Tour de France: Colombia s Gaviria wins stage 1
Saturday - July 7, 2018 8:44 pm ,
Category : SPORTS
Tour de France: Colombia s Gaviria wins stage 1
Fontenay-le-Compte (France) July 7 (IANS) Colombian cyclist Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step) clinched the yellow jersey on Saturday with a victory in the action-packed inaugural stage of this year s 105th edition of the Tour de France road race.
Separate issues hindered two of the Tour s favorites; Chris Froome of Britain (Team Sky) fell 51 seconds behind the leader after a crash while Nairo Quintana of Colombia (Movistar) dropped one minute and 12 seconds back after suffering a punctured tire just three kilometers shy of the finish reports Efe.
The first stage featured a flat 201-kilometer (155 mile) ride down the Atlantic coast of the Pays de la Loire from Noirmoutier-en-l Ile to Fontenay-le-Comte.
Making his Tour debut Gaviria completed the stage in four hours 23 minutes and 32 seconds a time shared by all the top 10 finishers in the opening stage including Slovakia s Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) Germany s Marcel Kittel (Team Katusha Alpecin) and Norway s Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).
"This is incredible it s a jersey that everyone wants to have and to get it today is indescribable and we re really happy to wear it " Gaviria told the Tour s in-house media company fresh off the race.
The Colombian managed to keep a cool head during a last 10 km marked by a series of crashes including one that brought the rear end of the peloton to a messy halt as riders scrambled to get back on their bicycles.
Earlier in the race a fall left United States rider Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac) with a bloodied cheek that required medical attention.
Stage 2 will set the riders on a 182.5 km course from Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-sur-Yon.
--IANS pur/vm
Separate issues hindered two of the Tour s favorites; Chris Froome of Britain (Team Sky) fell 51 seconds behind the leader after a crash while Nairo Quintana of Colombia (Movistar) dropped one minute and 12 seconds back after suffering a punctured tire just three kilometers shy of the finish reports Efe.
The first stage featured a flat 201-kilometer (155 mile) ride down the Atlantic coast of the Pays de la Loire from Noirmoutier-en-l Ile to Fontenay-le-Comte.
Making his Tour debut Gaviria completed the stage in four hours 23 minutes and 32 seconds a time shared by all the top 10 finishers in the opening stage including Slovakia s Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) Germany s Marcel Kittel (Team Katusha Alpecin) and Norway s Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).
"This is incredible it s a jersey that everyone wants to have and to get it today is indescribable and we re really happy to wear it " Gaviria told the Tour s in-house media company fresh off the race.
The Colombian managed to keep a cool head during a last 10 km marked by a series of crashes including one that brought the rear end of the peloton to a messy halt as riders scrambled to get back on their bicycles.
Earlier in the race a fall left United States rider Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac) with a bloodied cheek that required medical attention.
Stage 2 will set the riders on a 182.5 km course from Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-sur-Yon.
--IANS pur/vm
