22 Monday, July 17, 2017 SPORTS Mollema clinches Tour 15th stage Le Puy-en-Velay, France 3km before the summit of the first Martin lost 1:15 a week Sunday July 16 auke Mollema won the 15th stage category col de Peyra Taillade just over earlier when taken out by of the Tour de France yesterday in 30km from the finish. a crashing Richie Porte on a aB solo breakaway to Le Puy en Velay The 32-year-old Briton crossed the hazardous descent and has even 15th stage 189.5 km as Chris Froome retained the leader’s line alongside most of his main rivals to been suffering from back pain ever yellow jersey. maintain his 18 second lead over Italian since. 1 B. Mollema 4h41:47 Diego Ulissi was second at the end of Fabio Aru, with Romain Bardet of France Up front, Mollema was part of a (NED/Trek- Segafredo) the 189.5km mountainous stage from third at 23sec. 28-man breakaway that split on the Stage winner 2 D. Ulissi at 0:19 Laissac-Severac l’Eglise in the Massif The big loser of the day was Colombia’s Peyra Taillade. A nine-man group (ITA/Emirats) Central ahead of Tony Gallopin in third. Nairo Quintana, who was dropped on formed on the descent when he went Netherlands’ But reigning champion Froome had the Peyra Taillade climb and lost several on a lone attack, increasing his lead to Bauke Mollema 3 T. Gallopin at 0:19 to survive a worrying moment when he minutes by the finish, dropping out of 50sec at one point as the chase proved celebrates on (FRA/Lotto Soudal) suffered a mechanical problem in the the overall top 10. disorganised. the podium 4 P. Roglic at 0:19 last 50km that saw him drop 50 seconds Meanwhile, Ireland’s Dan Martin was Finally four men emerged as (SLO/Lotto NL) behind his main rivals as he had to take typically abrasive and launched an attack Mollema’s pursuers but they couldn’t team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski’s bike to inside the last 12km to gain a few seconds bridge the gap with Italian Ulissi 5 W. Barguil at 0:23 continue. on the other challengers. settling for second 19sec behind the (FRA/Sunweb) A mad chase ensued as Mikel Nieve, The 30-year-old even snatched a place winner, with Gallopin third and his Vasil Kiryienka and Sergio Henao helped in the standings, moving above Froome’s French compatriot Warren Barguil, Overall pace Froome back to the group, the Sky team-mate Mikel Landa into fifth, the winner of Friday’s Bastille Day three-time champion making contact now 1min 12sec behind Froome -- 13th stage, fourth at 23sec. (AFP) 1 C. Froome 64h40:21 (GBR/Sky) 2 F. Aru at 0:18 (ITA/Astana) Bahrain’s Grmay rides well 3 R. Bardet at 0:23 Aidan Payne/DTNN (FRA/AG2R) [email protected] Results: 4 R. Uran at 0:29 Stage 15 run between Laissac (COL/Cannondale) Manama and Le Puy-en-Velay: 5 D. Martin at 1:12 ahrain’s Merida Pro 40. J Brajkovic (SLO, one hour 13 (IRL/Quick-Step Floors) BCycling Team rider, minutes 49 seconds) Tsgabu Grmay (four hours 75. O Cink (CZE, +1:46:07) 47 minutes 58 seconds) Points 83. T Grmay (ETH, + 1:52:52 raced well yesterday to 112. Y Arashiro (JPN, +2:17:42 1 M. Kittel 373 pts finish 23rd overall on the 114. J Moreno (ESP, +2:20:27 (GER/Quick-Step Floors) 15th stage of the 104th 137. S Colbrelli (ITA, 2:32:56 Tour de France from 141. G Bole (SLO, +2:35:37 Mountains Laissac-Severac L’Eglisle 165. B Bozic (SLO, +2:58:05) to Le Puy-En-Velay over 1 W. Barguil 116 pts 189.5km. Bahrain Merida’s Tsgabu Grmay of Ethiopia (R) rides (FRA/Sunweb) Grmay was six minutes riders into the Alps 11 seconds behind stage member Spaniard Ion of the lower spine. mountain range from Source: ASO winner, Dutchman Bauke Izaguirre withdrew from The tour takes a rest today Le Puy-En-Velay Mollema (4:41:47) of Team the opening stage in and resumes tomorrow to Romans-Sur- Trek-Segafreda. Dusseldorf, Germany after with the 16th stage taking Isere over Bahrain’s ninth team suffering a lumbar fracture the remaining (175) 165km. Martin unconcerned Bardet denies team Calm Landa happy to by ifs and buts missed chance save Froome Le Puy-en-Velay, France Le Puy-en-Velay, France Le Puy-en-Velay, France an Martin brushed off suggestions he could omain Bardet insisted he was happy taying calm is what helped Chris Froome and Sky save already be in yellow at the Tour de France with his team despite missing an the yellow jersey on a dramatic day at the Tour de France Das the Irishman continued to snare precious opportunityR to put Tour de France yesterday,S his Spanish team-mate Mikel Landa said. seconds yesterday. leader Chris Froome in serious difficulty Froome suffered a mechanical problem 50km from the end The 30-year-old Quick-Step rider finished yesterday. of the 189.5km 15th stage from Laissac-Severac l’Eglise to Le the day fifth overall at 1min 12sec behind But while Froome’s Sky team-mates Puy en Velay that saw him drop 50 seconds behind his main race leader Chris Froome after snatching 14 dropped back to help pace him up to the rivals at one point. seconds in a typically bold late attack, 12km group ahead, Bardet’s team failed to set a But after a mad 20km chase, he latched back onto the from the finish. high enough pace to distance the Briton group ahead, with Landa, who had stayed alongside the other It was the fourth day in a row that he’s picked once and for all. favourites, dropping back at the last moment to help Froome up a few seconds on all or at least some of his rivals “We knew that after the climb it bridge up after Sergio Henao and Mikel Nieve had provided in the top 10. wasn’t ideal for big attacks, so we had most of the chase effort. “I was six seconds off seventh (place) last year and to really dig deep on the climb,” said the “I just stayed in the first group, and when he was closer, I finished ninth (overall). So every second counts at Frenchman, who is third at 23sec. waited a little bit and we came back together,” said Landa, who the Tour,” he said. “The team really worked hard and we dropped a place from fifth to sixth overall at the finish after a “Everyone was on the limit today. The rest day’s can be proud of what we did. late attack by Dan Martin. “I was in the first group, so I always tomorrow, so I can recover. “It’s been a really “I’m doing my best, it’s really tough, let them (the team) know how things were going. We stayed Daniel Martin brutal week. Really hot day as well. (AFP) it’s the biggest race in the world.” (AFP) calm and saved the day very well.” (AFP).