French duo on top in Tour
As their country prepares to celebrate Bastille Day, Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot were in the mood for fireworks a day in advance at the Tour de France.
Carrying the hopes of a country that has not seen a homegrown Tour winner in 34 years, the French pair emerged as the big winners yesterday of the leg-punishing Stage 8 in Massif Central, during which Geraint Thomas crashed and lost ground in the defense of his title.
After five hours of exhaustion on the saddle across seven short but punishing climbs, Alaphilippe claimed back the yellow jersey with one of his trademarks attacks, while Pinot asserted himself as a strong contender for the final victory by gaining time on Thomas and co.
A spectacular rider with an aggressive style, Alaphilippe is, however, limited in mountains and has no real hope of keeping the jersey to the end. But Pinot is in the form of his life. He can compete with the best above 2,000 meters, an asset giving him hope he can succeed cycling great Bernard Hinault, the last Frenchman to win the Tour in 1985.
“They’ve got some real punch,” Thomas said. “They’re the ones to watch.”
Alaphilippe abandoned his yellow jersey for just six seconds to Giulio Ciccone on Thursday at the Planche des Belles Filles ski station. He knew he had a golden chance to get it back on rollercoaster terrain suiting his skills.
“I will wear the yellow jersey on Bastille Day, for a Frenchman there is nothing better,” Alaphilippe said after finishing the stage in third place, just behind Pinot.
Blues re-up Binnington
Jordan Binnington agreed to a two-year contract with the St. Louis Blues worth an annual average value of $4.4 million.
Binnington, a restricted free agent, avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to the deal on Saturday.
His arbitration date had been set for July 20 in Toronto.
In 26 Stanley Cup playoffs games, Binnington went 16-10 with a 2.46 goals-against average, a .914 save-percentage and one shutout, becoming the first goaltender in the Blues’ 52-year history to capture a Stanley Cup for the franchise.
The rookie goaltender went 24-5-1 in the regular season with a 1.89 goalsagainst average, a .927 save-percentage and five shutouts.
Shooting arrest
An 18-year-old Kansas man was charged in the April attack that wounded New York Giants draft pick Corey
Ballentine and killed one of his Washburn University teammates, Dwane Simmons. Francisco Alejandro Mendez
was charged Friday with firstdegree murder, attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated battery in the April 28 attack, the Shawnee County, Kan., district attorney’s office said in a news release.
Mendez is being held on a $1 million bond. His case doesn’t appear yet in online court records, and his attorney, Victoria Chundak-Gallaway, in an unrelated criminal case didn’t immediately reply to a phone message left at her office.
The two Washburn defensive backs were outside of an off-campus house party hours after the Giants selected Ballentine in the sixth round of the draft when someone opened fire from a vehicle, killing Simmons and wounding Ballentine, who has since recovered.
Ballentine, who was shot in the rear end, missed the Giants’ rookie minicamp in early May while he recovered. He played in 46 games as a cornerback for Washburn, finishing with 186 tackles, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and five interceptions. In his final season, he won the Cliff Harris Award, which goes to the small college defensive player of the year.
Caldwell on leave
Miami Dolphins assistant coach Jim Caldwell will take a leave of absence to address health issues that he says “require my full attention.”
Caldwell was hired in February to be the Dolphins’ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He was expected to help in the development of second-year quarterback Josh
Rosen, who is rebooting his career after a shaky rookie 2018 season with the Arizona Cardinals.
Caldwell will instead spend this season as a consultant.