Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/349229
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 JULY 2014 48 MAJKA formed part of a strong 17- man breakaway early in the day but moved into lone lead with an accel- eration 8.4km from the summit fin- ish in Risoul and held on to win by 24 seconds. Nibali was the next man over the line after dropping all of his rivals for overall victory with an attack 3.6km out, while Jean-Christophe Peraud finished two seconds later in third after being the only rider able to fol- low the Italian's surge. Nibali's lead at the top of the gen- eral classification is now 4min 37sec after second-placed Alejandro Val- verde wilted badly on the final climb and lost 60 seconds to the yellow jer- sey holder. Valverde was also distanced by the riders immediately behind him in the standings and consequently sees his advantage over third-placed Romain Bardet cut to just 13 seconds, with Thibaut Pinot a further 16 seconds adrift in fourth. Majka, who was called up to Tinkoff-Saxo's Tour team at the last minute and wasn't overly keen to take part, said: "This is the first victory of my career. I am always second or third, but today I knew I needed to at- tack on the climb." Stage 14 took the riders over the huge Alpine climbs of the Col du La- utaret and Col d'Izoard, before end- ing with a second successive summit finish. A 17-man breakaway containing Team Sky duo Geraint Thomas and Mikel Nieve, Englishman Simon Yates, Joaquim Rodriguez, Peter Sa- gan and Ireland's Nicolas Roche was allowed to move clear and build up a lead of over four minutes early in the day. But when that was cut to less than three minutes on the Izoard and then to just over a minute leading on to the final climb, it looked certain that all of the escapees would be caught well before the finish. Majka had other ideas, though, and after chasing down an attack from Alessandro De Marchi, he left the Italian behind with an acceleration of his own on the lower slopes of the road up to Risoul. He was able to stretch his lead from around 40 seconds to more than a minute, and that cushion proved enough to ensure the 24-year-old be- comes only the second Polish rider in history to win a stage of the Tour. Back down the road, the peloton was whittled down to just a small group made up mainly of general classification contenders, but with no one committing to an attack, Nibali took matters into his own hands with a ferocious burst of speed. He quickly halved his deficit to Ma- jka, but was unable to make the catch and subsequently missed out on a fourth stage win of the race. Valverde, meanwhile, was by now struggling badly and fell away fol- lowing an attack 2km out from Tejay van Garderen, who himself then lost ground when Pinot and Bardet began sprinting for the finish line. Sport CYCLING - TOUR DE FRANCE BOXING Majka wins stage 14 as Nibali extends lead Breakaway rider Rafal Majka climbed to a solo victory on stage 14 of the Tour de France as Vincenzo Nibali extended his overall lead by another minute. Stage 14 result 1 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, 5:08:27 2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, +0:24 3 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +0:26 4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ, +0:50 5 Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, same time 6 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC, +0:54 7 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racin, +1:01 8 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin, +1:07 9 Leopold Konig (Cze) NetApp-Endura. +1:20 10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +1:24 General classification 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, 61:52:54 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +4:37 3 Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +4:50 4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ, +5:06 5 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC, +5:49 6 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +6:08 7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin, +8:33 8 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team NetApp-Endura, +9:32 9 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin, +10:01 10 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Europcar, +10:48 Maidana agrees to bet entire purse on beating Mayweather MARCOS Maidana has accepted Floyd May weather's proposal to put his entire purse on the line ahead of their September 13 re- match. The duo confirmed they would do battle again in Las Vegas after an entertaining fight last May. American May weather improved his perfect professional record to 46-0 with a majorit y decision vic- tory over Maidana to unif y two world titles in their first fight in Las Vegas on May 4. In promoting the second fight May weather said to the Argen- tine: "However much you're mak- ing for the fight, I' ll bet you I' ll beat you. "That's how much I believe in myself because I can afford to give up whatever. So if you believe in your skills like you say you be- lieve in your skills, however much you're making for the fight, I' ll bet I beat you. "If he believes in his skills, bet the fight. Either you're going to bet or not. Since I know I'm prob- ably making about $70m (£41m). He believes in his skills and I be- lieve in my skills." Maidana has now responded and accepted the bet: "As far as the bet, yeah, I'm willing to take the bet no problem. I will take the bet." May weather added the hard- hitting Argentine's World Boxing Association belt to his own World Boxing Council title. However, Maidana made a fast start in that bout, launching a blizzard of punches and trapping his opponent against the ropes at every turn in the first few rounds. Though May weather went on to dominate the second half of that contest, Maidana felt he had done enough to get the decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. "I definitely feel like I won this fight. Floyd did not fight like a man, like I expected him to," Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) told re- porters afterwards. May weather exuded confidence while awaiting the decision, with one judge ruling the fight a 114- 114 draw while the other two scored the bout 117-111 and 116- 112 in his favour. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt