Sports

COL D'IZOARD, France — Chris Froome said he was relieved the Alps are out of the way after keeping what should be a Tour de France-winning lead intact on the mighty Col d'Izoard climb on Thursday.

With a relatively straightforward ride towards the Mediterranean on Friday and a time-trial in Marseille on Saturday, only something quite extraordinary can now prevent another celebratory ride into Paris for Froome on Sunday.

The 32-year-old heads south with a 23-second lead over Frenchman Romain Bardet and 29 ahead of Colombian Rigoberto Uran after neither managed to dent his armour on an iconic 18th stage won in stunning fashion by home favourite Warren Barguil.

"It's a big relief," Team Sky leader Froome, now looking almost certain to claim a fourth victory in five years, said.
"Ideally I wanted to take a bit more time today but Bardet and Uran were quick to react. It's not quite done yet but the toughest part of the Tour is behind us.
"Definitely it's nice to get through the Alps feeling good and looking forward to the time trial now in Marseille."
There was a sense of now-or-never as Froome's main rivals for the yellow jersey, Bardet and Uran, sized up the Briton at the start of a 14km slog to the 2,360m Izoard summit finish — their last chance to find a chink in Froome's armour.
But neither could make any impression and it was Froome, with the help of Spanish team mate Mikel Landa, who was actually the aggressor.
At one point on the twisting ribbon of tarmac to the summit finish Froome accelerated away from his GC rivals and opened up a gap before they hauled him back in.
AG2R rider Bardet did finish third to Froome's fourth in an identical time — reducing the gap to 23 seconds because of a time bonus — while Cannondale-Drapac rider Uran lost a couple of seconds in fifth and is now is 29 in arrears.
Froome, who went into the Tour with doubts over his form, now looks immovable from the yellow jersey, although he said Uran remains a threat because of his time-trial skills.
"Definitely Rigoberto is my biggest threat in Marseille. From the GC group he is the next strongest in time trials," he said.
"He's only 29 seconds behind so he will be the guy to look out for in Marseille."

Froome would become only the seventh man to claim the yellow jersey in Paris without winning a stage if he fails to cross the line first in any of the three that remain.
"I'll do my best to try to win the stage and ride for the jersey. I've already seen the time trial course. It's a very fast 22km course. I'll do my maximum for sure," he said.
"It would have been amazing to win the stage today on this iconic climb. But if I'm in yellow in Paris without winning a stage I will have no regrets."

SERRE-CHEVALIER, France  — Chris Froome kept control of his rivals in a gruelling Alpine ride to move a step closer to a fourth Tour de France title on Wednesday, retaining the leader's yellow jersey after the 17th stage, won by Slovenia's Primoz Roglic.

The defending champion was attacked by last year's runner-up Romain Bardet and Ireland's Dan Martin in the lung-busting ascent to the Col du Galibier but he stayed calm and covered every offensive move.

Bardet and Martin's accelerations, however, were damaging for Fabio Aru as the Italian lost 31 seconds and slipped from second to fourth place overall.

Froome leads Colombian Rigoberto Uran and Bardet by 27 seconds each, while Aru is now 53 seconds off the pace.

"It is not a massive margin but it's a margin that I'm relaxed and happy with if I can go into the time trial in Marseille with the same margin I'll be pretty confident," said Froome.

"My teammates rode out of their skin today. I am certainly feeling a lot better than I did in the Pyrenees which is a great sign and hopefully I'll have good legs again tomorrow."

"I was surprised by Aru dropping time today. I expected him to go on the attack but it's the third week of a Grand Tour that tests everyone and there is no hiding place if you're having a bad day in the third week."

Cycling enthusiasts had anticipated an Alberto Contador victory as the two-time champion, too far down in the general classification to threaten Froome, threw caution to the wind with a long-range attack shortly before French President Emmanuel Macron went into Tour director Christian Prudhomme's car to follow the stage until the finish.

Kittel out
But the Spaniard cracked on the Galibier, a 17.7-km ascent at an average 6.9 per cent gradient culminating at 2,642m above sea level, when Roglic attacked from the day's breakaway group.

Martin and Bardet launched countless attacks of their own on the climb, but Froome stayed in control. The Irishman, whose uncle Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987, paid the price later on, but Frenchman Bardet hung on to finish fourth behind Uran and Froome.
Uran and Froome snatched small time bonuses, but Bardet missed out, meaning the Colombian from the Cannondale-Drapac team leads the Frenchman by a few hundredths of a second.

Roglic held the group of main contenders off to become the first Slovenian to win a Tour stage, crossing the line 1:13 ahead of Froome, Bardet, Uran and Frenchman Warren Barguil, who consolidated his grip on the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification.

German Marcel Kittel, holder of the green jersey for the points classification, abandoned the race after a crash. New leader Australian Michael Matthews looks likely to wear the jersey all the way to Paris thanks to his big lead over second-placed Andre Greipel.

Thursday's stage, a 179.5-km ride from Briancon to the 2,360m Col d'Izoard, is likely to be the last-chance saloon for Bardet and Uran to unseat Froome ahead of Saturday's final time trial, which is expected to favour the Briton.

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, France — Australian Michael Matthews accused German rival John Degenkolb of being a poor sport after his angry reaction to being beaten in a sprint for the line at the end of a windy 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday.

Sunweb rider Matthews won his second stage of the race after his team mates set a scorching pace at the head of the peloton to take the sting out of the challenge of points leader Marcel Kittel, who was dropped during the stage.

In the sprint to the line he edged out Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), who clashed with Matthews as the riders came to a stop, accusing him of veering towards him on the high-speed dash for the line.

"He grabbed me by the neck. The officials saw that. I don't know what they're going to do about it," Matthews who is second in the race for the green points jersey, behind Kittel, said.

"It was not very sportsmanlike."

Degenkolb gesticulated at Matthews as the pair crossed the line, appearing to indicate that he felt the Australian had pushed him dangerously close to the barriers.

Matthews disagreed.

"From my perspective I didn't do anything wrong," he said. "I started my sprint and sprinted in a straight line. I don't know what's wrong with him, but that's up to him.

"If I had done anything wrong the race officials would have told me."

Kittel, who suffered in the hot cross-winds that played havoc with the peloton, has 373 points in the green jersey race with Matthews on 344.
Matthews said with so few stages left he would be hunting high and low for points over the next few days as he tries to snatch the green top from powerhouse Kittel, who has already won five stages at this year's event.

The Australian believes his versatility gives him chances.

Team time trial

"It's nice to have a lot of tools but that means I don't have a rest day," he said. "Kittel is the fastest guy on the flats, so I won't beat him on those, but I need to get points everywhere else, like the hilly stages and uphill sprints.

"He has his game plan and we have ours and we'll see which one is best in Paris."

Matthews paid glowing tribute to his team who turned the last part of the stage into a team time trial — setting an incredible pace over the final 30km.

"Once we heard that there were splits in the peloton we were all really motivated to push on and extend the gap," he said.
"From then on it was an eight-man team time trial to the finish and I was able to finish off the job in the last 500 metres. I'm so grateful for these opportunities."

LE-PUY-EN-VELAY, France  — Chris Froome survived an attempted coup by Romain Bardet’s AG2R-La Mondiale team in a treacherous, hectic 15th stage to retain the Tour de France overall leader’s yellow jersey on Sunday.

Dutchman Bauke Mollema, the strongest and smartest of the breakaway riders, who had three top 10 finishes on the Tour, won the 189.5km stage from Laissac-Severac L’Eglise but the action was elsewhere.

Defending champion Froome was first caught at the end of a split caused by French team AG2R-La Mondiale, who continued to press the pedals when the race leader suffered a mechanical problem shortly before the key climb of the day.

The Team Sky leader kept his cool, however, and powered his way back to stay on top of the general classification with an 18-second advantage over Italian Fabio Aru.

“It was a stressful moment. I thought I might not get back to the front,” said Froome, who takes the yellow jersey into Monday’s rest day.

“I’m just grateful I survived today. Tomorrow is a rest day so I will regain some energy and hopefully be fresh for the third week.”

Bardet, who enjoyed huge crowd support in his home region in the Massif Central, while Froome was booed at one point, stays third 23 seconds off the pace. Colombian Rigoberto Uran is fourth six seconds further back.

Broken wheel

A week after Aru had attacked just as Froome suffered a mechanical problem, the Briton again had trouble with his bike and, as the race was on, none of the main contenders waited for him.

AG2R-La Mondiale accelerated suddenly at the front of the peloton with some 45km left and Froome and some of his team mates were trapped at the wrong end of the split.

A spoke on Froome’s rear wheel broke and he was assisted by team mate Michal Kwiatkowski.

Team Sky’s Mikel Nieve and Vasil Kiryienka then pulled Froome along in their wake as they trailed Bardet’s group, which contained Aru and Rigoberto Uran, by 45 seconds.

The Briton made up the time on the ascent of the Col de Peyra Taillade, an 8.3km climb at an average gradient of 7.4 per cent, with the help of team mate Mikel Landa, who briefly dropped out of the Bardet group to tow his leader back.

“Never a dull moment in this year’s Tour, that’s for sure,” said Froome. “Just coming into the main climb of the day I had a bit of a mechanical problem, I had to change the back wheel, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time really. It was all hands on deck. I think I’ll pass out tonight. I’m knackered.”

Bardet and Aru, who opted to stay in the wheels of the Frenchman’s team mates in the punishing ascent instead of upping the pace to finish Froome off, jumped away on the final climb but were easily reined in.

Ireland’s Dan Martin pedalled away on a flat section after the descent to gain 12 seconds on Froome and the other favourites.

Martin is now fifth overall, 1:12 off the pace.

AMMAN — The MENA Golf Tour — an initiative launched by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation — will for the first time include Jordan’s Ayla Golf Championship in Aqaba, which will take place between October 5 and 7, according to a statement from organisers.

The tour recently announced a total of six tournaments to be held during the second half of the tour’s 7th season, the results of which will count toward global golf rankings.

The season’s second half will launch in September and also include tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, and Kuwait.

The Ayla Golf Course in Aqaba is the only course in Jordan that conforms to international standards and had opened its doors to players and tournaments in September 2016. Following the Jordan Ayla Golf Championship, the MENA Golf Tour will head to the Sahara Golf Club in the Kuwaiti capital, where the Sahara Kuwait Championship will take place between October 16 and 18. 

The final stop of the tour will be at Al Zora Golf Club in Ajman with the MENA Tour Championship, taking place between the 23rd and 26th of October. This is where the final winners of the tour will be announced and presented with invitations to participate in various global tournaments, such as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club, which takes place as part of the European Tour schedule. 

The current season of the MENA Golf Tour is witnessing intense competition between players from various nations, with the fervour mounting following the crowning of the first nine winners of previous tournaments this season.

“We are proud that Jordan is joining the list of countries participating in the MENA Golf Tour, which has allowed us to collaborate with the Jordanian Golf community to support this fine sport and help showcase the skills of talented Jordanian athletes,” said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Golf Tour. “This will also help us in further reinforcing the status of the MENA Golf Tour, which is confidently marching towards international recognition and becoming a major source of return on investment for participating athletes.”

The managing director of Ayla Oasis Development Company, Sahl Dudin, underscored the readiness of the Ayla Golf Club to host the championship at its world-class golf course and its facilities, noting that the championship marks a major milestone in Jordan’s national strategy to promote Aqaba as a key attraction for golf and sports enthusiasts around the world. Dudin further expressed his gratitude to all those who have contributed towards making the championship a success.

LONDON — Roger Federer turned his 100th Wimbledon match into an exhibition as he outclassed Milos Raonic 6-4 6-2 7-6(4) on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals for a record 12th time.

The Swiss, who turns 36 next month, played his best tennis of the tournament to dismantle the big-serving Canadian who knocked him out at the semi-final stage last year.

Seven-times champion Federer hit two rasping backhand winners and a forehand that had Raonic ducking for cover to break serve in the fifth game.

Sixth seed Raonic's belief ebbed away at the start of the second set when he offered up another break with a careless forehand and Federer went for the jugular with a further break of the Canadian's delivery as he established a two-set lead.

Federer was made to sweat a little in the third set and had to save four break points at 3-4 as Raonic finally began to hit his groundstrokes with more menace.

Raonic went 3-0 ahead in the tiebreak too but 18-times major champion Federer responded with two majestic forehand passes as he regained control with five points in a row.

An 11th ace brought up a match point and Federer clinched victory when Raonic shunted a backhand wide.

Federer has yet to drop a set in the tournament this year and with defending champion Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal all out he is a huge favourite to become the first man to win the Wimbledon title eight times.

He will play Czech Tomas Berdych, the 11th seed, in the last four.

Djokovic out of Wimbledon 

Three-times Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic's painful year continued as he retired with an elbow injury during his quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych on Wednesday.

The second seed had lost the opening set and was down a break in the second when he walked to the net and shook his opponent's hand.

The retirement, with the score at 7-6(2) 2-0, came shortly after the 30-year-old Serb called a medical timeout. 

Djokovic said his right elbow had been bothering him for over a year and a half and that he had been feeling pain from the beginning of the tournament.

"The intensity and the level of pain was not decreasing. It was only increasing as the days went by," he said. "Unfortunately, today was the worst day. 

"It's unfortunate that I had to finish Wimbledon, a grand slam, this way," he added. "I mean, if someone feels bad about it, it's me. But, you know, I tried."

He also said the postponement of his last-16 match against Adrian Mannarino, which was pushed a day to Tuesday because of the marathon five-setter in which Gilles Muller beat Rafael Nadal, might have played a role.

"Probably the fact that I played yesterday, kind of days adding up, as I've said before, it wasn't helping at all," he said.

The retirement is another blow for the former world number one, who has surrendered his Australian and French Open titles this year and slipped to fourth in the world.

The result means Berdych, 31, has reached the semi-finals for the second year running. The Czech has also broken a streak of 12 losses against his tormentor-in-chief Djokovic, whom he had previously only beaten twice in 27 matches.

AMMAN — The Asian Karate Federation has announced that Jordan will host the next Asian Karate Championships from July 10-15 in 2018, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The decision was made during the Executive Board meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan attended by Mu’een Al Fa’ouri, Jordan Karate president.

Meanwhile, this year’s Asian Championships will get under way in Astana on Thursday with Jordan’s Omar Shaqra, Hassan Masarwah, Nasser Fathi, Hassan Abu Ka’oud and Saleh Al Sawalha all in action for the Juniors category.

Mohammad Al Musa, Ali Al Habashneh, Yazan Al Wehr, Rama Hamdan, Ali Lafi, Ali Esa’el, Nermeen Turaish, Ala’ Turaih and Diana Dadda will compete in the Youth category.