Belgian Jasper Philipsen on Tuesday won a bunch sprint on stage 16 of the Tour de France in Nimes while his green sprint points jersey rival Biniam Girmay fell in the final dash.
In the struggle for the overall leader’s yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar has a 3 minute, 9 second advantage over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, while Remco Evenepoel remains third at 5 minutes, 19 seconds with several potential game-changing stages still ahead.
The 24-year-old Evenepoel, on his first Tour de France, also holds a comfortable lead in the white jersey standings — for the outstanding young rider.
Photo: AFP
However, on this flat run in the south of France, last year’s green jersey winner Philipsen emerged victorious and has 344pts to the Eritrean Girmay’s 376 in the sprint ranking.
Both have three stage wins, but Philipsen lost crucial points in the green jersey tussle after being relegated from second to bottom spot for deviating from his line during the sixth stage in Dijon.
Leader Girmay fell at a roundabout less than 2km out in Nimes, with two EF Education–EasyPost riders, and was unable to compete in the sprint for the line.
His elbow was bleeding, but the usually smiling 24-year-old remounted and cruised home with a couple of teammates, albeit ashen-faced.
“It’s close, so we’ll be playing it day by day now... You don’t like to see anyone fall, I hope he can carry on,” said Philipsen, who topped 70kph as he raced over the line.
“Victories are hard to come by on the Tour de France so a third one is amazing,” added the Belgian, who was led out by world champion Mathieu van der Poel.
Van der Poel is one of the favorites for the Olympic Games road race in Paris in two weeks.
Because of the Olympics, this year’s Tour de France would finish in Nice on Sunday — meaning there would be no final day dash down the iconic Champs Elysees.
“It’s a shame for the sprinters not to have the final day sprint, they don’t have that much motivation to finish the race but I hope they come all the way with us,” Pogacar said after Tuesday’s race.
The Tour de France race organizers extended the feared time cut on Sunday to allow Mark Cavendish and other haggard stragglers to remain on the race and compete in Tuesday’s flat stage, where 152 survivors of the first 15 stages departed.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Aaron Civale got a little wild in the right-hander’s first start for the Chicago White Sox two days after he was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers. Civale on Sunday walked four of the first seven hitters he faced in a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers. The 30-year-old finished with four walks, one off his career high, while allowing six hits and two runs in five innings. He threw 65 strikes and 39 balls. Chicago trailed 2-1 when he was replaced by Dan Altavilla to start the sixth. “Not the cleanest,” Civale said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a week. First couple
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
DOMINANT JUVENTUS: Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both scored braces as Juventus made a statement in their opener with a big win over Al-Ain Phil Foden on Wednesday scored two minutes into the match and later had an assist to lead Premier League powerhouse Manchester City past Moroccan club Wydad AC 2-0 at the FIFA Club World Cup. City broke Wydad’s five-man defensive line early when Foden scored on a deflected cross by goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid. Jeremy Doku doubled City’s lead in the 42nd minute off a corner-kick from Foden. Shortly afterward, an animal-rights advocate ran onto the field to protest Morocco’s treatment of stray dogs and cats. The man was tackled by security workers and escorted out of Lincoln Financial Field, which was just over
RSS