Tour de France: stage 16 sabotaged by protesting farmers
Thomas and Froome amongst riders affected by police pepper spray.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-stage-16-sabotaged-by-protesting-farmers/
Not quite 30km into the day, stage 16 of the Tour de France was halted for 15 minutes after a roadside protest. Farmers rolled hay bales onto the road to narrow and a number of riders needed treatment for problems with their eyes, apparently due to police using pepper spray or tear gas to try to control the protesters.

Tour de France Millau-Carcassonne
1 Cort Nielsen Denmark Astana
Thomas always leader. now the Pyrennees.

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GP Germany Hockenheim
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
3 Kim Raikkonen Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel goes out and loses leadership to Hamilton

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Tour de France Mende
1 Omar Fraile Spain
The group of all leading riders arrives after 20 minutes. Geraint Thomas always in Yellow jersey.

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Tour de France Le Bourg d'Oisans - Valence
1 Peter Sagan Slovakia
Geraint Thomas always leader

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Nibali is out because of a broken vertebra.
Tullio

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General classification after stage 12:

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 49:24:43
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:39
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:50
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:37

Vincenzo Nibali on his crash

There were two police motorbikes but there weren't any barriers at that point. When Froome attacked, I went after him and felt good. Then we were slowed up and I went down. I don't know what happened.
[How did you manage to chase?] I managed to get up and chase because I felt good, my form is good. I'd attacked to test the others. I also wanted to attack again.
[Do you think you'll be given back the time lost, like Froome on Mount Ventoux?] I don't know because then Froome was in yellow. These things happen because there's a lot of people and the road narrows. (RAI)

Tour -de France Bourg Saint Maurice Alp d'Huez
1 Geraint Thomas UK Yellow jersey
2 Tom Dumoulin Nederlands
3 Romain Bardet France
Nibali falls due to a French police motorcycle but loses only 11 seconds because 4 riders have waited for him

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According to Froome it was not meant that the Team Sky should attack today but tomorrow.
And tomorrow the third Alpine stage features famous climbs: Col de la Madeleine, Croix-de-Fer and L'Alpe d'Huez!

Tour de France Albertville-La Rosiere
1 Geraint Thomas UK yellow jersey
2 Tom Dumoulin Nederlands
3 Chris Froome UK
Chris Froome is second in general listing
Team Sky is dominating

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Well Axel Munthe also lived in a Lapp cot above the pole circle, endured the cholera of Naples, and was mountaineering the Matterhorn,
There are many myths about him. Self appointed of course:)
And Axel Munthe attracted women. He turned out to be a virtuoso in the art of seduction. When our Queen Victoria, always suffering, died in April 1930, sixty-seven years old, Axel Munthe stood at her bed. "Come soon", her last words should have been.

Well,Aksel Munthe ran from Finland to Messina to help the survivors of the 1908 quake and tsunami, like he narrates in his book "Story of San Michele". There was an article on La Repubblica Friday magazine about today's Capri and its problems with too many tourists. Munthe was not mentioned.
Tullio

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Incendi in Svezia: in partenza equipaggi italiani per fronteggiare gli incendi boschivi che stanno nuovamente interessando il Paese.
https://twitter.com/DPCgov/status/1019098157723144192

Una nuova richiesta di intervento è stata inviata a Bruxelles da parte del Governo svedese per fronteggiare l’eccezionale situazione di alto rischio incendi nel Paese, dopo le giornate critiche nella prima metà di giugno che già avevano visto equipaggi italiani impegnati nell’area di Stoccolma.

Il Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri, d’intesa con il Dipartimento della Protezione civile e il Dipartimento dei Vigili del Fuoco, ha quindi disposto l’invio di due Canadair CL 415 del Dipartimento dei Vigili del Fuoco, nell’ambito del progetto Buffer-IT (Better Use of ForestFire Extinguishing Resources by Italy) del Meccanismo Europeo di Protezione Civile, strumento dell’Unione Europea nato per rispondere tempestivamente ed in maniera efficace alle emergenze che si verificano su un territorio interno o esterno all’Unione, attraverso la condivisione delle risorse di tutti gli Stati membri.

I due canadair e gli equipaggi italiani, in partenza da Ciampino (RM), tenendo conto delle ore di volo e dello scalo tecnico necessari per raggiungere lo scenario delle operazioni, si prevede che possano operare già dalla mattina di mercoledì 18 luglio. A supporto dei piloti, al fine di tenere i necessari contatti con le autorità locali di protezione civile, saranno sul posto anche un rappresentante del Dipartimento della Protezione civile italiana e del Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco.

Grazie Italia:)

Tour de France Annecy-Le Grand Bornand 158.5 km
1 Julian Alaphilippe France
Greg van Avermaet defends his yellow jersey by attaching. Bravo!

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The GC standings after today.
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 36:07:17
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:43
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:44
4 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:50
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:31
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:32
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
8 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:42
9 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:42
10 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:42

Veteran Alejandro Valverde in 5th:)

Tour de France Roubaix
1 John Degenkolb Germany
Richie Porte falls and retires like last year

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Tour de France Amiens
1 Dylan Groenewegen Nederlands
Big fall and many delayed Greg Van Avermaet always leader

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And tomorrow on the Bastille-Day stage finishes in the home town of French president Emmanuel Macron!
A flat race that most likely Greg van Avermaet still will have the maillot jaune.
However on Sunday it's Arras Citadelle - Roubaix. Lot's of cobblestone roads (pavés) !
That stage will end about 4pm just in time before we start watching France vs Croatia:)

Tou de France Chartres
1 Dylan Groenewegen Nederlands
Greg van Avermaet always leader

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Tour de France
Peter Martin,Eire, wins on the Mur de Bretagne. Greg Van Avermaet,Belgium, leads.

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