Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/706995
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 JULY 2016 49 A day after crashing in similar conditions, Froome remained upright on the long, wet descent of the Col de Joux Plane along- side his rivals, and will go into Sunday's largely processional stage into Paris leading by four minutes and five seconds from Frenchman Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale. Much of the penultimate 146.5km stage from Megeve was played out in heavy rain but Froome was able to avoid late dra- ma after dominating this Tour. The 31-year-old will become on- ly the eighth man to win three or more Tours after his victories in 2013 and 2015, and is the first to defend the Tour title since Miguel Indurain in 1995. He will join Philippe Thys, Loui- son Bobet and Greg LeMond on three titles, and will now have his eyes set on five-time winners Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Indurain. Froome said: "I still need to get the yellow jersey to Paris tomor- row but certainly the racing side is done and dusted. "It's an amazing feeling of relief, just coming over the last line to- day. Thank you to all my team- mates, they've really been there for me every step of the way and I couldn't ask for more." Jon Izaguirre was the last sur- vivor of what had been a 37-man breakaway earlier in the day, rac- ing clear of Vincenzo Nibali and Jarlinson Pantano on the sodden descent to take his first Tour de France stage win. Behind, there was little drama with none of Froome's main rivals prepared to risk crashing in the slippery conditions. Froome was content to cross the line four minutes and 18 seconds after Movistar's Izaguirre. The Briton has looked a cut above all of his rivals since early in the second week of this Tour, but Friday's crash had been a re- minder that nothing was won yet. He began the day sporting band- ages on his knee and elbow from that spill, and would not have re- laxed for a moment knowing he had to face the technical descent into Morzine before any celebra- tions could begin. The descent has a nasty reputa- tion in any conditions but the rain perhaps helped Froome in dis- couraging those around him from even attempting an attack. All nine Sky riders finished the stage, with the strength of Froome's team key to his victory. Nairo Quintana, seen as Froome's main pre-Tour rival, is set for third place, four minutes and 21 seconds behind Froome. It will be the Colombian's third po- dium finish in the Tour after the Movistar rider finished second to Froome in 2013 and 2015. Adam Yates, the 23-year-old Briton, is fourth, four minutes 42 seconds down and safe in the white jersey as the best young rider - the first Briton to wear it in to Paris. "This is only my second Tour de France and only my third Grand Tour," the Orica-BikeExchange rider said. "For a lot of people it's a dream to ride in the Tour, for me to come in the top 10 or top five, I'm super happy. "I've learned a lot of things, gained a lot of experience and I'm sure I'll be back in the future to go one step further." Irishman Dan Martin of Etixx- QuickStep sits ninth, seven min- utes and four seconds behind Froome. Tour de France 2016 Standings (after stage 20) 1 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, 86:21:40 2 Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +4:05 3 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +4:21 4 Adam Yates (GB) Orica- BikeExchange, +4.42 5 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, +5:17 6 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +6:16 7 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Esp) Team Katusha +6:58 8 Louis Meintjes (SA) Etixx - Quick- Step, +6:58 9 Dan Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step, +7:04 10 Roman Kreuziger - Tinkoff, +7:11 TOUR DE FRANCE OLYMPICS Froome on brink of third Tour title Chris Froome crossed the line safely after a tricky final mountain stage to all but wrap up a third Tour de France victory Chris Froome Russian athletes have only 1 percent chance of going to Rio - TASS cites minister THERE is just a one percent probability that the Interna- tional Olympic Committee will allow Russian track-and-field athletes to take part in the Rio Olympics, TASS news agency quoted Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko as saying on Sat- urday. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected on Thursday Rus- sia's appeal against a doping ban for its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia