Groenewegen again
Dylan Groenewegen has turned the sprinting battle at the Tour de France into a three-man race.
The 25-year-old Dutch rider won his second successive stage yesterday, joining world champion Peter Sagan and tour newcomer Fernando Gaviria as twostage winners at this edition of the world’s leading cycling race.
Groenewegen entered the final metres of stage 8 behind Andre Greipel, Gaviria and Sagan but the Team Lotto-NL-Jumbo rider timed his last surge perfectly, swinging around his hardcharging opponents to cross first.
‘‘It was a hectic [finish] but that’s every day in the tour,’’ Groenewegen said.
‘‘I am very happy with my team. The last two days have been very good with two wins.’’
Greipel and Gaviria crossed next but their results were disqualified after they dangerously jockeyed for position in the final metres, though they both keep their times.
Greipel boxed Gaviria in next to the barrier on the left-hand side of the street, appearing to nudge him with his side.
Gaviria responded by pushing back, even knocking Greipel with his helmet.
That meant that Sagan officially finished second, with John Degenkolb third.
‘‘The legs have been better every day,’’ Groenewegen said.
‘‘The team did an amazing job and put me in a great position.
‘‘I saw Gaviria and Greipel were fighting for position but I saw the finish line and thought, ‘this is the moment’.’’
Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet, who is riding in support of BMC leader Richie Porte, kept the overall lead for a fifth consecutive day.
Van Avermaet picked up a 1sec bonus overall during an intermediate bonus sprint at 20km from the finish.
That increased his lead over four-time winner Chris Froome’s team-mate Geraint Thomas in second to 7sec and his own BMC team-mate Tejay Van Garderen to 9sec.
Froome is in 12th place at 1min 6sec behind Van Avermaet.
The mostly flat 181km ride from Dreux to Amiens was won by Groenewegen in 4h 23min.
It comes before the three-week race faces one of its most difficult legs when it hits the tricky and occasionally treacherous cobblestones.
Van Avermaet won the singleday cobblestone Paris-Roubaix race in 2017.
He says he will try to keep the yellow jersey while his teammates work for Porte.
‘‘We will try to do both,’’ the Belgian said. ‘‘We will try to keep Richie with me but if I have to follow another rider or attack, the other six guys will take care of Richie.’’
The only incident to interrupt the leg was a pile-up with just under 20km to go. UAE Emirates leader Daniel Martin, the winner of stage 6, bloodied his left elbow and tore the back of his shirt. Martin lost more than a minute, falling from 21st to 31st place.
‘‘The last two days have been very good with two wins.’’
Dylan Groenewegen