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A23
SPORTS Tuesday 23 July 2019

Tantalizingly poised Tour de France saving its best for last

By JOHN LEICESTER and back, and then extending
SAMUEL PETREQUIN his race lead in weeks one
AP Sports Writers and two.
NIMES, France (AP) — A Having built up a lead of
Tour de France jam-packed 2 minutes, 2 seconds over
with unexpected plot twists Thomas at the top of the
is saving its biggest surprise Tourmalet, the first of seven
for last. climbs to above 2,000 me-
With six riders within reach ters (6,500 feet) at this Tour,
of the podium heading into Alaphilippe then cracked
the toughest final stages in Sunday on the last ascent
the Alps, the race that re- in the Pyrenees. His lead
sumes Tuesday after the shrank to 1:35 and, most
final off-day is tantalizingly importantly, his ride ap-
poised. Furious racing over peared to signal that the
the first 2,500 kilometers even harder climbs to
(1,500 miles) through Bel- come in the Alps, where
gium and France and the what remains of his lead
uncertain outcome ahead could quickly melt away
of the grand finale in Paris if he can’t stay with the
are conspiring to deliver pace, might be beyond his
the most engrossing Tour in limit. Another big unknown
recent memory. France’s Thibaut Pinot, left, Colombia’s Egan Bernal wearing the best young rider’s white jersey, is whether uncharacteristic
Like a summer rain, the sus- and France’s Julian Alaphilippe wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey climb Prat d’Albis signs of weakness at Ineos,
pense of still not knowing during the fifteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 185 kilometers (114,95 miles) with Thomas off-color on
who will win with just six of with start in Limoux and finish in Prat d’Albis, France, Sunday, July 21, 2019. the Tourmalet and his usu-
the 21 stages remaining is Associated Press ally solid teammates not
exquisitely refreshing for cy- Either one of Geraint as romance and the ba- where riders often lose min- setting a punishing pace
cling’s greatest race after Thomas, Ineos’ struggling guette. But Thomas’ Co- utes when they wilt on big up climbs, were just blips or
years of implacable domi- defending champion, or lombian teammate Egan climbs — separate Thomas, perhaps some sort of dev-
nation by the uber-rich, su- Thibaut Pinot, the French Bernal or dark horses Ste- in second place overall, ilish rope-a-dope strategy
per-calculating British Ineos climber who rebounded ven Kruijswijk from the Neth- from Buchmann, in sixth. cooked up by Brailsford
team, formerly Sky. in the Pyrenees from what erlands and German rider Kruijswijk is third, Pinot fourth that, in the Alps, will see
“Nobody is really controlling had seemed a decisive loss Emanuel Buchmann could and Bernal fifth. the team return to its can’t-
the race as such. It’s way of time on the flat before put French champagne Missing from this script, of catch-us best. Thomas talk-
more exciting but it’s more the mountains, could still back on ice. Making few course, is the yellow jersey ed a big game on the rest
like chess in another sense. ride up the Champs-Elysees waves and avoiding the himself, France’s sweet- day, saying he hopes for an
It’s brilliant fun,” Ineos team in the iconic yellow jersey misfortunes, mistakes and heart Julian Alaphilippe. Alpine scrap with Pinot.
boss Dave Brailsford said on on Sunday. big off-color days that sank His punchy, unpredictable “I’d love it, I’d relish it. Bring
Monday’s rest day. “We’ve A Pinot victory would trig- other riders’ title hopes, style has endeared him to it on,” he said. “The main
sat here on the second ger delirium across France, they’re very much in the fans bored with the by-the- thing is going into the Alps
day of a Grand Tour so which has had no home- podium picture. But their numbers wins that Sky, now I feel motivated to try and
many times and people grown champion to cele- stealthy consistency could Ineos, secured with Bradley finish this Tour off well. It’s
say we’ve closed the race brate since Bernard Hinault hit its limits in the Alps, Wiggins in 2012, four-time been a slightly up and
down and it’s not been ex- in 1985 and suffered the in- where conservative riding winner Chris Froome and, down race compared to
citing. That’s not been the dignity of many years when might not be enough to last year, with Thomas. last year but the main thing
case this time. It’s fun to Lance Armstrong and other win if Pinot and others at- But in the Pyrenees, Ala- is I finish strong and I’m itch-
be involved in one of most dopers hijacked the race tack, as expected. philippe started to pay for ing to go a lot better.”
exciting editions in a long that is as much part of the Just 39 seconds — practi- the energies he expended But the talking that counts
time.” French national identity cally nothing in cycling, in taking, losing, getting will be done on the road.q

Olympic robots offer ‘virtual’ attendance, help out on field

By YURI KAGEYAMA porters for release Monday. transportation to another
AP Business Writer The mascot robots have dimension. It’s a moving
TOKYO (AP) — A cart-like moving limbs and its eyes human-size display de-
robot scuttles across the change to the image of signed to represent people
field to bring back javelins stars and hearts. It cannot who can’t be there.Think
and discuses. A towering speak at all or walk very a faraway grandma at a
screen-on-wheels is de- well. child’s birthday party or a
signed for “virtual” atten- But the engineer in charge, legendary athlete not able
dance. The cute ones are, Tomohisa Moridaira, sug- to attend but “virtually”
naturally, the likeness of the gested various possibilities, taking part in Olympic fes-
Olympic and Paralympic such as getting the robot tivities.
mascots. to hold the Olympic torch Like all the world’s major
Japanese automaker Toy- using magnets. automakers, Toyota uses
ota Motor Corp., a major The T-TR1, developed by robotics in production
Olympic sponsor, is ready- Toyota’s robotics institute in plants. But it has also de-
ing various robots for next the U.S., highlights “virtual signed human-like robots, In this Thursday, July 18, 2019, photo, a “field support robot”
is demonstrated before the media at Toyota Motor Corp.
year’s Tokyo Olympics. The mobility,” taking the auto- including those that play headquarters in Tokyo.
robots were shown to re- maker’s usual business of musical instruments.q Associated Press