VITTEL, France: A nasty crash involving Mark Cavendish marred Tuesday’s fourth stage of the Tour de France, which was won by France’s Arnaud Demare in a chaotic sprint finish.
Replays appeared to show world champion Peter Sagan elbowing Cavendish, who was squeezed against the barriers to his right, out of the way. Cavendish slammed into the barriers and two other riders plowed over the British sprint specialist, a winner of 30 Tour stages.
Sagan, who crossed the line second, was later given a 30-second penalty that relegated him to 115th place on the stage. As a result, he dropped from second place in the overall standings to 15th.
“I get on with Peter well, but I don’t get ... if he came across is one thing, but the elbow. I’m not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that,” Cavendish said.
“A crash is a crash, I’d just like to know about the elbow, really,” Cavendish added. “I’d just like to speak to him about it.”
After the crash, Sagan went over to see how Cavendish was and patted him on the back, while the British rider showed him his wounds.
The Slovak said later he had apologized to Cavendish.
“It’s not nice to crash like that,” Sagan said.
“It’s the sprint. I just didn’t know that Mark is behind me, he’s coming from the right side,” Sagan added. “Mark was coming pretty fast from the back and after I just didn’t have time to react, to go left, and he just came (into) me and after into the fence.”
A medical team quickly ran out to treat Cavendish, jogging into the oncoming stream of riders to reach him.
When Cavendish was finally helped to his feet, his jersey was badly torn and blood was streaking down his side. Cavendish rode in with a teammate after treatment, gingerly holding his right arm close to his body, with his right hand in a bandage.
It is has already been a difficult year for Cavendish, who came down with mononucleosis caused by the Epstein-Barr virus in April.
Demare’s sprint victory ended a long wait for the home fans, with the previous French victory in a bunch sprint at the Tour being won by Jimmy Casper in Stage 1 in Strasbourg in 2006.
“It’s extraordinary, it’s marvelous,” said Demare, the French champion who finished second to Marcel Kittel in the mass sprint that concluded Stage 2.
There was another crash earlier that delayed Tour leader Geraint Thomas, but the Welshman retained the yellow jersey since it happened in the neutral zone near the stage finish.
Thomas leads Sky teammate and three-time champion Chris Froome by 12 seconds, with third-place Michael Matthews of Australia also 12 seconds back. Sagan is now 43 seconds adrift.
Thomas scraped his knee but said it was OK.
“I hit the deck but I’m fine,” Thomas said.
Demare clocked nearly five hours over the largely flat 207.5-kilometer (129-mile) route, which started and finished in two spa towns, Mondorf-les-Bains in Luxembourg and Vittel in France.
“We’ve been working with Arnaud for a long time on sprints,” said Marc Madiot, manager of Demare’s FDJ team. “Winning in the Tour is the best.”
After Sagan’s penalty, Alexander Kristoff moved up to second place in the stage, with Andre Greipel in third.
After starting in Mondorf, the hometown of 2010 Tour winner Andy Schleck, one of the first towns along the route was Schengen, where an agreement was signed in 1985 that enabled passport-free travel in mainland Europe.
Then it was a long, fairly straight slog through fields of grain, passing near the medieval city of Nancy into Vittel, home of the official mineral water supplier for the Tour.
It was the race’s third consecutive stage of more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) and when Guillaume van Keirsbulck, a Belgian with the Wanty team, attacked from the starting gun there was no reaction from the pack.
Van Keirsbulck quickly built a lead of more than seven minutes before being caught with less than 17 kilometers to go.
“A really hard day,” Van Keirsbulck said. “It’s not easy to stay in the front.”
Stage 5 on Wednesday concludes with the first serious climb of the Tour. The 160.5-kilometer (100-mile) leg begins in Vittel and winds its way to La Planche Des Belles Filles with a short but steep finishing ascent that features a leg-breaking 20-percent gradient in the final meters. All of the overall favorites should swing into action.
Cavendish in nasty crash after elbow from Sagan
Cavendish in nasty crash after elbow from Sagan
Filipino fans celebrate as favorites advance at Dubai Tennis Championships
- WTA 1000 event off to dramatic start as Kabayan community-loved duo Alexandra Eala and Leylah Fernandez thrill center court with contrasting victories
- Britain’s top-ranked female player Emma Raducanu takes on Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Monday’s action, with tickets still available
DUBAI: After weeks of anticipation, women’s week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship burst into life on the opening day as two favorites of the Filipino expatriate community progressed to the second round in front of capacity crowds.
Rising star Alexandra Eala — still only 20 and already the highest-ranked Filipino in WTA history at world No. 40 — lined up against powerful American Hailey Baptiste, the world No. 39.
Baptiste, having qualified for the match as a lucky loser after falling to Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova in Saturday’s final qualifiers, she nonetheless cut an imposing figure compared to the diminutive Eala, who is four years her junior and making her Dubai debut.
Yet with every corner of center court transformed by the red, white and blue of the Philippines flag, Eala immediately tapped into the energy with an array of crowd-pleasing winners as she railed against Baptiste’s power advantage.
After trading breaks early on, Eala buzzed around court and stole the momentum with a break of serve before nervelessly holding to seal the set 6-4.
Baptiste valiantly held serve in the opening game of the second set before Elea suddenly found herself advancing to the next round after the American retired with an abdominal injury.
An expectant crowd was stunned and fell silent, but noise levels soared back to deafening as the victor addressed center court. “No-one likes advancing in this way,” she said.
“Being on tour, I am starting to discover how difficult it is to maintain your health physically. I’m really hoping that Hailey will bounce back soon.”
Turning her attention and affections to her adoring fans, Eala added: “I’m super happy to be in the next round.
“This tournament is serving up such great experiences for me, especially playing in front of the best crowd ever. Hello everyone, hello Kabayans. I’m very happy to advance to the next round.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, the world No. 27, and Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, ranked 10 places higher, played out an epic three-set showdown that lasted close to three hours.
After a tense first set in which Samsonova eventually prevailed 7-5, Fernandez — who boasts Filipino heritage — battled back in a knife-edge second set.
The 23-year-old unleashed a series of immaculate winners to sail into a 5-2 lead, before a resurgent Samsonova won three consecutive games to wrestle back momentum and level the set at 5-5.
The Russian’s mini comeback flattered to deceive however, as Fernandez held her serve and then immediately broke serve to clinch the set 7-5 and force a deciding set.
With Fernandez moving into a 2-0 lead in the early throes of the third set, Samsonova suddenly found herself holding two break points and a chance to regain her match footing.
Fernandez, buoyed by a partisan crowd that reveled in celebrating her Filipino ancestry, dug deep. Occasionally scurrying and battling to stay in points, she produced winners under pressure and benefited hugely as Samsonova’s unforced errors tallied up.
Brimming with confidence, Fernandez surged into a seemingly unassailable 5-0 lead in the third set, only for the never-say-die Samsonova to hit back with three quick games in a row.
Serving for the match for a second time, Fernandez regained her composure to hold serve and eliminate the 13th seed.
After signing dozens of autographs on caps, T-shirts, balls, souvenir programs, and anything frenzied fans could find for a signature, Fernandez was quick to acknowledge the acclaim she received from fans at the tournament.
“It definitely felt different tonight,” she said.
“I remember the past couple of years I’ve played day matches, sometimes first on, so there wasn’t a lot of fans. Today, there were a lot more and to see so many fans come watch women’s tennis means a lot, it shows the sport is growing, so I’m very happy.”
When asked if she feels a type of home advantage in Dubai, she added: “Yeah, actually, kind of. It does feel nice because you kind of feel at home. It helps a lot.
“Sometimes when you’re travelling so much you forget why you play tennis and fans always help you to remember. To feel that warmth, that love, and the passion that they have is a lot of fun.”
The final match of the night had the Czech Republic’s Sara Bejlek, ranked No. 38 in the world, needing only 75 minutes for a 6-2, 6-2 dismantling of Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu, another massive Dubai favorite, will face a first-round tie against Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto on court two at 3 p.m.
