Yates hangs on to lead

Cycling: Some contenders were exposed while others imploded in the first mountain test of the Tour de France as Briton Adam Yates hung on to the yellow jersey yesterday.

Stage eight winner Nans Peters had long crossed the line when fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot’s ordeal ended after the GroupamaFDJ rider, highly fancied to become the first local winner of the race in 35 years, had been dropped in the second ascent of the 141km trek through the Pyrenees.

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who was the ‘‘plan B’’ in prerace favourite Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo Visma team, could not sustain the pace in the last ascent . — Reuters