Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/712794
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2016 Sport 50 THE Team Dimension Data sprinter came around the wheel of Marcel Kittel in the final straight and took victory ahead of Norwegian Alexander Kristoff of Katusha and Tinkoff 's world champion Peter Sagan in third. There was a brief wait for con- firmation of the result after Kit- tel complained the Manxman had cut across him, but the com- missaires rules in Cavendish's favour. The 208.5km stage from Mon- telimar had finished with a three kilometre straight directly into the headwind, and Cavendish bided his time as he lurked be- hind the big frame of Kittel. But when the German lit it up, Cavendish burst off his wheel and blew by him with apparent ease before holding off those coming up behind. It was the sixth stage win for a British rider in this year's Tour. Cavendish is responsible for four while his team-mate Steve Cummings won stage seven and Team Sky's Chris Froome - who finished safely in the pack to re- tain the yellow jersey - took stage eight. Cavendish enjoyed his best ever first week of a Tour de France with victories on stages one, four and six, and the Dimension Data rider proved he still has strong form after coming through the first mountain tests. Last week Cavendish moved past Bernard Hinault in second on the all-time list of Tour stage winners and this latest success leaves him four behind the record of five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx. There has been speculation throughout the Tour that the Manxman would at some point withdraw to focus on prepara- tions for racing on the track at the Rio Olympics, but with his form so strong he will also have an eye on a fifth career victory on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Kittel, having made his move first, ended up fifth and behind fellow German John Degenkolb as he waved an arm in frustra- tion. As France began three days of national mourning, there was a minute's silence prior to the start of the stage in Montelimar to honour the victims of Thursday's terrorist attack in Nice. The start time had been brought forward due to the strong head- winds blowing from the north and when they did start mov- ing, the pace was understandably slow. It took time for the break to get away, but Jeremy Roy (FDJ), Alex Howes (Cannondale), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18) and Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) eventually got away. They built a lead which maxed out at four and half minutes but though Roy and Elmiger fought hard to stay clear in the wind, they shook hands and were mopped up with three kilometres to go as the sprint trains took over. Ahead of Sunday's mountain- ous 160km stage from Bourg-en- Bresse to Culoz, Froome leads by one minute and 47 seconds from Trek-Segafredo's Bauke Mollema. Briton Adam Yates of Orica- BikeExchange remains third, two minutes and 45 seconds down with Nario Quintana of Movistar fourth, two minutes and 59 sec- onds back. CYCLING - TOUR DE FRANCE OLYMPICS Cavendish storms to fourth stage win Mark Cavendish claimed his fourth stage win of the 2016 Tour de France and 30th of his career with victory on stage 14 in the Parc des Oiseaux in Villars-les-Dombes Mark Cavendish USADA wants blanket ban on Russian athletes in Rio THE United States and Canadian Anti-Doping Agencies want a complete ban on Russia compet- ing at the Rio Olympics after next week's key report into allegations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics is pub- lished, according to a leaked draft letter seen by Reuters on Satur- day. Russia's track and field athletes are already banned from compet- ing at next month's Olympics by the world governing International Association of Athletics' Fed- erations (IAAF) over widespread doping in the sport. In the draft letter addressed to the International Olympic Com- mittee (IOC), which will be sent once the report into Sochi led by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren is presented on Monday, United States Anti-Doping Agen- cy (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart calls for a ban on all Russian ath- letes, not just in track and field. "We write on behalf of a com- munity of clean athletes and anti- doping organizations with faith that the IOC can lead the way forward by upholding the princi- ples of Olympism," said the draft letter signed by Tygart and Cana- dian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES) CEO Paul Melia. "Therefore, consistent with the Principles, Charter and Code we request that the IOC Executive Board take the action to sus- pend the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committee from par- ticipating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. "The only appropriate, and per- missible, course of action in these unprecedented circumstances is for the IOC to immediately sus- pend the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees from the Olympic Movement.... and declare that no athlete can rep- resent Russia at the Rio Olympic Games." USADA and CCES were not im- mediately available to comment. The draft letter has also been circulated to the World Anti- Doping Agency's (WADA) Ath- lete Committee members by Can- ada's Beckie Scott, who chairs the committee, asking whether they agree to support it. "The letter outlines a basis for suspension of the Russian NOC (National Olympic Committee) from Rio, in light of the evidence and information that will come as a result of this report, and aligns very much with the position we have taken so far in this (long) process," Scott wrote in an e-mail dated July 16. "You will also note that it pre- sents a caveat - much as with the IAAF decision - to permit ath- letes who have lived outside the regime, been subject to strict do- ing controls, etc, to still compete in Rio." IOC President Thomas Bach said last month that individual Russian track and field athletes assessed as clean would be able to compete for their country in Brazil. WADA set up an investigation under McLaren to the probe alle- gations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.