South African team creates history, wins Tour de France stage
Stephen Cummings of MTN-Qhubeka upstaged two French riders to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday while Chris Froome continues to lead this year’s race.
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Frenchmen Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot looked set to finish 1-2 at the end of the 178.5km stage from Rodez to Mende.
However, a moment of hesitation and delay to attack the final kilometre allowed Cummings to dart past both the French riders and take a memorable win ahead of Pinot and Bardet.
The victory was even more special for MTN-Qhubeka – which had become the first ever African team to take part in the Tour – as they achieved this honour on the international day to honour Mandela.
The stage was marked by a difficult climb at the finish which shuffled the general classification ranking.
Froome and Colombian rider Nairo Qunitana were the only ones who looked unfazed by the climb while other favourites like reigning champion Vincenzo Nibali, second placed Tejay Van Garderen and former champion Alberto Contador struggled to cope with it.
Qunitana now moves up to second place behind Froome ahead of Van Garderen. Spaniards Alejandro Valverde and Contador are now in fourth and fifth place respectively while Nibali is 8th in the standings.
The 15th stage, which takes place on Sunday, runs a distance of 183 km from Mende to Valence.
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