Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Tuesday 16 July 2019
Thomas blowing in the wind at Tour de France

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and Christian Prudhomme was
JOHN LEICESTER almost as disappointed.
AP Sports Writers "He was ideally placed in
ALBI, France (AP) — Geraint the Tour and to be trapped
Thomas and his teammates like that in the last 35 kilo-
don't need a mountain to meters of the stage before
deliver a hammer blow on the rest day is sad for him,"
their rivals at the Tour de he said. "It's a lot of time
France. lost."
They can do it on the flat, The peloton split into three
too. With a little help from groups on a long but
the wind. narrow section of road
The defending champion opened to the wind when
was the big winner of a cha- Alaphilippe's Deceuninck
otic Stage 10 in southern Quick Step teammates
France on Monday when sped up the pace at the
French rival Thibaut Pinot front to close the gap to six
and other title contenders breakaway riders. The fugi-
were caught napping by a tives were reeled in with 25
treacherous combination kilometers (15 miles) left be-
of winds and narrow roads. fore Thomas and Co., work-
Unable to all ride at the ing well with Alaphilippe's
front, Pinot and other riders Belgium's Wout Van Aert, center, sprints to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race team, pushed harder in an
got left behind when the over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, impressive display of col-
winds first stretched and 2019. lective strength.
then shattered the peloton Associated Press "It's not only in the moun-
into groups over 35 frantic tains where you can gain
final kilometers (20 miles) of onds behind Thomas. finish line.'" four seconds further back. time, we have a strong
a 217.5-kilometer (135-mile) "At the start we said at Tour de France rookie Wout After a flawless start to team for days like today,
trek from Saint-Flour to Albi some point this race is go- Van Aert won the stage the race, it was Pinot's first too, and that's what we
in south-central France. ing to split," explained Luke with a sprint to the line. But mistake, and a big one. showed," Thomas' team-
Perfectly positioned at the Rowe, one of Thomas' Thomas was the headline Looking to become the mate Dylan van Baarle,
front when the pack took teammates. "We were all act. first Frenchman to win the said. Enjoying another day
different routes around a over it with numbers at the "I couldn't think of anything race since Bernard Hinault in yellow, Alaphilippe said
traffic circle, triggering the front." better," Thomas said. "It's in 1985, he dropped from he and his teammates
first split, Thomas and his Once opened, the gap especially good on a day third to 11th overall, 2:33 were thinking about plac-
Ineos teammates put ped- increased speedily, with like today when you never behind Alaphilipple and ing Elia Viviani for the finish-
al to the metal to make yellow jersey-holder Julian expect it. It was just a posi- 1:21 behind Thomas, per- line sprint when they ac-
the gap on Pinot and other Alaphilippe and Ineos rid- tioning error from them and haps not fatal to his Tour celerated, not deliberately
contenders caught behind ers setting a frenetic tempo they lose a minute and a but a huge setback. trying to hurt Pinot.
as big as possible. until the end. half. That's how it goes." Pinot used an expletive to "We didn't plan to split the
The bill for the French po- "We were straight on the Ahead of big Pyrenean describe his day. bunch. We only expected
dium finisher in 2104, as well front foot, we knew it was stages this week, Thomas "What do you want me to the stage to be nervous
as Rigoberto Uran, Jakob on us to drive it to the line," vaulted to second place say? There's nothing to say," and tricky. Our intention
Fuglsang, and Richie Porte Rowe said. "I was saying to overall, 1:12 behind Ala- he said, looking absolutely was only to protect my yel-
was costly. They rode in a the guys, 'This is a TTT (team philippe, with teammate disgusted. low jersey and to focus on
whopping 1 minute, 40 sec- time trial) all the way to the Egan Bernal in third place, Tour de France director a sprint," he said. q

Ruidíaz, Shipp score in

Seattle's 2-1 win over Atlanta

and tapped it to Nicolás Gonzalo Martínez to tie it for the Red Bulls, including
Lodeiro, whose though in the 65th. Josef Martínez a diving stop on Keaton
pass led Morris toward the has eight goals in his last Parks' shot in the 27th min-
end line. Morris chipped a five starts and 13 overall. ute.
first-timer to Shipp for the Atlanta (9-8-3) is winless in Royer headed home an
finish from the corner of the its last three games. entry by Cristian Cásseres
6-yard box. Seattle (10-5-5) is unbeat- Jr. to give the Red Bulls (9-
Seattle Sounders forward Raul Ruidiaz, left, scores on Atlanta Ruidíaz chest-trapped a en at home this season 7-4) a 2-1 lead in the 60th
goal keeper Brad Guzan, right, during the second half of an
MLS soccer match Sunday, July 14, 2019, in Seattle. pass from Cristian Roldan, and has won three of its minute. Marc Rzatkowski,
Associated Press beat one defender and last four overall. along the right end line,
lobbed it over another be- RED BULLS 2, NEW YORK cut back to evade a de-
By The Associated Press Shipp bounced a header fore finishing with a volley CITY FC 1 fender and dropped it to
SEATTLE (AP) — Raúl Ruid- into the net to break a from the center of the area HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Cásseres for a one-touch
íaz and Harry Shipp scored 1-1 tie in the 71st minute. to make open the scoring Daniel Royer scored twice cross to Royer for the side-
to help the Seattle Sound- Jordan Morris stole a pass in the 58th minute. in the New York's victory netter.
ers beat Atlanta United 2-1 from Leandro González Josef Martínez headed over New York City FC. Héber Araujo dos Santos
on Sunday. Pirez in the attacking half home a corner kick from Luis Robles had four saves scored for NYCFC (7-3-8).q