Degenkolb strikes again as Porte crashes out
TOUCHDOWN: Courtnall Skosan of the Lions scores his try with the Bulls’ Manie Libbok too late to stop him during their match on Saturday. TWO YEARS after suffering a career-threatening accident, former Paris-Roubaix champion John Degenkolb claimed his maiden Tour de France win on his favourite terrain when he tamed the cobbles and powered to victory yesterday’s ninth stage.
The German, who won the Queen of the Classics in 2015, was one of three riders to jump away from the main pack 19km from the line and he was the fastest in the final sprint, beating overall race leader Greg van Avermaet of Belgium.
Another Belgian, Yves Lampaert, took third place after a 156.5-km ride from Arras featuring 21.7km of bone-shaking cobbled sectors, some of them featuring on the Paris-Roubaix route.
“It is very emotional, I went through such a difficult period so today is pure happiness,” said Degenkolb, who suffered several fractures and a serious finger injury after he and some teammates were hit by a car during a training ride in January 2016.
“But my team and my family supported me. In Germany they say those who have had a brush with death live longer.
“I’ve had bad luck, but I always had the will to come back to my best.”
Frenchman Warren Barguil, a former teammate of Degenkolb’s who was also in the 2016 accident in THE LIONS overturned a 12-point deficit to defeat the
Bulls 38-12 in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon and clinch the South African Conference for the third successive year, while also finishing second in the overall standings to secure a home quarter-final next week against the Jaguares.
A few hours later, the Sharks also secured their place in the knockout phase by beating the Jaguares 20-10 in their Vodacom Super Rugby Round 19 fixture in Durban. The KwaZulu-Natalians grabbed the eighth spot on the overall log and as a result, they will now play against log leaders, the Crusaders, next weekend in Christchurch.
In the two other conferences, the Crusaders finished as runaway winners in New Zealand, while the Waratahs clinched Australian honours despite losing to the Brumbies on Saturday, a result which opened the door for the Lions to finish second overall.
The Bulls made an encouraging start and quickly raced into a 12-0 lead against their Gauteng neighbours. Tries by Manie Libbok and Jesse Kriel handed the Pretoria outfit the early advantage. The Highvelders, however, kept their composure and scored 19 unanswered points to lead 19-12 at the break.
Ruan Combrinck, Malcolm Marx and the returning Courtnall BACK IN THE SADDLE: Trek Segafredo team rider John Degenkolb of Germany celebrates as he crosses the finish line yesterday. Skosan each dotted down before the break for the home side. The Lions dominated the second half, which resulted in a penalty try and two more tries, for Combrinck and Aphiwe Dyantyi.
In the last round-robin fixture of the competition, the Sharks knew they had to win against the Jaguares to advance to the play-offs, after the Rebels lost 43-37 earlier in the day against the Highlanders in Dunedin. The Durbanites downed the Argentineans by 20-10 in wet conditions to snatch the last play-off spot and secure a trip to Christchurch.
Lively hooker Akker van der Merwe was again one of the standout players for the team from Durban. Van der Merwe and Kobus van Wyk were the try scorers for the Sharks, while flyhalf Robert du Preez added the rest of the points with the boot.
So, after 19 rounds of thrilling action, the Lions finished top of the SA standings with 46 points, followed by the Jaguares (38), Sharks (36), Stormers (29) and the Bulls (29). Chiefs Highlanders Jaguares Spain, said: “Everybody was saying he was finished, I’m so happy for him.”
Among the contenders for the overall win, last year’s runner-up Rigoberto Uran lost one minute 28 seconds on his main rivals after crashing about 30km from the finish. Australian Richie Porte pulled out after an early crash.
Today’s first rest day, after an 800km transfer by plane to the
Alps, will be much appreciated by the riders, who crossed the line in Roubaix, their faces covered by a mixture of dust and sweat after three and-a-half hours in scorching heat.
The Tour is, however, over for Porte, who was taken to hospital with a suspected shoulder injury after hitting the asphalt 10 kilometres into the stage – the second time in a row that the BMC rider crashed out of the race.
Defending champion Chris Hurricanes vs
Crusaders vs Sharks Waratahs vs
Lions vs ANA Froome fell off his bike as he tried to avoid a rider who crashed ahead of him, but never lost his composure and finished with all the main title contenders.
France’s Romain Bardet, who was third overall last year, suffered three punctures but managed to limit the damage, only losing seven seconds to Froome and the fourtime champion’s Sky teammate Geraint Thomas.
Froome attacked as soon as Bardet punctured for the last time just at the end of the last cobbled sector, but the Frenchman, who at some points was lagging 40 seconds behind, benefited from huge pulls by his teammates Tony Gallopin and Oliver Naesen.
Twice runner-up Nairo Quintana and his Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde, as well as 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali finished in Froome’s group.
Reuters