Trentin triumphs in the Tour
July 11, 2014
Matteo Trentin (right in picture) broke the German sprinters' stranglehold on the Tour de France on Friday, claiming the seventh stage in a dramatic charge with Slovakian rider Peter Sagan (left). Sagan's having an impressive Tour to date, three times a stage runner-up and also placed third in the overall standings. French rider Tony Gallopin came in third on Friday.
German sprint specialists had claimed four of the six stages heading into Friday, with Marcel Kittel winning three and Andre Greipel victorious in Thursday's run to Reims.
The overall leader remains Italian Astana rider Vincenzo Nibali, who claimed the yellow jersey with a second stage victory and has held onto it ever since. Nibali was among the lead peloton at Friday's finish, maintaining his 2-second advantage over Danish teammate Jakob Fugslang.
Friday's 234.5-kilometer (145.7-mile) run from Epernay to Nancy was the second-longest planned for this year's Tour. The latter stages of the race were a cramped affair on narrow roads, with riders sometimes even leaving the tarmac to try to overtake on a rough side-path. US riders Tejay van Garderen and Andrew Talansky were both involved in crashes. Van Garderen lost around a minute as part of a big tumble involving teammate Darwin Atapum, who later withdrew from the event. Talansky's more minor fall took place in the home stretch, meaning he was still credited with the same time as the bunch.
Stage 8 of the Tour de France is a 161-kilometer run from Tomblaine to the Alpine ski resort Gerardmer La Mauselaine. Though much shorter than Friday's stage, it's likely to take its toll, a steep climb marking the start of a mountainous final 25 kilometers.
msh/lw (AFP, dpa, Reuters, SID)