Sky riders hog show
Thomas and Froome remain 1-2 as Fraile wins hilly Stage 14
MENDE ( France): Sky teammates Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome remained 12 in the Tour de France after the hilly Stage 14 as an anticipated shakeup in the overall standings didn’t come to fruition.
Spanish rider Omar Fraile won the stage in the Massif Central on Saturday by bursting from a large group of breakaway riders on the finishing climb, a short but steep threekilometre ascent that was followed by a quick descent and flat finish on an air strip.
“When I saw that the breakaway was so big, I knew it was going to be a tough stage, but I picked my moment well and pulled it off,” Fraile said.
“I knew that I still had another gear. I have raced here before and I knew the course to perfection.”
Fourthplaced Primoz Roglic was the only overall contender to gain time, finishing eight seconds ahead of Thomas, Froome, and thirdplaced Tom Dumoulin – with all four riders finishing more than 18 minutes behind Fraile, who remained far back in the standings.
Thomas leads fourtime champion Froome by 1 minute, 39 seconds. Dumoulin is third, 1:50 behind, and Roglic is fourth, 2:38 back.
Fraile had time to celebrate before crossing the line, finishing six seconds ahead of Julian Alaphilippe, the Frenchman wearing the polkadot jersey awarded to the Tour’s best climber.
Jasper Stuyven of Belgium finished third, also six seconds back, and threetime world champion Peter Sagan came fourth.
It was the first career victory at the Tour for Fraile, who rides for the Astana team. His only other victory at a Grand Tour came with a stage win in last year’s Giro d’Italia. The Basque rider also won the mountains classification in the Spanish Vuelta in 2015 and 2016.
Fraile became the third Spanish winner of a Tour stage in Mende after Marcos Serrano in 2005 and Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez in 2010.
The hilly 188km route from SaintPaulTroisChateaux in southern France passed through the Ardeche gorges, home to cave paintings dating back some 36,000 years.
Stage 15 from Millau to Carcassonne is another hilly leg before the race’s second rest day today. Then comes the Pyrenees and a possibly decisive individual time trial in the penultimate stage before the traditional finish in Paris next weekend.
There were three categorised climbs before the finale, including the Col du Pont sans Eau, which translates as “the hill of the bridge with no water.” — AP