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SPORTS Wednesday 19 July 2017

Matthews wins Stage 16 in Tour, Froome keeps yellow jersey

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and off the pace. final 14.1-kilometer ascent
JOHN LEICESTER At some point, it looked like to the top of the mountain,
ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, France Bardet was going to be left at an altitude of 2,360 me-
(AP) — Ahead of two gru- behind but he was helped ters.
eling Alpine stages likely to back in the leading group “I’m looking forward to the
decide the outcome of the by Oliver Naesen. Austra- Alps,” Froome said.
104th Tour de France, Chris lian Michael Matthews won Three days after his vic-
Froome and his teammates the stage in a sprint to the tory in Rodez, Matthews re-
have sent a clear message line. duced the gap with green
to their rivals with another With the race now in mon- jersey holder Marcel Kit-
impressive display of col- ey time, with stages set to tel to 29 points in the best
lective strength. decide the final podium, sprinter’s classification with
Amid heavy crosswinds Froome went straight to the his second stage win.
that played havoc in the point with his aggressive He made the most of a
finale of Tuesday’s 165-kilo- racing. slightly uphill section 500
meter (102.5-mile) Stage 16 He appears in great shape ``Australia’s Michael Matthews, left, crosses the finish line to win meters from the line and
between Le Puy-en-Velay and has the best team sur- the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 165 accelerated after Greg
to Romans-en-Isere, Team rounding him in his bid to kilometers (102.5 miles) with start in Le Puy-en-Velay and finish Van Avermaet launched
Sky riders tried to unsettle win a fourth Tour title. in Romans-sur-Isere, France,, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Norway’s the sprint. Matthews then
their opponents by setting “Everyone knew it was go- Edvald Boasson Hagen, right, finished second. resisted Edvald Boasson Ha-
a frenetic tempo that split ing to split at some point,” Associated Press gen’s late surge to prevail
the pack like a jigsaw puz- said Froome. quartet, 29 seconds off the way I’m feeling now.” by a wheel’s length. John
zle. “For us it was more about pace. The battle for the yellow jer- Degenkolb completed the
After relentless work from just being on the right side Landa, who has been im- sey will resume on Wednes- podium.
Vasil Kiryienka and Michal of it. Knowing it was going pressive since the start of day during the first of two Tempers frayed after the
Kwiatkowski, only 22 rid- to kick off on that open sec- the Tour despite dedicating Alpine stages in high alti- stage. Matthews claimed
ers including Froome and tion in the last 20 kilometers himself to Froome, moved tude. It will lead riders to Degenkolb grabbed him
teammate Mikel Landa to go, the guys committed back to fifth overall, 1 min- the ski station of Serre Che- by the neck out of frustra-
managed to stay in the re- to that and we saw the ute, 17 seconds back. valier through a grueling tion and accused him of
duced bunch at the front. gaps opening out straight “Myself and Mikel Landa 183-kilometer trek featur- going into his line during
Also among them were away.” are feeling great,” said ing four climbs, including a the sprint.
Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet Froome, the defending Froome. “The next two days nearly 12-kilometer ascent “I did a clean sprint, I did
and Rigoberto Uran, who champion, has an 18-sec- are the biggest consecu- to the Col du Galibier, one not change my line,” Mat-
avoided the trap. But Dan ond overall lead over Aru, tive days in this year’s Tour of the Tour’s most fearsome thews said. “After the fin-
Martin lost 51 seconds after with Romain Bardet 23 sec- de France. And the goal of and famed climbs. ish, I was waiting for the
getting caught in a split in onds back in third place. my preparation for the Tour Next will be the daunt- results, he came past and
the finale. He dropped to Colombian Rigoberto Uran de France was to head into ing Stage 18 to the Col grabbed my neck. It was
seventh place overall, 2:03 completes the leading the third week feeling the d’Izoard , which features a not very sportsmanlike.”q

U.S. Open singles champs

to earn record $3.7 million

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — ka and Angelique Kerber
Total player compensation — earned $3.5 million.
at the U.S. Open will top Runners-up will get $1.825
$50 million for the first time million, up from $1.75 mil-
this year, with a record $3.7 lion.
million going to each of the Both the men’s and wom-
singles champions. en’s doubles champions
The U.S. Tennis Associa- will earn $675,000, the high-
tion announced Tuesday est in U.S. Open history. A
that the total purse for the player who loses in the first
tournament will be $50.4 round of singles at Queens’
million, a nearly 9 percent Flushing Meadows will
increase from last year. The make $50,000, an increase
previous winners of the final of $6,700.
Grand Slam tournament of The U.S. Open starts on At left, in a Sept. 10, 2016, file photo, Angelique Kerber, of Germany. At right, in a Sept. 11, 2016,
the season — Stan Wawrin- Aug. 28.q file photo, Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, in New York.
Associated Press