Australia's Rogers Wins 16Th Stage Of Tour De France

The Australian rider Michael Rogers has won the 16th stage of the Tour de France. Vincenzo Nibali retained the yellow jersey as the overall leader.



Rogers pulled off from a five-man breakaway group to win the 237.5-kilometer (147-mile) mountain trek from Carcassonne, the longest stage on this year's edition of the Tour, as the race entered the Pyrenees on Tuesday.



This was the 34-year-old Rogers' first stage win at the world's most prestigious cycling event.



"You dream of winning a stage of the Tour de France since you're a kid. This was my 10th Tour: That makes 205 stages I've been without a win," he said afterwards. "It's amazing," he added. "I can't describe the joy I felt in the last 500 meters when I knew I was going to win."



Vincenzo Nibali arrived at Bagneres-de-Luchon over eight minutes behind Rogers but still retained the yellow jersey, ahead of Spain's Alejandro Valverde. Thibaut Pinot of France climbed to third in the overall standings, overtaking his countryman Romain Bardet.



Despite having given his Tinkoff-Saxo team their second stage win of this year's Tour, Rogers stands no chance of making it to the podium, as he is in 26th place, trailing Nibali by almost 45 minutes in the overall standings.



pfd/mkg (Reuters, AP, AFP)