Page 23 - ARUBA TODAY

A23
SPORTS Wednesday 25 July 2018

Tour de France chaos: farmers' protest, tear gas and crashes

By ANDREW DAMPF and other riders were treat- Belgian rider Philippe Gil-
AP Sports Writer ed with eye drops due to bert was leading when he
BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, the tear gas amid a 15-min- crashed earlier in the stage
France (AP) — Tear gas in ute delay. while descending from the
riders' eyes. A farmers' pro- "I just felt my throat and Col de Portet-d'Aspet, hit-
test blocking the road. Two nose were burning, eyes ting a wall and flipping off
key crashes on dangerous were burning afterward," his bike spectacularly but
descents. Froome said. "But I think avoiding major injury. It was
The only thing lacking from quite a lot of riders were in the same descent where
the wild 16th stage of the a similar situation. Italian rider Fabio Casartelli
Tour de France on Tuesday "Thankfully the effect didn't died during the 1995 Tour.
was a shakeup in the over- last long," Froome added. "I thought I was broken ev-
all standings. "It was just a temporary erywhere," said Gilbert, a
Frenchman Julian Ala- thing with stinging and teammate of Alaphilippe's
philippe took advantage burning." on the Quick-Step team.
of his downhill skills to win It was the latest in a series of "But I ended up more or less
the first of three mountain- incidents involving specta- France's Julian Alaphilippe, center, and Austria's Gregor OK."
ous legs in the Pyrenees, tors during this year's race, Muehlberger climb Portet d'Aspet pass during the sixteenth Alaphilippe also won the
stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 218 kilometers
which was briefly interrupt- with Team Sky riders being (135.5 miles) with start in Carcassonne and finish in Bagneres- 10th stage and is wearing
ed when police used tear pushed and spat on and de-Luchon, France, , Tuesday, July 24, 2018. the polka-dot jersey of the
gas to disperse a farmers' 2014 champion Vincenzo Associated Press mountains classification
protest that had blocked Nibali having his back bro- leader.
the road with bales of hay. ken in a crash when a fan The small group of farmers 39 seconds ahead of four- Yates led Alaphilippe by 20
The overall standings were caught their camera strap from the Aude department time champion Froome, seconds at the top of the
unchanged. Geraint Thom- on his handlebars. were protesting a planned with Dumoulin 1:50 back. Col du Portillon climb 10 ki-
as in the yellow jersey, sec- "We feel safe. Obviously reduction of European Alaphilippe took the lead lometers from the finish but
ond-placed Chris Froome on some of the climbs not Union funding, according when Adam Yates crashed lost control with 6K to go,
and third-placed Tom Du- everyone's our fans but to French authorities. on a technical descent in falling to the pavement on
moulin all crossed together we don't feel threatened," "We are not going to lock the finale. a left turn and sliding across
nearly nine minutes behind. Thomas said. "It's hard in the riders in a stadium or a "I knew the finale was the road.
The farmers' protest oc- cycling when you're just tennis court," Tour director tricky," Alaphilippe said. "I "You never know what's
curred 30 kilometers into on the open road. It's not Christian Prudhomme said. was sad for (Yates) but it coming up on some of
the 218-kilometer (135.5- like football or something. "People should not block could have happened to these corners," Yates said.
mile) leg from Carcassonne Everyone's doing the best the road, no matter what me, too, because I took a "There was a bit of down-
to Bagneres-de-Luchon. they can and hopefully causes they are fighting lot of risks. ... I went all out force or something and I
Thomas, Froome, world everyone can just behave for." for 220 kilometers today. I'm came down, that's all there
champion Peter Sagan and let us race." Thomas remained 1 minute, exhausted." is to it.q

Capitals bring back Brooks Orpik,

a leader on Stanley Cup title team

By STEPHEN WHYNO space to re-sign defense- nization," MacLellan said.
AP Hockey Writer men John Carlson and Mi- "We feel his leadership and
Brooks Orpik is returning to chal Kempny and forward competitiveness on and off
the Washington Capitals Devante Smith-Pelly . In the ice will be welcomed
not long after the Stanley buying out the final year back to our group."
Cup champions traded of his contract worth $4.5 With Orpik returning, the
him, and it's as if he never million, Colorado will pay Capitals should have 18 of
left. him $1.5 million in each of the 19 players back who
The Capitals on Tuesday the next two seasons, so played in the Cup-clinch- In this June 3, 2018, file photo, Washington Capitals defenseman
signed the veteran defen- Orpik can break even if he ing Game 5 against the Ve- Brooks Orpik speaks to the media at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in
seman to a $1 million, one- achieves the bonuses in his gas Golden Knights, once Arlington, Va.
year deal with $500,000 new deal. When informed they re-sign restricted free Associated Press
in performance bonuses. Avalanche GM Joe Sakic agent forward Tom Wilson.
General manager Brian was considering buying out Only fourth-line center Jay ting a deal done with Orpik — Orpik was one of the
MacLellan's announce- Orpik, MacLellan said right Beagle, who signed a $12 keeps much of the cham- most respected players in
ment of Orpik's new con- away the Capitals were million, four-year deal with pionship band together. the locker room. Assuming
tract came exactly a interested. The 37-year-old Vancouver, is gone from Orpik was the third player he stays healthy, the vet-
month after the Colorado was an important leader that group. to lift the Cup after captain eran of 982 regular-season
Avalanche bought him out for the Capitals the past The more continuity the Alex Ovechkin and fellow games will get to play his
of the final year of his old four seasons and scored better is the Capitals' phi- alternate Nicklas Back- 1,000th in a Capitals uni-
one. the winning goal in Game losophy this offseason, strom. Before the Capitals form this season.
Washington traded Orpik 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. even after coach Barry won, he was the only play- Over his career with the
and backup goaltender "Brooks has been a valu- Trotz resigned and joined er on the team with a Cup Pittsburgh Penguins and
Philipp Grubauer to the able player and a great the New York Islanders. Ma- ring. Capitals, Orpik has aver-
Avalanche for a second- mentor for our young play- cLellan promoted associ- Nicknamed by his Rus- aged almost 20 minutes a
round pick at the NHL draft ers, and we are thrilled to ated coach Todd Reirden sian teammates "Batya" — game and totaled 16 goals
in June to clear salary-cap bring him back to our orga- to replace Trotz, and get- which translates to "dad" and 169 assists.q