Dein erstes Forum » way thanks to a moment of madness from Israel Folau,

ARCALIS, Andorra -- Through hail, heat and constant pressure from some of his main rivals, Chris Froome rode strong during the toughest stage in the Pyrenees of the Tour de France on Sunday.The British riders furious pedaling in an uphill finish padded his lead over several opponents and put him in control with the yellow jersey entering the races first rest day.That was a tough stage and the weather made it even tougher, Froome said. One minute we were pouring water over our heads and ice packs down our backs and the next minute there was ice falling from the sky.We were just trying to ride face down so the hail didnt hit our faces, added Froome, who took the yellow jersey with a downhill attack and stage win a day earlier. It was pretty difficult out there.Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin won the ninth leg with a solo breakaway on the beyond-category finishing climb.Froome crossed 11th, 6:35 behind Dumoulin, right behind fellow British rider Adam Yates and immediately ahead of top rival Nairo Quintana of Colombia.In the back of my mind I was waiting for (Quintanas) attack all the way up the last climb, Froome said. I thought he was saving it for one big one. But that never came. I would like to think he was on his limit. It was a tough day out there. He just stuck to my wheel like glue.He seems to be going well but right now hes not showing any more than anyone else, Froome added.In the overall classification, Froome holds a 16-second lead over Yates, with Dan Martin of Ireland third, 19 seconds behind, and Quintana fourth, 23 seconds back.Its a very open race at this point but Im very happy to have the lead going into the first rest day, Froome said.Two-time champion Alberto Contador pulled out with a fever midway through the stage.Among those who couldnt keep up with Froome on the final climb were French favorite Romain Bardet, top American hope Tejay van Garderen and Fabio Aru of Italy.Bardet is sixth overall, 44 seconds behind, Van Garderen is 11th with a gap of 1:01 and Aru is 13th at 1:23.Still, Froome hasnt fully shaken Yates, Martin and Quintana.I feel that this is going to be the biggest battle of my career, said Froome, who won the Tour in 2013 and 2015. By no means did I expect this to be easy and that I would ride away from everyone. The level is higher.Part of an early breakaway, Dumoulin attacked with 12 kilometers remaining in the 184.5-kilometer (115-mile) leg from Vielha dAran, Spain, to Arcalis in the principality of Andorra.A few days ago if you said I would win maybe the hardest day in the whole Tour de France this year, I would say you were crazy, said Dumoulin, who was sick last week. But sometimes it all comes together and the legs were feeling good today.Im a time trialist so if I have a gap its difficult to close it on me, Dumoulin added.The stage featured five demanding climbs, including an uphill, beyond-category finish in Arcalis.We went through all states, Bardet said. In the valley, the heat was suffocating. Then in the finale it was apocalyptic.On Team Giant-Alpecin, Dumoulin won the opening time trial in this years Giro dItalia and wore the overall leaders pink jersey for six stages before withdrawing midway through the race with saddle sores.He also won two stages in last years Spanish Vuelta.Approaching the finish line Sunday, Dumoulin turned around to make eye contact with his team director in a car behind him and then, on the verge of tears, stuck his tongue out and raised his arms in celebration.Rui Costa, the former world champion from Portugal, crossed second and Rafal Majka of Poland was third, each 38 seconds behind.Contador crashed in each of the opening stages and had already dropped significant time to the other overall favorites. He was in 20th position at the end of Saturdays eighth stage, 3 minutes, 12 seconds behind Froome.It was quite a surprise to hear on the radio that he was in the car, Froome said. Its a shame. Hes a great rider and he would have only added to what is already quite an exciting race.For the second consecutive day, there was an incident involving a spectator. George Bennett of New Zealand knocked down a fan blocking his way while coming around a tight turn.Monday is the races first rest day. Then there is one more stage in the Pyrenees on Tuesday, a 197-kilometer (122-mile) leg from Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra, to Revel, France.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Wholesale Asics Shoes Authentic . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Asics Shoes From China . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.cheapasics.com/ . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. Cheap Asics Shoes . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Cheap Asics Shoes From China .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Australias search for a maiden Test win at Loftus Versfeld continues after a 18-10 defeat to South Africa on Saturday in the Rugby Championship.Despite an encouraging display, the Wallabies failed to cash in on their periods of dominance , with the Springboks extending their barren record in Pretoria and snapping a three-match losing streak in the process.It also may have come at a heavy cost, with new No.8 Sean McMahon (ankle) failing to emerge in the second half - which, if serious, could send coach Michael Cheika back to the selection drawing board.All of South Africas points came from the boot of recalled five-eighth Morne Steyn, who kicked four penalties, two drop goals and expertly steered his team to victory.Cheika spoke on match eve of persisting with the Australian way despite the noise around hoodoos, altitude and opposition tactics, and thats exactly what they did - just not for long enough.The Wallabies enjoyed a largely error-free first 20 minutes, looked assured with the ball in hand and had the better of territory and possession for most of the evening.They established a 10-3 lead after a Bernard Foley penalty and the games only try to Scott Sio, who crossed under the posts for his first at Test level to cap off an impressive multi-phase play peppered with smart offloads.But the Springboks fought back, threatenned on numerous occasions and then had the momentum swing back their way thanks to a moment of madness from Israel Folau, who was sin-binned for a collision with veteran winger Bryan Habana six minutes from the break.ddddddddddddWith only Folau to beat, the South African vice-captain kicked ahead but was clipped as he tried to move past, prompting referee Wayne Barnes to produce his yellow card.Steyn slotted the resultant penalty and then kicked another on the half-time whistle, after Dean Mumm was caught offside, to put the Springboks ahead 12-10.From there the match turned into a grind - and the only points scored in the second half were Steyns 75th-minute penalty that confirmed victory for the Springboks, and a drop goal in the dying moments that sent the crowd of 38.704 wild.Winger Reece Hodge missed three penalty attempts, with two of them chances to put Australia ahead in the second half.The other was an audacious early crack from approximately 64m that would have equalled the longest penalty scored in Test history.It dropped less than a metre under the crossbar.The Wallabies will lick their wounds and fly to London on Sunday, ahead of their meeting with Argentina at Twickenham next weekend. 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