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Rafal Majka Wins Tour Stage, Nibali Stretches Lead

Rafal Majka Wins Tour Stage, Nibali Stretches Lead

19.07.2014 20:46

Polish rider Rafal Majka has won the 14th stage of the Tour de France, a rare piece of good news for his Tinkoff team. In the hunt for the yellow jersey, life's getting a little lonely for leader Vincenzo Nibali. The Tour de France reached its high point, at least in terms of altitude, on Saturday as riders raced from Grenoble to Risoul in the French Alps. The 177-kilometer (110-mile) course ended at the Risoul ski station, with riders also scaling the 2,360-meter (7,742-foot) Izoard pass. The gruelling stage was marked by three major climbs. Majka, 24, beat overall leader Vincenzo Nibali to the stage victory in a reversal of the results of the 13th stage on Friday, when Nibali led Majka home. The Team Tinkoff-Saxo rider gave his outfit a welcome boost after team captain and former Tour winner Alberto Contador withdrew from the race following a heavy crash earlier in the week. Contador congratulated his teammate Majka in two languages and block capital letters on Twitter as the Pole cr

Polish rider Rafal Majka has won the 14th stage of the Tour de France, a rare piece of good news for his Tinkoff team. In the hunt for the yellow jersey, life's getting a little lonely for leader Vincenzo Nibali.



The Tour de France reached its high point, at least in terms of altitude, on Saturday as riders raced from Grenoble to Risoul in the French Alps. The 177-kilometer (110-mile) course ended at the Risoul ski station, with riders also scaling the 2,360-meter (7,742-foot) Izoard pass. The gruelling stage was marked by three major climbs.



Majka, 24, beat overall leader Vincenzo Nibali to the stage victory in a reversal of the results of the 13th stage on Friday, when Nibali led Majka home.



The Team Tinkoff-Saxo rider gave his outfit a welcome boost after team captain and former Tour winner Alberto Contador withdrew from the race following a heavy crash earlier in the week. Contador congratulated his teammate Majka in two languages and block capital letters on Twitter as the Pole crossed the line.



Russian team owner Oleg Tinkov was tearful after the stage win: "This is all very emotional. First we lost Alberto and today we have celebrated this brilliant victory," Tinkov said.



Nibali lead approaches five minutes



Nibali's second-place finish on Saturday put another minute between himself and his closest challenger, Alejandro Valverde. Valverde now trails the 29-year-old Italian by 4 minutes and 37 seconds with seven stages remaining. Six riders are within roughly 6 minutes of Nibali's pace.



French rider Romain Bardet, who finished within half a minute of the leaders on Saturday, is third overall and also within five minutes of Nibali.



Nibali has been helped by several high-profile retirements, besides Contador's. The 2013 winner Chris Froome of Team Sky retired injured early in the race. His number 2 in the team, Richie Porte of Australia, wilted in the searing heat of Friday's alpine stage, finishing nine minutes behind Nibali and dropping from second to sixteenth in the overall standings.



Having scaled heights more than 2,000 meters above sea level on Saturday, riders will head down towards the coast in Sunday's 16th stage. The 221-kilometer run from Tallard ends just 46 meters above sea level, in Nimes.



msh/ng (dpa, Reuters, SID)



 
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