Van Aert wins Tour stage 10 as big GC names lose time: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Wout van Aert wins stage 10 of the Tour de France as Richie Porte, Thibaut Pinot, Jakob Fuglsang, and others lose time, Vincenzo Nibali voices frustration with critical fans. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Wout van Aert wins Tour de France stage 10 as Porte, Pinot, Fuglsang, and others lose time
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to his first career Tour de France stage win on a stage 10 that also had serious GC implications for the race. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First), and Mikel Landa (Movistar) all lost more than a minute and a half after getting caught behind a split in the pack with just under 40 kilometers left to go.
Despite a spirited chase from those caught behind, a lead group with plenty of Ineos firepower held the gap and then grew it over the final 15 kilometers.
Van Aert sprinted to the stage win out of that reduced lead bunch, taking the win ahead of Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal). One minute and 40 seconds later, the main chase group arrived, with Landa a further 29 seconds down.
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) finished in the lead group to stay in yellow, while the Ineos duo of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal now sit in second and third overall.
More to come…
Socially Speaking
Richie Porte did, at the very least, make it through Sunday’s stage 9 uninjured for the first time in three years.
Stage 9 done #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/OL8kzWQhmL
— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) July 14, 2019
Despite his stage 10 time loss, he’s still in the race. Hopefully he can maintain his sense of humor through the first rest day and into the mountains to come.
Race Radio
Nibali frustrated with critical fans
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) has voiced his frustration with critics of his performance at the Tour de France after the 2014 champ dropped out of GC contention on stage 8.
Nibali told Cyclingnews that has no patience for fans who “just watch the Tour on TV, drink Coca-Cola, eat popcorn and criticize people on social media.”
Nibali’s own coach Paolo Slongo postulated after Nibali’s stage 8 time loss that his problems might have as much to do with motivation as fitness. That led some Twitter users to level criticism at Nibali. One suggested he should have pushed harder. Nibali shot back with a post of his own, saying (in Italian):
“I’m sorry but that’s not my explanation. And I don’t think I have to give one, I do my job and my sport as best I can because I love it, If I get dropped, it’s because I could not give any more.”
He expounded on that in an interview at the race. “I can understand that the tifosi always want to see some spectacular racing from us, but I hope that they can understand that it’s not always easy,” he said, according to Cyclingnews. “I tried my hardest, but when the legs say no, there’s nothing you can do.”
Beauty of Cycling
The Giro Rosa came to a close on Sunday in Udine. As usual, this year’s race delivered plenty of good racing, some finish line drama, and great scenery.
Check out the gallery of fantastic images from Cor Vos.
In case you missed it …
Two amateur riders flee race after refusing hidden motor check
Feature Image: Wout van Aert wins stage 10 of the Tour de France. Photo: Dion Kerckhoffs//Cor Vos © 2019
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