Kiwi helps team to stage win
WELLINGTON: For the second day in a row, a New Zealand cyclist was on the podium at the Tour de France yesterday.
Taupo rider Patrick Bevan helped his American outfit, BMC Racing, to victory on the third stage, a 35.5km team time trial around Cholet.
Its victory also helped Bevan’s Belgian teammate, Greg van Avermaet, into the tour leader’s yellow jersey.
‘‘It’s a dream. We rode a good time trial and the whole team worked hard,’’ Van Avermaet said. ‘‘We’ve got some specialists in the team. I’m so happy we got this collective victory.’’
On Monday, Dion Smith took the polka dot king of the mountains jersey.
Defending champion Chris Froome made up for some lost time as his Team Sky finished second.
The Briton had lost 51 seconds to some of his main rivals after a crash in the opening stage, but his team’s efforts against the clock around Cholet put him back in contention.
Overall, Froome is in 18th place, 55sec off the pace and still 44sec behind 2017 Giro d’Italia winner Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who with Team Sunweb only lost 7sec to the Briton yesterday.
Among the top contenders, last year’s runnerup Rigoberto Uran, of Colombia, is 10th, 35sec behind.
Froome’s Sky teammate, Geraint Thomas, could prove a thorn in his side as the Welshman, who underlined his credentials by winning the Criterium du Dauphine last month, is third overall, 52sec ahead of his leader.
It was all about the team for Thomas, though, even if he missed out on the yellow jersey by 3sec.
‘‘A bit disappointed not to win but it was a technical race because of the wind, changes of direction, up and down as well. We did well as a team, but disappointed not to take the win, we were so close,’’ he said.
‘‘To be honest I didn’t even think about it (the yellow jersey) — it was just about winning the stage. Close but not quite quick enough.’’
Among Froome’s main rivals, France’s Romain Bardet lost 1min 15sec yesterday and now trails the Briton by 20sec.
‘‘We rode a decent time trial and even if we still lost a lot of time I’m relieved,’’ Bardet said.
‘‘I’m only some 20 seconds behind Froome, so it’s not that much. We’re on track, but there’s still so much to go through.’’
Movistar lost 53sec, which leaves Colombian Nairo Quintana, twice runnerup, 1min 13sec behind Froome — a massive amount of time after only three days of racing.
Australian Richie Porte, who had also lost 51sec in the first stage after being delayed behind a pileup, benefited from his BMC team’s performance to move up to 14th, 4sec ahead of Froome. — RNZ/ Reuters