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SPORTS Monday 17 July 2023
Poels soloes to victory in 15th stageat Tour de France

SAINT-GERVAIS MONT- the mighty Team Sky and a spectator on the side
BLANC, France (AP) — With Ineos. He joined the Bah- of the road inadvertently
just one week of racing left rain Victorious team at the touched American rider
in the Tour de France, the end of the 2019 season. Sepp Kuss — a key team-
duel for the ages between “I really love this moment. mate of Vingegaard —
Jonas Vingegaard and I always dreamt of win- and sent him to the ground.
Tadej Pogacar could still go ning a stage in the Tour de Jumbo-Visma said Dylan
either way. France,” Poels said. “I really van Baarle and Nathan van
Vingegaard kept intact enjoyed my time with Team Hooydonck were among
his 10-second overall lead Sky. It was an incredible ex- those who hit the tarmac.
over the two-time cham- perience, but yet I never Vingegaard was riding
pion on Sunday as Dutch could fight for stage win.” close to his teammates but
veteran Wout Poels soloed It was the second stage escaped unscathed.
to victory after a tough trek win for Bahrain-Victorious, “There was a narrowing
in the Alps with a mountain- which has been mourn- in a town, just a spectator
top finish. ing the loss of Gino Mäder, was out in the road and just
The 35-year-old Poels, who Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader’s yel- who died last month from clipped my handlebar,”
was part of an early break- low jersey, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the best young injuries suffered in a crash Kuss said. “Luckily I’m okay,
away in Sunday’s 179-ki- rider’s white jersey, sprint towards the finish line of the fifteenth at the Tour de Suisse. I think. I hope that the other
lometer (111-mile) 15th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 179 kilometers “Obviously, with Gino, it has guys in the crash are alright.
stage, took advantage of (111 miles) with start in Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil and finish in a special meaning,” Poels It’s not ideal.”
a short but very steep as- Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, France, Sunday, July 16, 2023. added. Riders went back on their
cent located just before Associated Press A day after a mass crash bikes and returned to the
the final 7-kilometer (4-mile) next Sunday. the Tour de France, after forced several riders out main bunch before the first
climb leading to the finish For Poels, it had been a serving for years as a so- of the race, there was an- big climb of the day, the
line to move away. long wait before he finally called super domestique other huge pile-up after 52 Col de La Forclaz. q
Wout van Aert, a key team- claimed a first stage win at in support of the leaders of kilometers of racing when
mate of Vingegaard, fin-
ished second, more than
two minutes behind, with
Mathieu Burgaudeau com-
pleting the stage podium.
Locked in a pulsating
fight for the yellow jersey
since the start of the race,
Vingegaard and Poga-
car once again stayed to-
gether and kept an eye on
each other throughout the
day in the group of main
contenders.
The two riders have been
a cut above the rest of
the field over the last two
weeks — third-place Carlos
Rodriguez lags 5 minutes,
21 seconds behind — and
again proved to be the
strongest of all main con-
tenders ahead of Mon-
day’s second rest day.
Pogacar tried to sprint
away from his rival 900
meters from the line but
Vingegaard, the defend-
ing champion, immediate-
ly jumped on his wheel and
did not lose any time. Their
duel will resume in Tues-
day’s time trial.
“I felt that Jonas was su-
per good and I knew that
I couldn’t really drop him,”
Pogacar said. “The climb
was too easy. I know the
time trial pretty good. I
hope it suits me pretty well.”
After the time trial, the pair
will have two more moun-
tain stages to settle their
exciting rivalry before the
race concludes in Paris