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Nibali takes fourth Tour stage

July 24, 2014

Vincenzo Nibali has won a fourth stage of the 2014 Tour de France. On Wednesday, the Italian had said that he was now racing himself - and he proved it Thursday on the 18th stage from Pau to Hautacam.

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Tour de France 18th stage
Image: Reuters

On Thursday, Italy's Vincenzo Nibali finished the 2014 Tour de France's 144.5-kilometer (89.6-mile) stage in 4 hours, 4 minutes and 17 seconds. The Astana rider raced up the 13.6-kilometer non-categorized climb to the finish.

"On the last climb I possibly went too soon but I was in good shape," Nibali said Thursday after winning his fourth Tour stage. "The pace had been fast because I didn't want to let the breakaway get too far ahead. It was really important for me to win this prestigious stage on the Hautacam. I'm really happy I did it and I dedicate it to my team because they worked so hard for me."

The second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers - respectively, France's Thibaut Pinot, Poland's 17th-stage winner Rafael Majka, France's Jean-Christophe Peraud and the American Tejay Van Garderen - nipped each other's heels, but only ate Nibali's dust, crossing 4:5.27, 4:5.29, 4:5.32 and 4:5.32 behind the 2014 Tour's overall leader.

Riding for Team NetApp-Endura, Germany's Paul Voss finished the stage in 4 hours, 25 minutes and 21 seconds, beating out France's Kevin Reza and Tony Gallopin, who came in together at 4:25.25, to claim a solid 66th place in the stage. Though German riders had enjoyed some early successes, they appeared to have been all but eliminated as the Tour draws towards its conclusion.

With a cumulative time of 80 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds, Nibali holds a strong advantage over the clustered Frenchmen Thibaut Pinot and Jean-Christophe Peraud and Spain's Alejandro Valverde, respectively 7:10, 7:23 and 7:25 behind.

'A healthy advantage'

Seemingly the only danger to Nibali came not from his rivals but from spectators. On the climb, he hit a woman who stepped out in front of him to try to take a picture. Though Nibali's shoulder clipped her arm, he continued riding toward victory unharmed.

"I caught her but it wasn't too bad," Nibali said Thursday. "But this is the Tour de France: It goes very fast, and people have to be careful because this can be very dangerous - for her as well as me. This happened on a climb but it could have happened on a descent where we go much faster."

With only three runs left before the finish and the Tour as good as won, Nibali added: "I'm very happy with this stage win and certainly I've accumulated a healthy advantage so I can remain calm for the next stages and Saturday's timetrial."

mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP, AP)