TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014 FRANCE: Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali (right) rides in a breakaway ahead of Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez during the 161.50 km tenth stage of the 101st edition of the Tour de France cycling race. — AFP Nibali takes lead as Contador breaks leg FRANCE: Vincenzo Nibali won yesterday’s Bastille Day 10th Froome last Wednesday after breaking his left wrist and right stage of the Tour de France to reclaim the leader’s yellow jer- hand in a succession of crashes over two days, it was sey as two-time former winner Alberto Contador abandoned Contador’s turn to fall badly. Contador headed straight to the the race with a broken leg. Nibali overhauled lone escapee medical bus when arrived at the finish line for an X-ray. Joaquim Rodriguez in the final kilometre to win the stage by “Alberto has a broken tibia. It’s not a bad fracture but he 15sec from Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, with Spaniard Alejandro needs surgery,” the Spaniard’s Tinkoff-Saxo team boss Bjarne Valverde third at 20sec. Riis told journalists. That put Nibali back into the race lead, having relinquished “He’s in a lot of pain and is getting stitches. “Mentally he’s it for a single day to home favourite Tony Gallopin, who came destroyed, of course. He was in the shape of his life. This was home 4min 46sec down to drop to fifth overall at 3:12. his Tour.” Nibali said he had been lucky to avoid the Spaniard “Today I felt good, I had good legs, the team worked hard. I when he fell. knew the last 3km were the toughest so that’s where I acceler- The Italian said for a few seconds he was “scared” that he ated,” he said. would go down too. “I was behind him but I avoided it,” said “I thought Purito (Rodriguez) would follow me but he gave Nibali “It was a descent, he had been behind me and I had left up in final metres. I knew it would be a very tough day but I’m two or three metres space in front ot be careful. very happy.” Australian Richie Porte is second overall at 2:23 “He came past me and I would have followed him because after finishing seventh on the stage while Valverde is up to there was a climb coming up but the moment he passed me, I third at 2:47. don’t know how, but he fell in front of me. “I think I was the only one to respond to Nibali’s attack at “It was incredible, he rolled around on the ground. We the end,” Porte told ITV4. “He has enough time already so you were going at 60kph.” The 31-year-old Spaniard’s knee was have to react, but I couldn’t stay with him.” bleeding profusely and although he continued after receiving Yet the biggest news of the day came halfway through the lengthy treatment from the race doctor, he lasted only anoth- stage as the Tour lost its second star performer in under a er 15km before climbing off his bike and into a team car as week. Following the withdrawal of reigning champion Chris the tears started to flow. Just before that he’d received a consoling hug from Australian Michael Rogers, his chief lieutenant. “I sincerely say that it is a shame that Contador is out,” added Porte. “I hope Alberto is OK. It is going to change the dynamics of the race. It would have been a different finish if Tinkoff-Saxo were there.” Once Nibali’s Astana team took the race by the reins over the final two first category climbs of a punishing stage that included seven categorised ascents. By then a breakaway led by the indefatigable Tony Martin- the winner of Sunday’s ninth stage after an incredible 150km escape-had been reduced from 13 to nine riders by the relent- less pace set by the German. Martin spent around 120km in front of his young OPQS team leader Michal Kwiatkowski as the entire breakaway group sat behind, letting him do all the work. When he pulled off 20km from the end, Kwiatkowski broke out for home but Rodriguez proved stronger and left the young Pole in his wake. Yet, led by Nibali’s faithful lieutenants Jakob Fuglsang and notably Michele Scarponi, who climbed off the tarmac after a crash to catch the peloton and still pace his Italian compatriot up the final climb, the peloton was closing in quickly. FRANCE: Spain’s Alberto Contador abandons after a fall dur- With 3km left Nibali launched his attack and no-one could ing the 161.50 km tenth stage of the 101st edition of the Tour respond. Porte led the chase but he paid for it in the finish as de France cycling race. — AFP several other riders accelerated past him. — AFP United agree on Adidas kit deal LONDON: Adidas AG will pay a record 750 million pounds “This collaboration marks a milestone for us when it comes ($1.3 billion) to supply Manchester United with shirts and kit, to merchandising potential. We expect total sales to reach 1.5 underlining the enduring pulling power of the former English billion pounds during the duration of our partnership,” Adidas soccer champions despite a dismal last season. chief executive Herbert Hainer said in a statement. The 10-year agreement announced yesterday is a world Its lucrative value also points to the continued prominence record for a soccer club and more than double the previous of the United brand despite a 2013/4 campaign - its first with- biggest, a 31 million pounds-a-year deal the German sports- out influential manager Alex Ferguson who retired after 26 wear company is reported to have with Spanish side Real years in May 2013 - that saw the club finish seventh in the Madrid. league and miss out on a Champions League spot for the first Its total value is also just 40 million pounds less than time in 19 years. United’s owners the Glazer family paid for the club in 2005, The allure of the club’s famous red shirts, worn by millions highlighting how it will help to underwrite the rebuilding of around the globe, had already helped persuade General the team under new manager Louis van Gaal. Motors to put its Chevrolet brand on the team’s jerseys in a The Dutchman takes charge of the Old Trafford club on deal worth $559 million that will run until 2021. Wednesday just days after leading the Netherlands to third That agreement - double the going rate for most major place at the World Cup. European teams - will see Chevrolet on the front of United Nike, the world’s largest sportswear group, had sponsored shirts from this season in Nike’s swansong campaign. United since 2002 but earlier this month pulled out of a bid- Van Gaal, who replaces David Moyes as manager after the ding war with Adidas, meaning the 2014-15 season will be the Scot parted company with the club less than 10 months into U.S. firm’s last as a partner of the 20-time English champions. his tenure, will spend two days at United’s training complex Adidas, which also has similar deals with elite European before flying to Los Angeles with the team on Friday. clubs including England’s Chelsea, Germany’s Bayern Munich Nike was also recently replaced by United’s league rivals and Italy’s AC Milan, takes over the contract from 2015/16. Arsenal, who have signed a kit supplier deal with Germany’s The deal with arguably the world’s most popular team is a Puma , the third-ranked company in the market, worth a coup for the German firm, protecting its leading position in a reported 30 million pounds a year. Shares in Adidas were up soccer market in which Nike has made strong inroads over the 2.5 percent to 73.31 euros at 1332 GMT, with United shares flat last 20 years. at $17.8.- — Reuters.