours after leader Peter Sagan withdrew from the race before the start of the stage due to a knee injury.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar rode with all other main contenders well behind the breakaway and crossed nearly 16 minutes behind the winner. With none of the breakaway riders a threat in the general classification, the defending champion enjoyed a quiet day in the peloton after strong crosswinds created splits in the early stages.
There was no significant change in the general classification. Pogacar kept his 5 minute,18 seond lead over second-placed Rigoberto Uran, with Jonas Vingegaard in third, 5:33 off the pace.
Yesterday’s stage 13 to the medieval city of Carcassone was another flat trek suiting the sprinters. Veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish was chasing a 34th career stage win that would put him level with five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx’s all-time record.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS