Sports News | Tour Riders Cleared of Virus, Bennett Wins Stage 10
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Tour de France riders passed coronavirus tests to confirm their good health only to endure numerous crashes along the Atlantic coastline when the race resumed on Tuesday.
Ile De Re (France), Sep 8 (AP) Tour de France riders passed coronavirus tests to confirm their good health only to endure numerous crashes along the Atlantic coastline when the race resumed on Tuesday.
Sprinter Sam Bennett prevailed ahead of Caleb Ewan to post his maiden Tour stage win, while Primoz Roglic avoided the many crashes that punctuated the 168.5-kilometer (105-mile) route from Ile d'Oleron to Ile de Re by keeping the yellow jersey after Stage 10.
Roglic maintained a 21-second lead over defending champion Egan Bernal. Frenchman Guillaume Martin was in third place, 28 seconds off the pace.
After the first rest day included 841 tests of all 166 riders and team staff, every rider was cleared to start Stage 10.
But Tour director Christian Prudhomme was forced to abandon the race after testing positive for the virus. Also, four staff members from four different teams also failed the test and were dropped from the race bubble.
Under sunny skies in western France, Stefan Küng and Michael Schar made an early break but were kept on a leash.
On flat roads exposed to winds, the main teams rode at full speed at the front of the pack to avoid getting caught in crosswinds, limiting the gap to less than two minutes.
The nervousness in the pack was detrimental to several riders including Robert Gesink and Nicolas Roche, who hit the tarmac at more than 55 kph with about 100 kilometers left.
The crash split the bunch and the pair of breakaway riders was swallowed soon after.
Another big pileup involving Martin and Slovenian hopeful Tadej Pogacar occurred in the town of Rochefort after a rider apparently hit a median strip and fell.
Both men rejoined the peloton after Martin received a new bike and was escorted back by three teammates. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)