Demare silences critics as Thomas stays in yellow
PAU, France, (Reuters) - Arnaud Demare silenced his critics by claiming a comfortable win in the bunch sprint of the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, the first victory this year for a French team in the race.
The Frenchman, who had been accused by fellow sprint specialist Andre Greipel of holding on to his team car in Wednesday’s mountain stage to avoid missing the time cut, was perfectly set up by Italian team mate Jacopo Guarnieri.
He beat compatriot Christophe Laporte and Norway’s Alexander Kristoff, who were second and third respectively as Briton Geraint Thomas retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey after 171km from Trie sur Baize.
“I did not fight for nothing in the mountains, I was thinking of a possible victory when I was suffering,” said GroupamaFDJ rider Demare.
On Wednesday, Greipel hinted on Twitter that Demare held on to his team car in the final climb up to the Col du Portet, which the Frenchman denied.
Reuters understands that Demare sent his power and time data to Greipel, who had quickly deleted his tweet.
“Today I thought of him,” said Demare of Greipel, who abandoned the race last week along with several other top sprinters, exhausted by extreme heat and gruelling efforts in the mountains.
Demare grinded his teeth though the mountain stages, narrowly avoiding missing the time cut on a couple of occasions.
“I had good legs and today all the hard work I did paid off,” he said.
“I stayed strong in my head. (Cheating) is not my philosophy. I gave everything, I worked super hard in the mountains ahead of the Tour de France. Several sprinters are home today and I’m still here. I deserved this victory, the whole team deserved it for their hard work.”
Five men, including former ParisRoubaix winners Niki Terpstra and Matthew Hayman, formed the day’s breakaway, but they were kept on a tight leash by the peloton and were reined in way before the line.
World champion Peter Sagan did not contest the final sprint after his crash on Wednesday left him in pain. “It was hard but I thought it would actually be harder,” said the Slovak.
The only incident in an otherwise dull stage raced in searing hot temperatures came 105km from the finish when Colombian Nairo Quintana, fifth overall after his stage win on Wednesday, hit the asphalt when he and Briton Adam Yates were caught in a pile-up. Trisco and Central Service secured contrasting victories, when the Banks Ltd Inter-Department Domino Championship, continued on Wednesday evening at the Thirst Park Sports Club.
Trisco recorded 78 games to best the duo of Power Generation and Pre-Sellers. Power Generation finished on 67 games to secure their place in the next round.On the other hand, Pre-Sellers finished on 63 games and was eliminated from the championship.
It was a clinical performance from Trisco, who led from start to finish in the matchup. Trisco raced off to the early lead, after tallying 17 games, with Power Generation and PreSellers following on nine and eight games apiece.
Trisco extended their lead in the second stanza, recording 15 games to end on 32. Pre-Sellers and Power Generation scored 12 and 11 games, respectively, to finish on 20.
The advantage grew in the third round, as Trisco scored 13 games to end on 45, with Power Generation and Pre-Sellers lagging behind on 30 and 28 games, respectively.
The contest was effectively over in the fourth stanza, as Trisco amassed 15 games to finish on 60. Power Generation, 41, and PreSellers, 36, trailed well behind.
Pre-Sellers took the fifth round, as they scored 12 games to end on 48. Trisco finished the round on 69, with Power Generation in the second position on 50.
With Trisco firmly in control of the clash, Power Generation secured their berth to the next round, clinching 17 games to finish on 67. PreSellers secured 15 games to reach 63, while Trisco claimed nine games, for a final total of 78.
Meanwhile, Central Service secured 70 games to edge the Vehicle Workshop and Sports Club. The experienced Vehicle Workshop outfit kept their hopes alive of securing the title, after finishing on 69 games. Sports Club was sent packing from the tournament after claiming only 61 games.
The tournament continues on Monday at the same venue with another round of matches