Kristoff wins 12th Tour 49ers open posh, high-tech stage, Nibali keeps lead stadium in Santa Clara
SAINT-ETIENNE, France — Alexander Kristoff of Norway, in a solo show of opportunistic racing, won the 12th stage of the Tour de France in a sprint as Vincenzo Nibali kept the yellow jersey for a 10th day on Thursday.
After hitching a ride behind the back wheel of Italian sprinter Matteo Trentin, Kristoff powered out of the barreling pack and beat Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who was second, by nearly a bike length, while Arnaud Demare of France was third. The pack overtook a pair of breakaway riders with less than seven kilometers to go.
Kristoff, who won the Milan-San Remo race this year, pointed his fingers skyward and shouted as he crossed the line — pretty much without any of his Katusha teammates: Sagan’s Cannondale team and Giant-Shimano took turns leading the pack at the end. But Kristoff timed his burst perfectly.
“I won, finally, and I am really happy,” Kristoff said of his first Tour stage win, adding he had been second in two previous sprints. “It was time to win.
“In Norway, there was a lot of pressure on me: I am the only Norwegian this year!”
Kristoff paced himself without two big rivals: Giant-Shimano rider Marcel Kittel, who has won three stages, was dropped earlier in the ride along four small- and mediumsized climbs, while German countryman Andre Greipel, who won Stage 6, crashed within the last few kilometers.
“I went at just the right time,” said Kristoff, adding he had no idea the two Germans were out of contention for the stage win. “I was just thinking about myself.”
The mostly flat 185.5-kilometer (115.5-mile) course from Bourg-enBresse to Saint-Etienne in southeastern France was well suited for a possible sprint finish.
The top standings didn’t change. Nibali leads Richie Porte of Australia by 2 minutes, 23 seconds, and Alejandro Valverde of Spain was third, 2:47 back. Nibali is looking to become the first Italian to win the Tour since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.
American rider Andrew Talansky pulled out before the stage due to severe back pain from previous crashes. The GarminSharp leader who won the Criterium du Dauphine last month rode for several hours with excruciating back pain on Wednesday, when he finished last on the 11th stage.
The pack now faces two days in the Alps — which are getting relatively short shrift this year — even if both stages feature uphill finishes that are likely to shake up the top standings.
Friday’s relatively long Stage 13 will also put riders’ legs under the most
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strain so far. The 197.5-kilometer (123-mile) trek begins in Saint-Etienne and will crescendo: It first covers a mid-sized climb, then the Category 1 Palaquit pass, and finally an 18-kilometer (12-mile) ascent to the Alpine village of Chamrousse — one of cycling’s hardest climbs.
Nibali, however, said his Astana team will try to manage the race on Friday, before what he sees as a greater challenge a day later.
“It’s surely the second stage in the Alps that scares me the most,” he said, “because on the first one everyone has energy, and it’s always the second one that requires more energy - and where you pay for your efforts.”
On Friday, “attacks can happen, but the Tour de France doesn’t end tomorrow.”
The race has 10 more days.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York got a little teary on his drive to Levi’s Stadium on Thursday. His voice cracked while talking about taking his young son to games at the stadium for years to come.
Others had a different reaction upon walking into the building: Wow!
With confetti streaming down under a blue sky, the 49ers officially opened the $1.2 billion stadium in Santa Clara with a ribboncutting ceremony complete with all the opulence of their new home.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, linebacker Patrick Willis and left tackle Joe Staley joined York and others on stage to cut the ribbons.
They used oversized red scissors with gold-colored blades in keeping with team colors. Hard-hat wearing construction workers lined the steps in fluorescent yellow jackets as team employees cheered and a fog horn blared.
“This is a long time in the making,” York said.
The stadium’s opening put one of the NFL’s flagship franchises on firm footing and planted the country’s most popular sports league in technology-rich Silicon Valley for the first time.
Goodell called it a milestone for the league. He also added a twist to the ceremony by addressing the looming stadium issue just up the road in Oakland, where the Raiders have long been searching for a replacement to the outdated Coliseum.
Goodell said it’s up to the Raiders to decide whether they want to try to build a stadium in Oakland or share the facility at Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers — an idea York has never dismissed.
Raiders owner Mark Da- vis has said he doesn’t want to be a renter in the 49ers’ facility, which is now fitted with red seats and posters of past and present San Francisco greats.
The 49ers’ new home, which is the first LEED Gold Certified stadium in the NFL for its environmentally friendly design, will hold about 68,500 fans and has the ability to expand to 75,000 for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The facility features 165 luxury suites, 9,000 club seats and even a green roof-top deck that includes solar panels and harvested herbs for onsite food preparation.