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SPORTS Friday 14 July 2023

Ion Izagirre soloes to victory in lively Tour de France stage as

Vingegaard keeps overall lead

BELLEVILLE-EN-BEAUJOLAIS, mammoth climb in the Jura
France (AP) — Ion Izagirre which concludes the 13th
emerged victorious from stage.
an absorbing mid-moun- It took a long time for the
tain Tour de France stage break to form on a route
which started with a flurry with constant ups and
of attacks that lasted to the downs, after a high-speed
end on Thursday. crash involving David De La
The Cofidis rider posted his Cruz and Quentin Pacher
second career Tour stage split the peloton in two. The
win in the 12th stage. Spanish rider abandoned,
The 169-kilometer (105-mile) joining his Astana-Qaza-
stage took riders across the qstan teammates Luis Leon
Beaujolais vineyards on a Sanchez and Mark Caven-
route with two big climbs in dish on the list of withdraw-
the second half of the trek. als.
The first two hours of racing Pogacar and Vingegaard
were furious, with several rode at the front and were
dozen riders dropped over among the most attack-
the first 25 kilometers. ing of the leading group
Izagirre attacked from a alongside the fiery Mathieu
group of strong and expe- van der Poel and Wout van
rienced breakaway riders Aert.
in the final climb the brutal Spain’s Ion Izagirre celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the twelfth stage of the Tour de Dylan Teuns and Tiesj Ben-
ascent of the 5.3-kilome- France cycling race over 169 kilometers (105 miles) with start in Roanne and finish in Belleville-en- oot finally managed to go
Beaujolais, France, Thursday, July 13, 2023.
ter Col de la Croix Rosier. Associated Press clear after 65 kilometers as
Tucked in an aerodynam- the leading pack entered
ic position, the Basque I earned enough lead, my from the Spanish town of tion. Jonas Vingegaard the Beaujolais wine region.
rider took all the risks in adversaries wouldn’t have Bilbao this year. kept his 17-second lead The pace did not slow
the downhill, then used me in sight and it would Mathieu Burgaudeau was over two-time champion down and riders were scat-
his strong time trial skills to play in my favor.” second in the stage, and Tadej Pogacar after the tered everywhere.
thwart his rivals’ chase after It was also the second Matteo Jorgenson com- rivals remained together The Belgian pair was joined
a tremendous 31-kilometer stage win for a Basque rider pleted the podium. throughout the day. Jai by a dozen rivals as the at-
solo effort. after Pello Bilbao claimed Izagirre’s previous Tour win Hindley remained in third tackers finally managed to
“It’s incredible. For the Stage 10. was in 2016 in the Alpine place, lagging 2 minutes, open a decent gap. The
whole Tour so far I tried to “It’s a very Basque Tour de town of Morzine. He’s also 40 seconds off the pace. breakaway included one-
break away and it didn’t France. It started at home won stages at the Giro The fight for the yellow jer- day classic specialists, giv-
work out but today, yes,” for us and we took two d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta. sey is expected to resume ing it a great chance to
he said. “I was confident in stage wins,” said Izagirre, in There were no major chang- on Friday on the ascent of succeed.q
my strength. I knew that if reference to the Tour start es in the general classifica- the Grand Colombier, a

Olympic gymnastics champion Gabby Douglas says she is aiming

for the 2024 Paris Games

By WILL GRAVES grateful and excited to get las also posted video of Douglas is the second the U.S. Classic. She had
AP Sports Writer back out on the floor.” herself practicing uneven Olympic champion in re- not done that as of Thurs-
Gabby Douglas, the first The now 27-year-old Doug- bars, her signature event. cent weeks to say they are day afternoon but still has
Black woman to win the pointing toward Paris. ample time to do so. There
Olympic all-around gym- Simone Biles, who won the is no petition deadline for
nastics title, is taking aim at all-around gold in Rio and the event, set for Saturday,
the 2024 Games in Paris. was teammates with Doug- Aug. 5 at NOW Arena in the
Douglas announced on her las on the five-woman U.S. Chicago suburbs. Douglas
Instagram page Thursday squad that cruised to the became one of the faces
that she is making a come- team gold in Brazil, is return- of the 2012 Olympics after
back attempt, a dozen ing to competition at the her brilliant performance in
years after her triumph in U.S. Classic in Chicago in the all-around final helped
London in 2012 and eight early August. her become the third
years after her last compe- Douglas has yet to outline a straight American woman
tition, the 2016 Olympics in timeline for when she might to claim the biggest title in
Rio de Janeiro. be ready to join what will her sport. She became a
“I wanted to find the joy be a very crowded field crossover star in the after-
again for the sport that to make what could be a math, winning AP Female
I absolutely love doing,” U.S. gymnasts and gold medallists, Simone Biles, left and Gabby loaded American team un- Athlete of the Year in 2012,
Douglas posted. “I know I Douglas celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony der the rings next summer. writing her autobiography
for the artistic gymnastics women’s team at the 2016 Summer
have a huge task ahead Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Douglas could petition USA and having her life story
of me and I am beyond Associated Press Gymnastics for a spot at turned into a TV movie.q