Tim Wellens wins Stage 15 as Team UAE continues to dominate Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with a 4-minute, 13-second advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up after being caught behind an early mass fall.
Wellens had been part of an early break which only really got away once the fall sent a shockwave though the race.
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Japan Times
17 hours ago
- Japan Times
Activists protest Gaza war during Tour de France and call for Israeli team ban
Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists waved flags and unfurled banners on Wednesday as the Tour de France peloton rode through Dieulefit, a southeastern French town honored as a "Town of the Just" for sheltering Jewish people during World War II. A house was draped with Palestinian flags and protesters waved dozens more by the roadside. Cries of "Free Palestine" echoed through the town, as the riders cycled through. One banner read "Affamer c'est tuer," meaning "Starving is killing." Vanessa Huguenin, who runs a family-owned department store in Dieulefit, a town of about 3,000 people, said the action had been planned for nearly two months to take advantage of the Tour's visibility. "We can't change Israel or Hamas, but we want our government to act, not just say 'it's not good,'" she said. Such protests about international politics are relatively rare in the three-week annual race, in which fans line the route as the riders tackle daily stages. A small protest over the war in Gaza occurred during the first stage of last year's edition. A man was also arrested on July 16 in Toulouse after running onto the final straight of the stage wearing a T-shirt reading "Israel out of the Tour" and waving a black and white keffiyeh headdress. Through a loudspeaker on Wednesday, a protester shouted: "Mr. Adams, spokesperson for a genocidal army," referring to Sylvan Adams, co-owner of the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team competing in the race. The protester called for the team to be kicked out. Israel has repeatedly rejected that its military operation in Gaza amounts to genocide. "Israel-Premier Tech respects everyone's right to free speech which includes the right to protest," said a statement from Israel-Premier Tech, which is Israel's first elite cycling team, founded in 2014. "Our focus is on racing and we continue to work closely with race organizers and relevant parties to ensure that any protests do not jeopardize team members' safety, nor impact races, or our right to participate." The team has been granted extra security on the Tour, with police officers stationed by the team bus. They were escorted by plain-clothed officers at the team's presentation in Lille. Huguenin, 45, said the town's history inspired residents to act and said the protest had been peaceful. "Here we say no one is a stranger. My grandparents hid people during the war. For us, being 'just' means protecting everyone, regardless of race or religion,' she said. The war between Israel and Hamas has been raging for nearly two years since the Palestinian militant group killed some 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages in the deadliest attack in Israel's history, Israeli tallies show. Israel has since killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, Gaza's health ministry says. It has decimated Hamas as a military force, reduced most of the territory to ruins and forced nearly the entire population to flee their homes multiple times. The man arrested last week said he was due to stand trial for endangering the riders and refusing to give his fingerprints. He says the security officer who tackled him threw his walkie-talkie at him. Race organizer, the Amaury Sports Organisation, declined to comment about either protest.
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Italian sprinter Milan powers to 2nd stage win at Tour de France, Pogačar maintains lead
Italy's Jonathan Milan, left, sprints ahead of Belgium's Jordi Meeus to win the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 160.4 kilometers (99.7 miles) with start in Bollene and finish in Valence, France, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) cycling Sprint specialist Jonathan Milan pounced at the finish to win the 17th stage of the Tour de France after a crash in the last kilometer derailed rivals' hopes on Wednesday. Italian rider Milan, the green jersey holder, consolidated his lead in the points classification with an explosive finish to get his wheel just over the line ahead of Jordi Meeus, Tobias Lund Andresen, Arnaud De Lie, Davide Ballerini and others in a rain-soaked sprint finale. It's Milan's second stage win of the Tour after his victory in similar fashion in Laval on Saturday. But it was arguably more dramatic with rival sprinter Tim Merlier and others involved in a crash under the 'flamme rouge' — the triangular red banner over the road signaling the final kilometer. 'The last 25 kilometers were really, really, fast,' said Merlier, who finished 25th, more than a minute behind. 'I think I did a mistake. I took one roundabout on the wrong side and I lost a lot of positions. And then I knew I needed to move up. The moment I wanted to move up, I crashed.' Milan was in trouble earlier in the stage when the peloton split into two groups, finding himself in the second one. He had Lidl-Trek teammates Quinn Simmons and Jasper Stuyven to thank for dropping back to help. 'I didn't survive alone, I survived with the help of my teammates and I have to appreciate this. Without them, I would still be on one of the climbs, I wouldn't be here,' said Milan, who clocked 71.1 km/h and is the first Italian to win two stages in the same Tour since Vincenzo Nibali in 2014. There was no change atop the overall standings with three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar maintaining his lead of 4 minutes, 15 seconds over main rival Jonas Vingegaard. Milan stretched his lead in the points standings to 312, with Pogačar next on 240. There were attacks from the start Wednesday with Jonas Abrahamsen, Wout van Aert and others all agitating to get away on the largely flat 160.4-kilometer route from Bollène. Four – Abrahamsen, Vincenzo Albanese, Quentin Pacher and Mathieu Burgaudeau – managed to escape and led for most of the stage. Abrahamsen, who won Stage 11 after Pogačar crashed near the finish last week, went on his own with 11.5 kilometers to go, But the gap was getting smaller and smaller as Tim Wellens drove the bunch, followed by UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates Pavel Sivakov and Pogačar. Abrahamsen was swallowed up by the bunch inside the 5-kilometer sprint finish. He dropped back and received an encouraging pat on the back from a teammate. The fun's over for the sprinters as the Tour heads to the Alps with Stage 18 taking the riders 171.1 kilometers from Vif to a mountain-top finish on the 2,304-meter Col de la Loze above Courchevel. It's arguably the toughest stage of the Tour with 5,500 meters of vertical gain including the 1,914-meter Col du Glandon. Then there's a 19.2-kilometer climb at 7.9% to the Col de la Madeleine, where the riders will reach 2,000 meters for the first time. It won't be the last time on Thursday, which could provide another opportunity for Vingegaard to test Pogačar. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Japan Times
European captain Luke Donald agrees to Ryder Cup rules change
The 2025 Ryder Cup is getting off to a congenial start. According to a report by Telegraph Sport on Monday, Team Europe captain Luke Donald has agreed to extricate his counterpart Keegan Bradley from a potentially sticky situation. It was assumed that when Bradley was named Team USA captain, he would serve in the traditional manner. However, the 39-year-old has all but assured himself a spot inside the ropes — complete with clubs and caddie — given his brilliant play in 2025. However, the Ryder Cup rules state that only the captain is permitted to provide advice to players during the competition. Should Bradley be competing in a session, he would not be able to communicate with the squad. But Donald agreed to change the rule to allow one of the American vice captains to assume Bradley's advisory duties. "Keegan can only change the overarching contract with Luke and Ryder Cup Europe's approval," a source told Telegraph Sport. "The contract between the teams includes things like how many vice-captains a team can have, etc. That is used year on year and captains rarely change that. But Keegan went to Luke with this clause and Luke generously agreed." The USA vice captains are Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Gary Woodland. Furyk, the team captain in the 2018 European win in Paris, could be equipped to assume the role. Bradley was the 2011 PGA Champion, then won only twice on the PGA Tour over the next 10-plus years. But he captured the BMW Championship during the 2024 FedEx Cup playoffs, then won his second Travelers Championship title in three years one month ago. He stands 10th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings (the top six automatically qualify), but his world ranking has risen to No. 7. With other prominent American players like Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Speith slumping and the selections coming in four weeks, Bradley seems preparing to put himself on the team. The last playing captain for Team USA in a Ryder Cup was Arnold Palmer in 1963. The 2026 Ryder Cup takes place at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, from Sept. 26 to 28. Team Europe is attempting to become the first away side to win (or retain) the cup in 13 years. It rallied for a 14.5-13.5 win at Medinah (Ill.) in 2012.
