Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Friday 14 July 2017
Froome loses Tour lead to Aru, Bardet wins 12th stage

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and Bond movie “Tomorrow The breakaway group split
JOHN LEICESTER Never Dies.” up as Stephen Cummings
AP Sports Writer Froome zig-zagged his launched a solo offensive.
PEYRAGUDES, France (AP) bike across the tarmac Aru’s teammate Jakob
— Chris Froome cracked as he tried to cope with Fuglsang, who broke two
during a grueling climb a gradient so steep that it bones in a crash dur-
to the finish and lost the seemed to glue his wheels ing Wednesday’s stage,
overall lead in the Tour de to the road. struggled at the back and
France to Fabio Aru on “It was a very, very diffi- dropped out of conten-
Thursday after a demand- cult finish,” he said. “I did tion after starting the day
ing stage won by Romain my utmost at the end. But I in fifth place overall.
Bardet. didn’t have the legs to fol- Cummings had a two-min-
Froome’s Sky teammates low.” ute lead at the top of Port
had perfectly controlled Rain was falling as the de Bales and went all out
the race until the final ki- peloton started the stage in the descent as the fog
lometer leading to the in Pau, before a break- broke and the weather
ski station of Peyragudes, France’s Romain Bardet celebrates as he crosses the finish line away of 12 riders gained a picked up.
but the three-time cham- to win the twelfth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over lead of more than six min- Froome, Aru and Mikel
pion was dropped in a fi- 214.5 kilometers (133.3 miles) with start in Pau and finish in Pey- utes on some fairly flat sec- Nieve misjudged a turn in
nal section that featured ragudes, France,Thursday, July 13, 2017. Italy’s Fabio Aru, left, tions of the course. the downhill but the race
slopes with a 20 percent finished second. Associated Press Froome’s teammates leader and his rival pushed
gradient. rode at the front with Aru’s hard on the brakes to
Bardet won Stage 12 strongest in the brutal in- the yellow jersey,” said squad just behind, but avoid a crash.
ahead of Rigoberto Uran cline and described his Aru, who rides for the As- showed no interest in re- Nieve went straight onto
and Aru, who seized the third stage win on the Tour tana team. ducing the gap with the the grass between lorries
race lead from Froome by as “an immense joy.” “Clearly, it won’t be easy breakaways. and camping caravans.
six seconds. Bardet is third He said he had visited the to defend it. Sky stepped up the tempo It was nothing more than
overall, 25 seconds off the ski station with his parents There are still nine more in the first really difficult as- a scare for Froome, who
pace. to scout out the final climb. stages, we’ll do our best.” cent, the Col de Mente, had three teammates
Team Sky had dominated “I knew it could suit me,” The final of the six ascents where Spanish great Luis by his side to tackle the
the stage until the final 350 he said. on the menu of the 214.5 Ocana crashed out in a two final climbs, the Pey-
meters, when Aru made “I was patient. kilometers (133 miles) downhill section in 1971 resourde and the Peyra-
his move. I made the difference on stage between Pau and while wearing the yellow gudes ascent.
Froome was only able to the final hill. There was not the ski station was too dif- jersey. Nairo Quintana was
follow his Italian rival for much to do before that ficult for Froome, who had The twisting and punish- dropped in the Peyre-
a few meters before he with the wind and the Sky worn the yellow jersey over ing Port de Bales, a nar- sourde and, with no team-
cracked, and crossed the train.” the previous seven stages. row, 11.7-kilometer climb mate to bring him back,
line in seventh place, 22 Aru had trailed Froome by He was grimacing with the at an average gradient saw his hopes of winning
seconds behind Bardet. 18 seconds at the start of effort, his arms glistening of 7.7 percent - rated as the Tour vanish.
Bidding to become the the stage. with sweat, as he wrestled ‘beyond a category’ be- Cummings was then
first Frenchman to win the “It’s one of the most beau- his bike up the super-steep cause of its difficulty - took caught with 8 kilometers
Tour since Bernard Hinault tiful things that can hap- climb that was used a lo- a heavy toll on the lead left, lining up a dramatic
in 1985, Bardet was the pen to you in life, wearing cation for the 1997 James riders. finale.q

Ajax player Nouri has severe and permanent brain damage

By ERIC WILLEMSEN soon to the Netherlands for “This is the worst possible
Associated Press further treatment at a hos- message. It’s terrible,” Ajax
VIENNA (AP) — Ajax mid- pital in Amsterdam. director Edwin van der Sar
fielder Abdelhak Nouri has The diagnosis came two said. “It’s been a real shock
been diagnosed with se- days after tests indicated to Ajax even though we
vere and permanent brain that Nouri’s heart was un- knew this was a possible
damage, five days after damaged while a CT scan scenario.”
he collapsed due to an ir- of his brain and initial neu- Nouri made his debut for
regular heartbeat during a rological tests showed no Ajax in September 2016
friendly game in Austria. irregularities either. Doctors and played 15 games. He
Dutch club Ajax said Thurs- were “cautiously optimistic was part of the squad for
day on Twitter that it “re- about his recovery,” Ajax the Europa League final
ceived very bad news” re- said at that time. in Stockholm in May when
garding Nouri’s condition, The 20-year-old Dutchman Ajax lost 2-0 to Manchester
after doctors at a hospital collapsed and was taken United, but did not play.
in Innsbruck, Austria woke to hospital by helicopter He also remained part of
the player from an induced with Ajax trailing Werder the club’s youth team in
coma. Bremen 2-1 in Saturday’s the Dutch second division, This is a Tuesday, May 23, 2017 file photo of Ajax’s Abdelhak
The club added that “re- preseason friendly. The where he was voted best Nouri as he kicks a ball during a training session at the Friends
covery chances of these game in Zillertal in the Aus- player of last season af- Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
crucial brain functions are trian Alps was abandoned ter scoring 10 goals in 26 Associated Press
nil.” after the 70th-minute inci- matches. great talent,” Van der Sar never know how far his star
Nouri is expected to return dent. “Abdelhak was such a said. “Unfortunately we’ll would have risen.”q