A man who tried to warn a North Carolina amusement park about a huge crack in the ride’s support beam said staff were ‘nonchalant’ and had ‘no urgency’ to fix it Yahoo News
Huge crack in roller coaster at North Carolina amusement park WTHR
Company that built cracked roller coaster at Carowinds inspecting damage WCNC
Large break on Fury 325 marks latest incident at Carowinds with history of ‘consistent problems’ WGHP FOX8 Greensboro
Man Who Reported Crack In Roller Coaster Says He Received Concerning Response From Staff Yahoo News
banked historic profit last year as the pandemic receded and the war in Ukraine pushed oil prices to multiyear highs, with its shares climbing 53% for the year while other sectors tumbled.
The U.S. oil company in its quarterly earnings reported Friday that it collected $35.5 billion in its highest-ever annual profit in 2022, more than double the prior year and about one-third higher than its previous record in 2011. Almost $50 billion in cash streamed in from its oil-leveraged operations, another record that is underpinning plans to pay investors through a new $75 billion share-repurchase program over the next several years.
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That payout, announced Wednesday, is roughly equivalent to the stock-market value of companies such as the big-box retailer
Target Corp.
, the pharmaceutical firm
Moderna Inc.
and
Airbnb Inc.
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after
Exxon Mobil Corp.
, posted revenue of $246.3 billion, up from $162.5 billion the previous year. The San Ramon, Calif., company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $6.4 billion, up from $5.1 billion in the same period the prior year.
The fourth-quarter results came short of analyst expectations, and Chevron shares closed down more than 4% Friday.
For all of its recent winnings, though, Chevron and its rival oil-and-gas producers could face a rockier year in 2023, according to investors and analysts, if an anticipated slowdown in U.S. economic growth dents demand for oil, and if China’s reopening from strict Covid-19 restrictions unfolds slowly.
U.S. oil prices have held steady this year, but are off about 36% from last year’s peak. The industry is proceeding with caution, holding capital expenditures for 2023 below prepandemic levels and saying production will grow only modestly. Chevron has said it plans to spend about $17 billion in capital expenditures this year, up more than 25% from the prior year, but $3 billion less than it planned to spend in 2020 before Covid-19 took root.
Oil companies are still outperforming other sectors such as tech and finance, which have seen widespread job cuts in recent weeks. The energy segment of the S&P 500 index has climbed 43.7% over the past year, compared with a 6.7% drop for the broader index.
Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth said the company is unsure of what 2023 will bring after global energy supplies were squeezed because of geopolitical events last year, particularly in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said markets appeared to be stabilizing.
“We certainly have seen a very unusual and volatile year in 2022,” Mr. Wirth said, noting the European energy crisis has proven less dire than anticipated thanks to milder winter weather, growing natural gas inventories in Europe. “China’s economy has been slow throughout the year, which looks to be turning around. It’s good that markets have calmed.”
Chevron projects its output in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico to grow at a slower pace this year.
Photo:
David Goldman/Associated Press
Chevron hit a record in U.S. oil-and-gas production in 2022, increasing 4% to about 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, stemming from its increased focus on capital investments in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, where it boosted output 16% last year. Worldwide, Chevron’s oil-and-gas production was down 3.2% compared with the prior year, at 2.99 million barrels of oil-equivalent a day.
Its overall return on capital employed came in at 20%, it said.
“There aren’t many sectors generating the type of free cash flow that energy is right now,” said
Jeff Wyll,
an analyst at investment firm Neuberger Berman, which has invested in Chevron. “The sector really can’t be ignored. Given the supply-demand balance, you have to have some things go wrong here to see a pullback in oil prices.”
Even so, institutional investors have shown limited interest so far in returning to the energy sector, after years of poor returns and heightened concerns about their environmental impact prompted large financiers to sell off their stakes in oil-and-gas companies or stop investing in drillers outright.
Pete Bowden,
global head of industrial, energy and infrastructure banking at
Jefferies Financial Group Inc.,
said energy companies in the S&P 500 index are throwing off 12% of the group’s free-cash flow, but only account for about 5% of the index’s weighting—an indication their stock prices are lagging behind.
Investors’ concerns around environmental, social and governance-related issues are a constraint on the share prices of energy companies, “yet the earnings power of these businesses is superior to the earnings power of companies in other sectors,” he said.
Chevron and others have faced criticism from the Biden administration and others that they are giving priority to shareholder returns over pumping oil and gas at a time when global supplies are tight and Americans are feeling pain at the pump. On Thursday, the White House assailed Chevron’s $75 billion buyout program, saying the payout was proof the company could boost production but was choosing to reward investors instead.
Pierre Breber,
Chevron’s finance chief, said the company expects oil prices to be volatile but within a range needed to sustain its dividend and investments. There are some optimistic signs, he added, including that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter, at 2.9%.
“Supply is tight. Oil-field services are near capacity, and we continue to have sanctions on Russian production,” Mr. Breber said. “You’re seeing international flights out of China are way up, and low unemployment in the U.S.”
Mr. Breber said Chevron’s output in the Permian this year is expected to grow at a slower pace, around 10%, because it has exhausted much of its inventory of wells that it had drilled but hadn’t brought into production.
Exxon, which has typically posted quarterly earnings on the same day as Chevron, will report Tuesday. Analysts expect it will also post record profit for 2022, according to FactSet.
Both companies expect to slow their output growth this year in the Permian, considered their growth engine. The two U.S. oil majors, which had been growing output faster in the U.S. than most independent shale producers, are beginning to step up their focus on shareholder returns and allow output growth to ease, said Neal Dingmann, an analyst at Truist Securities.
“This has all been driven by investor requirements,” Mr. Dingmann said.
Thanks in large part to delays suffered by Arianespace’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, a small fleet of European satellites are simultaneously converging on the United States to hitch rides into orbit with SpaceX.
SpaceX launching European payloads is nothing new. The company has occasionally launched spacecraft built in Europe for European space agencies or companies, but the combination is exceedingly rare. For several reasons, however, what was once alien is beginning to become commonplace, and that fact is about to be made even clearer over the remainder of 2022.
SpaceX kicked off a string of six or seven launches of spacecraft built by or for Europe on October 15th. Over the weekend, the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket – 70 meters (230 ft) tall, 3.7 meters (12 ft) wide, and capable of producing up to 770 tons (1.7M lbf) of thrust at liftoff – successfully launched the Hotbird 13F communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) for the French satcom company Eutelsat.
Hotbird 13F is the first of three Eutelsat satellites the company secretly agreed to launch on SpaceX rockets. Hours after its twin’s launch, Hotbird 13G arrived in Florida in a custom Airbus Beluga XL transport jet (its first visit to the US since 2009) and will soon begin preparing for its own ride on a SpaceX rocket as early as November 2022. Eutelsat 10B, also on track to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket sometime in November, likely left France for Florida on an oceangoing Arianespace ship on October 12th.
Normally, selecting the launch provider for communication satellites that cost eight or nine figures is accompanied by a press release and plenty of celebration. That the European Space Agency, Eutelsat, Airbus, and Thales Alenia said next to nothing until the last moment says a lot about how all parties involved really feel about transferring three of their satellites onto SpaceX rockets. Originally, all three were intended to launch on Arianespace’s rockets: Eutelsat 10B on one of the last Ariane 5s and Hotbird 13F and 13G on one of the first Ariane 6s.
It’s not entirely clear why Ariane 5 wasn’t able to launch Eutelsat 10B, but it’s unsurprising that partners ESA, Thales Alenia, Airbus, and Eutelsat decided to move Hotbird 13F and 13G to Falcon 9. The Ariane 6 rocket meant to launch both satellites simultaneously is years behind schedule, and its launch debut recently slipped even further from late 2022 to sometime in 2023. Originally scheduled to debut in mid-2020, it’s now possible – if not likely – that Ariane 6 won’t be ready to launch until the second half of next year (or even later).
Thanks to those delays, the new rocket will enter the scene with a very busy 2023 and 2024 manifest packed with high-value institutional and commercial payloads from all across Europe. In other words, a pair of semi-commercial communications satellites like Hotbird 13F/13G could have easily been forced to wait for a year or more to launch on Ariane 6. Adding insult to injury, Hotbird 13F and 13G are the first two satellites built under the joint European Space Agency and Airbus Eurostar Neo program, and will now be flying on an American rocket built by a company that is almost singlehandedly responsible for ending a golden era of competitive European launch services.
At the Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting this morning, NASA says that ESA is exploring options to launch the Euclid mission on a Falcon 9 in mid or late 2023. It was to launch on a Soyuz, which is no longer an option; not many other alternatives for a 2023 launch.
— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) October 17, 2022
With confidence in Ariane 6’s debut timing lower than ever, a NASA official recently revealed that ESA is even studying the possibility of launching Euclid – a next-generation two-ton space telescope – on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Euclid was originally scheduled to launch on one of Arianespace’s Russian-built Soyuz 2.1 rockets (or Ariane 6) in mid-2022. That contract was signed in 2020, six years after Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the world of his instability, recklessness, and brutality by illegally and unofficially invading Ukraine. In February 2022, after months of obvious buildup, Russia doubled down on its Ukraine offensive with an openly genocidal full-scale invasion. In the aftermath, it kidnapped a batch of European OneWeb satellites, requisitioned a Soyuz rocket the company had already paid for, kneecapped a joint European-Russian Mars mission, and (while mostly mutual) revoked its support of European Soyuz launches.
That has effectively removed Russia as a serious option for European launches or collarboration, leaving several European missions and companies in limbo. Britain’s OneWeb, for example, had an exclusive contract with Russia to launch its entire low Earth orbit (LEO) internet satellite constellation on up to 21 Soyuz rockets. After losing $230 million in the process, the company was forced to abruptly shift gears, and is now on track to launch its first batch of satellites since early 2022 on an Indian SLV-3 rocket. One of at least two SpaceX Falcon 9 missions could follow as early as December 2022. Unless Ariane 6 aces its launch debut in the near future, many more European payloads could find themselves in similar positions in 2023 and 2024.
US Air Force C5 Galaxy cargo plane successfully delivered SWOT oceanography satellite in California, yesterday at 10PM local Time. Meant to revolutionize the fields of #oceanography and #hydrology, the satellite will be launched from Vandenberg by @SpaceX in December. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/Tw16ZWUQOB
— Thales Alenia Space (@Thales_Alenia_S) October 17, 2022
Meanwhile, several other European-made payloads are preparing for Falcon 9 launches. While these payloads have been assigned to SpaceX rockets from the start, they still demonstrate just how big of a bite the US startup has taken out of the European launch industry. Most recently, the joint NASA-ESA-CSA Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft was flown from France to California on October 17th. Falcon 9 will launch SWOT from the California coast as early as December 2022.
Soon, Japanese startup ispace’s first HAKUTO-R Moon lander – largely assembled, tested, and propellant by France’s ArianeGroup – will be transported from Germany to Florida for a November 2022 SpaceX launch. Germany’s second and third SARah radar satellites could head to the US shortly for a Falcon 9 launch tentatively scheduled as early as the final days of 2022 or early 2023. Finally, SpaceX could complete its first OneWeb launch around the same time.
European spacecraft converge on the US for rides on SpaceX rockets
Thanks in large part to delays suffered by Arianespace’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, a small fleet of European satellites are simultaneously converging on the United States to hitch rides into orbit with SpaceX.
SpaceX launching European payloads is nothing new. The company has occasionally launched spacecraft built in Europe for European space agencies or companies, but the combination is exceedingly rare. For several reasons, however, what was once alien is beginning to become commonplace, and that fact is about to be made even clearer over the remainder of 2022.
SpaceX kicked off a string of six or seven launches of spacecraft built by or for Europe on October 15th. Over the weekend, the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket – 70 meters (230 ft) tall, 3.7 meters (12 ft) wide, and capable of producing up to 770 tons (1.7M lbf) of thrust at liftoff – successfully launched the Hotbird 13F communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) for the French satcom company Eutelsat.
Hotbird 13F is the first of three Eutelsat satellites the company secretly agreed to launch on SpaceX rockets. Hours after its twin’s launch, Hotbird 13G arrived in Florida in a custom Airbus Beluga XL transport jet (its first visit to the US since 2009) and will soon begin preparing for its own ride on a SpaceX rocket as early as November 2022. Eutelsat 10B, also on track to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket sometime in November, likely left France for Florida on an oceangoing Arianespace ship on October 12th.
Normally, selecting the launch provider for communication satellites that cost eight or nine figures is accompanied by a press release and plenty of celebration. That the European Space Agency, Eutelsat, Airbus, and Thales Alenia said next to nothing until the last moment says a lot about how all parties involved really feel about transferring three of their satellites onto SpaceX rockets. Originally, all three were intended to launch on Arianespace’s rockets: Eutelsat 10B on one of the last Ariane 5s and Hotbird 13F and 13G on one of the first Ariane 6s.
It’s not entirely clear why Ariane 5 wasn’t able to launch Eutelsat 10B, but it’s unsurprising that partners ESA, Thales Alenia, Airbus, and Eutelsat decided to move Hotbird 13F and 13G to Falcon 9. The Ariane 6 rocket meant to launch both satellites simultaneously is years behind schedule, and its launch debut recently slipped even further from late 2022 to sometime in 2023. Originally scheduled to debut in mid-2020, it’s now possible – if not likely – that Ariane 6 won’t be ready to launch until the second half of next year (or even later).
Thanks to those delays, the new rocket will enter the scene with a very busy 2023 and 2024 manifest packed with high-value institutional and commercial payloads from all across Europe. In other words, a pair of semi-commercial communications satellites like Hotbird 13F/13G could have easily been forced to wait for a year or more to launch on Ariane 6. Adding insult to injury, Hotbird 13F and 13G are the first two satellites built under the joint European Space Agency and Airbus Eurostar Neo program, and will now be flying on an American rocket built by a company that is almost singlehandedly responsible for ending a golden era of competitive European launch services.
At the Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting this morning, NASA says that ESA is exploring options to launch the Euclid mission on a Falcon 9 in mid or late 2023. It was to launch on a Soyuz, which is no longer an option; not many other alternatives for a 2023 launch.
— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) October 17, 2022
With confidence in Ariane 6’s debut timing lower than ever, a NASA official recently revealed that ESA is even studying the possibility of launching Euclid – a next-generation two-ton space telescope – on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Euclid was originally scheduled to launch on one of Arianespace’s Russian-built Soyuz 2.1 rockets (or Ariane 6) in mid-2022. That contract was signed in 2020, six years after Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the world of his instability, recklessness, and brutality by illegally and unofficially invading Ukraine. In February 2022, after months of obvious buildup, Russia doubled down on its Ukraine offensive with an openly genocidal full-scale invasion. In the aftermath, it kidnapped a batch of European OneWeb satellites, requisitioned a Soyuz rocket the company had already paid for, kneecapped a joint European-Russian Mars mission, and (while mostly mutual) revoked its support of European Soyuz launches.
That has effectively removed Russia as a serious option for European launches or collarboration, leaving several European missions and companies in limbo. Britain’s OneWeb, for example, had an exclusive contract with Russia to launch its entire low Earth orbit (LEO) internet satellite constellation on up to 21 Soyuz rockets. After losing $230 million in the process, the company was forced to abruptly shift gears, and is now on track to launch its first batch of satellites since early 2022 on an Indian SLV-3 rocket. One of at least two SpaceX Falcon 9 missions could follow as early as December 2022. Unless Ariane 6 aces its launch debut in the near future, many more European payloads could find themselves in similar positions in 2023 and 2024.
US Air Force C5 Galaxy cargo plane successfully delivered SWOT oceanography satellite in California, yesterday at 10PM local Time. Meant to revolutionize the fields of #oceanography and #hydrology, the satellite will be launched from Vandenberg by @SpaceX in December. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/Tw16ZWUQOB
— Thales Alenia Space (@Thales_Alenia_S) October 17, 2022
Meanwhile, several other European-made payloads are preparing for Falcon 9 launches. While these payloads have been assigned to SpaceX rockets from the start, they still demonstrate just how big of a bite the US startup has taken out of the European launch industry. Most recently, the joint NASA-ESA-CSA Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft was flown from France to California on October 17th. Falcon 9 will launch SWOT from the California coast as early as December 2022.
Soon, Japanese startup ispace’s first HAKUTO-R Moon lander – largely assembled, tested, and propellant by France’s ArianeGroup – will be transported from Germany to Florida for a November 2022 SpaceX launch. Germany’s second and third SARah radar satellites could head to the US shortly for a Falcon 9 launch tentatively scheduled as early as the final days of 2022 or early 2023. Finally, SpaceX could complete its first OneWeb launch around the same time.
European spacecraft converge on the US for rides on SpaceX rockets
What a weekend. Right? Let’s just get into it while the good-ish wrestling vibes flow.
And shoutout to Claire for working like a mad woman all weekend. That continued tonight too in her blog.
Monster Among Bad Logic
Walk with me a bit, Cagesiders. Now, I’m not the biggest Braun Strowman fan, so keep that in mind while you read these words. That said, I understand his purpose and know the crowd loves him. So he clearly has value to the game—double entendre intended. You know what I am a fan of though?
Logic.
The Fatal 4-Way match for a shot at the Usos was on thin ice before Braun showed up and wrecked shop. First off, we got a really fun moment between Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. Both New Day members were the legal men as Alpha Academy, the Street Profits, and Los Lotharios looked on with great delight. Xavier and Kofi fronted like they were really going to do the damn thing only for Xavier to lie down in the middle of the ring while Kofi went for the pin. Smart!
A great illustration of New Day’s experience over every other team in the ring with them. The other teams quickly swarmed the ring and chaos ensued as the ref stopped counting. Also makes sense. Kofi and X fought off everyone and got the other teams outside of the ring.
Now, I initially thought that X and Kofi’s next moves made no sense. Rather than go for the pin attempt again since, ya know, the other teams are outside of the ring, discombobulated, and distracted, Kofi Xavier went for…suicide dives. The two men who just tried outsmarting everyone didn’t do that same trick when they were in an even better position to pull off such a thing! But apparently, Otis was the legal man at that point. I wasn’t the only one confused since Xavier explained the back and forth in an exchange on that Bird app.
Otis tagged Kofi so unfortunately both of us were no longer legal at that point. Or else we would have wrapped that up with a quickness. Regardless we didn’t get beat up by Braun so it feels like we won anyway. https://t.co/Xj8ObNAKsx pic.twitter.com/OgfoHwSaMB
— Austin Creed ♂️DragonCon ➡️ Pax West (@AustinCreedWins) September 6, 2022
So the match continued. And it was a good one because these are good tag teams. Then that familiar roar echoed throughout Kansas City. Braun Strowman is back, people. He looks good, there are no more remnants of someone choo-choo-choosing him, and the crowd adored him. But, back to the logic again: Did it have to happen during an important match? More to the point, did it have to happen at the expense of all those teams?
Braun monster-handled three prominent tag teams—sorry, Los Lotharios—by himself. New Day? Wrecked. Street Profits? Laid out on the floor. Alpha Academy? Sent them back to school. WWE essentially told us Braun by himself should be the tag team champions. Much like when he teamed with that kid at WrestleMania.
And to top it off, the match didn’t finish! He destroyed everyone, obliterated the commentary table, ruptured the barricade with Otis’ body, and security finally calmed Braun until he walked to the back. Seriously, his onslaught against WWE’s top teams continued into the commercial break. It was picture-in-picture action. One of my favorite Pusha T songs “If You Know You Know” played during a Pizza Hut commercial and was basically the soundtrack to Braun’s destruction.
IF Braun is back, there’s gotta be a way to do it that doesn’t son a bunch of teams vying for tag team championship glory. Putting their bodies on the Strowman Express tracks while the train runs over them is shortsighted and does nothing for nobody involved. Except Strowman. And even then, only time will tell how bright that makes his star. What’s next for Braun? He’s going to SmackDown, so Geno will fill you in on how that goes down.
Extracurriculars
What Papi Wants…
Edge cut a hell of a promo during Raw’s opening segment. He perfectly told the story of his relationship with Dominik and his closeness with the Mysterio family. He transitioned to the fact he no longer sees Dom as a nephew or even as a little boy. He sees him as a “WWE Superstar” and “when you play a man’s game, you pay a man’s price.” Which is a very dope line. Edge called out Dom, Rey came to the ring instead.
Rey, decked in leather pants, pleaded for Edge’s forgiveness on behalf of his son. Edge said nah. Rhea Ripley showed up and told the world she made Dom “into a man.”
Do with that what you will but I cannot comment on it since I like my job.
This led to Finn Balor and Damian Priest jumping Edge and destroying his knee with a chair. All while Dom stood by Rhea’s side, dressed in black, and watched the carnage as his father pleaded with him to snap out of it.
With Edge out of commission and Dom under Rhea’s spell—which I completely understand—Ray challenged Finn or Damian to a match. Damian accepted and defeated Rey in a match where Rey never seemed focused. Of course not with his son on the outside of the ring. Even while emotionally compromised, Rey almost beat Priest. Rey dialed up the 619 but Dominik stood on the ring apron and blocked his dad. That was enough to throw Rey off of his game and get planted by the South of Heaven.
With Rey laid out, Dom and the Judgment Day stood over him. Rhea announced there’s one more person they need eradicated: Edge. “And what Papi wants, Papi gets.”
Again, do with that what you will.
So next week, Dom takes on Edge in a match I’m looking forward to because this is Raw’s most compelling story at the moment.
Please Mickey Don’t Sue Us
Damage CNTRL isn’t exactly the best way to illustrate the name, but I get it. Pretty sure Marvel licensed “Damage Control” and Disney owns Marvel. And if there’s one group of lawyers you never want to go into battle against, it’s Mickey Mouse’s lawyers.
But I digress.
Bayley, Dakota Kai, & IYO SKY hit the ring to gloat. As they should. Dakota and IYO announced their match against the women’s tag champs because apparently, Dakota wasn’t the legal woman even though she took the pin in the tag team championships finals. We shall see how that plays out.
The big story here is Bianca Belair showing up and challenging Bayley. Bayley, with the line of the night, says she doesn’t work on Labor Day, just wants to celebrate pinning the champ.
Bayley did hit a good note: Bianca can’t handle the fact she took the pin. So of course she wants to fight Bayley as soon as possible. Bayley, the heel she is, wants that fight on her terms and her time, which gives Bianca more time to stew. I kinda dig that. The follow up is important but digging a little deeper into Bianca’s psyche and putting the “control” in Bayley’s hands has potential.
Fight for Your Right
KO is a fighter. That’s the story every week and every match reinforces that. KO found himself against Austin Theory this week. Why? Because Theory ran his mouth inside of the ring and KO took offense in the name of good taste. And because he dislikes arrogant and delusional people in wrestling. After Theory failed yet another cash-in attempt at Clash at the Castle, KO believes Mr. Money in the Bank is the most arrogant and delusional person in the business.
They put on a really good match with Ko controlling most of the action but Theory showcasing some ruthlessness that serves his character well. The most ruthless moment was Austin slamming the back of KO’s head onto the edge of the steel steps. Seriously, ouch. I have no clue how Owens finished the match.
Yeah, I know it’s a worked spot but there’s no easy way to protect your skull against steel. But finish he did and he got the W for his troubles. He fought through that that pain and left Austin lying from a Pop Up Powerbomb and a Stunner.
KO’s rise continues while Austin Theory’s role as an inept punk moves to its next chapter. Which, is probably Johnny Gargano. Gargano returns to the ring next week, so it’s only a matter of time before those two wrassle.
Rage in the Cage
Miz refuses to talk about Dexter Lumis. So much so that he and Ciampa refer to him in the same way people in the Harry Potter universe refer to Voldemort. Despite him ignoring a thing trying to rid it of its power, Dexter overturned Miz’s truck and even showed up during his cage match with Bobby Lashley. Dexter’s appearance makes me not even want to mention the way Ciampa and Miz did their best to decimate Bobby before the bell rang. But I just did so there’s that. It was a fine match but because I knew Dexter was coming, I found myself more interested in how and where.
When Miz and Ciampa double teamed Lashley once again, stopping him from exiting the cage by pounding his head repeatedly with the cage door, Miz climbed the cage. Perched from atop and looking down, he spots Dexter, who was apparently under the ring the whole time. The shot of Dexter’s stoic face looking up at Miz was the funniest thing on Raw in quite some time. I’m still laughing thinking about it.
Lashley finished Miz with a spear, retained his title, and locked the cage to give Dexter and Miz some alone time. Then the show went off the air. It was a pretty abrupt ending to an okay show. I have no idea where they’re going with Dexter and Miz but I find myself feeling less interested the more it goes.
Maybe the end result will shock my system and get me back on board but we’re repeating the same beats here just in different forms. Dexter kidnapped Miz, then popped up in the back of his truck, and now they’re in a cage together. Dexter already got his hands on Miz more than once so locking them together in a cage loses it’s heft since there’s really no cat and mouse game afoot.
Just One More Thing…
Aliyah & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. It was a blink and you miss it affair. Later in the show, Doudrop and Nikki were arguing in the background of Damage CNTRL’s shot, with Nikki walking away in anger. Maybe they broke up? Maybe they’re just on the outs? Maybe I’m looking too much into something that no one else cares about? All are possible.
This wasn’t a newsy show coming off of an excellent event in Wales. Braun’s return is the headline but everything else, minus the Judgment Day’s story with Edge and Rey, was simply solid. Nothing wrong with solid at all but not necessary episode of Raw either. Which isn’t the place they need to be with the NFL kicking off in a couple days and Monday Night Football looming over the entire television landscape like an ominous cloud.
Grade: B
That’s my grade and I’m sticking to it. Your turn.
An Australian tourist is facing charges in Italy after getting caught riding a moped through the ruined city of Pompeii.
Tourist vehicles are banned from the 2,000-year-old site, a once-bustling Roman settlement that was destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.
The incident happened on Wednesday, and police say the 33-year-old tourist has been charged with “unauthorised access.”
“No danger was posed to the visitors or the site at any moment. The incident ended after only a few minutes thanks to the archaeological park’s efficient patrol service,” police said in a statement.
Italian media reacted with outrage to the incident, calling the Australian a “barbarian” even though he didn’t travel on any original roads and no artefacts were damaged.
Authorities believe the man, who later apologised, broke into the site through a gate used by maintenance vehicles.
This is just the latest episode of rule-breaching in Pompeii. In 2020, another tourist enraged locals by stepping onto an old building to take a selfie. The woman was never identified.
The Dane is surely – surely – destined to win the Tour now. He does so having cracked Pogacar, something that until this year’s Tour was considered impossible. And today, perhaps more importantly, he did so having shown such sportsmanship when Pogacar crashed on that descent. What a moment, what a win. A brilliant ride from Vingegaard.
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The green jersey of Van Aert leads the yellow of Vingegaard, ahead of the white jersey of Pogacar. Thomas is still a minute down, and Gaudu is on his tail. But here’s the moment the yellow jersey is decided, and Van Aert’s pacemaking leads to Pogacar being unable to live with the Jumbo-Visma pair. He drops off the back, and is immediately distanced. Vingegaard and Van Aert have the stage and the Tour in their grasp.
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9km to go: The pace Kuss is riding along may soon see the GC group catch up the trio at the front. It’s running Pogacar into the red zone, draining his ability to chase down Vingegaard, to mount another of those wildcat attacks. Van Aert though decides to go off the front, and with that, Pinot’s chance looks to have gone, and it’s only Martinez who can stay with him.
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Dani Martinez, Thibaut Pinot and Wout van Aert reach the bottom of the hill, and there is a stage win, a polka jersey and perhaps, in Van Aert’s case, the chance to land a GC win for Vingegaard. Louis Meintjes, chasing down Geraint Thomas’s third place, has joined the group of GC contenders.
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28km to go: Oh dear, that was almost very nasty, as Vingegaard almost comes a cropper, but then Pogacar actually comes off, and there will be road rash. Pogacar gets back on, gingerly, though rides like a demon to get back on, and Vingegaard sits up for his rival, and when they meet, there is a touch of hands
This was no Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador scenario. There is clear respect between the riders and they ease off in their chase down the hill, both recognising the danger involved. What a moment of sportsmanship.
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35km to go: Pogacar, once Kuss joins them, is hosed down by a rider he passes by, and then once Thomas joins the group, speeds on, and tries his best to shed Kuss, who then catches up again. The aim seems to be the speed up and slow down to shed Vingegaard and Kuss, in a game of cat and mouse. Then he slows down, allows Kuss and Thomas to rejoin him. Then off goes Thomas, up the hill, and stretching the field. Vingegaard looks highly stressed by all this happening around him. But can he be cracked? Pogacar goes off, and speeds past Thomas, with Vingegaard on the limit as he chases. Ciccone, the king of the mountains that never was, gets eaten up. The pace is relentless, deadly for those around them.
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38km to go: Van Aert has clearly been on the radio, and is doing his best to get over the top so that he can be there to aid Vingegaard later on. The result of that is that Ciccone has cracked, and that means Geschke, at the back of the field now and suffering, may yet find himself in polka at the end of the day. Ciccone is looking for Mollema, but no avail, the best-laid plans have been skewered by Van Aert. With McNulty winding it up in the GC group, the likes of Thomas and Yates are clinging on for dear life.
McNulty lifts the pace, but then sits back as his team leader goes away. Vingegaard reads the move, and sits off Pogacar, as the rest of the field is blown away as the dynamic duo power on. Pogacar is trying to isolate Vingegaard from his teammates. A glance back tells him Sepp Kuss can catch him up, and that he has Vingegaard out of the saddle, but that he is all on his own up this climb and then the Hautacam.
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66km to go: Louis Meintjes, who came second on Alpe D’Huez, chases the leading group led by Van Aert, as the climb twists itself round and round the hairpin bends, and slowly. Meintjes is about a minute behind, and on GC virtuel, he has ridden himself up to fourth. Long way to go yet today. Adam Yates, of Team Ineos, has been suffering today but the slow pace of the peloton has allowed him back on.
The group who will begin their descent together: Giulio Ciccone, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citröen), Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas, Carlos Verona, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost).
Ciccone is unchallenged as he goes over the summit first, and is now within three points of Geschke, who is sweating blood back down the hill. Ciccone will fancy picking up some more on the next hill.
The other news is that the two motorbikes that caused the accident including Jack Bauer have both been kicked off Le Tour.
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84km to go: Some calm? Seems like it for now, with an intermediate sprint and climb soon to come and a sizeable group away in front, though the gap is only around 20 seconds.
The makeup, a movable feast was this: Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Dani Martinez and Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Matej Mohoric 9(Bahrain Victorious), Alberto Dainese (Team DSM), Alexandr Ribsushenko (Astana-Qazaqstan), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Amaury Capiot (Arkea-Samsic), Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM), Nils Politt and Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Rigo Uran (EF), Matis Louvel (Arkea), Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)
Van Aert idles them home, nobody looking like they fancy challenging him. The green jersey is his, barring accident/Covid. The first climb approaches, and those 30 or so men will never be mentioned in the same breath again.
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95km to go: Van Aert joins up to make it a 30-man group up away at the front. A dog barks loudly as a bottle is lobbed. And at the back of the field, there’s a prang, A press motorbike took a tight street too keenly and Jack Bauer ended up going into the back of the UAE team car. That was ugly and Bauer was furious as he splatted off the back of that team car. Up ahead, Nils Eekhoff, the Team DSM rider, has a cut elbow. That was entirely the fault of the motorbike. Bauer takes some wipes to his elbow, it looks nasty.
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Ridiculous, avoidable crash.
Thankfully Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff are ok.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/N8DZMzrHCZ
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2022
n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/itvcycling/status/1550098302326169600?s=20&t=Ny4kaQAg4pHi5JfXmcN_Sg”,”id”:”1550098302326169600″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”b5777756-ce80-45df-9cd5-322ef85a898e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1658406734000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”13.32 BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1658408238000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”13.57 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1658407127000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”13.38 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”13.38″,”title”:”A crash at the back of the field!”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 21 Jul 2022 16.39 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 21 Jul 2022 12.00 BST”},{“id”:”62d93a538f08e38dc5525127″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The peloton flies along to Kilometre Zero and off goes Wout van Aert goes off up ahead, the race is on immediately. Looks like the Jumbo-Visma plan is for him to go up ahead, take the intermediate sprint and then work with Vingegaard later on in the stage. Nelson Powless, a regular in the breakaways, joins him up there. A powerful duo to pull away so early.
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🇬🇧 @chrisfroome, 🇪🇸 @ImanolErviti and 🇮🇹@CarusoDamiano have not started today.
🇬🇧 @chrisfroome, 🇪🇸 @ImanolErviti et 🇮🇹@CarusoDamiano sont non partants.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/bexKOGhQBA
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 21, 2022
n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/1550082721388584961?s=20&t=JcCsf1-tC3RgRXvGccuTuQ”,”id”:”1550082721388584961″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”f08d5e52-f043-4f4c-939f-efa78698aba2″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1658403411000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”12.36 BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1658403884000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”12.44 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1658403567000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”12.39 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”12.39″,”title”:”And away we go!”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 21 Jul 2022 16.39 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 21 Jul 2022 12.00 BST”},{“id”:”62d938c88f08e38dc5525118″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The four-time winner has tested positive, and will take no further part for the Israel–Premier Tech team, for whom he rode to third on Alpe D’Huez. Will we see him again on Le Tour? The plan is for him to go for the Vuelta next month.
Unfortunately I won’t be taking the start today due to covid-19 😔 #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/RJziNXG52d
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 21, 2022
n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/1550080487053475842?s=20&t=7d_TRVqlX5wM4YS9p5_rRQ”,”id”:”1550080487053475842″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”7bc99244-1c0e-49e0-9d0c-bd9083029f6e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1658403016000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”12.30 BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1658403210000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”12.33 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1658403210000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”12.33 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”12.33″,”title”:”Chris Froome out of Le Tour with Covid”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 21 Jul 2022 16.39 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 21 Jul 2022 12.00 BST”},{“id”:”62d91ce48f08b3cb1ab5108e”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
A third and final day in the Pyrenees, and a last chance for Tadej Pogacar to land a blow ahead of Saturday’s time trial. The stage win went his way on Wednesday but Jonas Vingegaard was not for the cracking as the two leaders made their way together to Peyragudes’ finish line.
A path well known but not necessarily well travelled on Le Tour, the Hautacam has serious history. The last winner on its peak was Vincenzo Nibali, who rode in the yellow jersey into Paris, while its most famous day was in 1996 when Miguel Indurain, the winner of five consecutive Tours, cracked as Bjarne Riis appeared to be riding a hematocrit-powered motorbike up ahead of Big Mig. And talking of suspicious wins, it was in 2000 that n n Lance Armstrong n cracked Jan Ullrich, taking four minutes from the big, friendly giant.
Only one Frenchman has won on Hautacam, in 1994 when Luc Leblanc, that year’s world road race champion, crested the summit with Indurain just rwo seconds back and Marco Pantani 18 seconds back, the rest of the field splintered into smithereens. It’s a place where the big boys come out to play.
Another stage that is too short for a break to gain much time before the big names get moving. It’s a brutal course covering the legendary Col d’Aubisque and the unknown Col de Spandelles before the final haul to a bleak plateau. The winner will probably be in the top six overall, and he will be odds on to take the final victory. Think Pogacar, Roglic, Vingegaard or, from the left field, the Australian Ben O’Connor.
NB: Such is this Tour’s attrition that O’Connor and Roglic are long gone from the peloton. Instead, they will be aiming for this year’s Vuelta.
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Key events
Pogacar comes in, his shirt open, blowing in the mountain air, he battles on bravely, his head sinking as he crossed the line. He got knocked down, and got up again, but he couldn’t overturn such a strong and inspired rival. Behind him, Van Aert comes in, having dominated the stage from start to finish and set up his teammate to win the stage, and probably Le Tour.
Jonas Vingegaard wins the 18th stage on the Hautacam!
The Dane is surely – surely – destined to win the Tour now. He does so having cracked Pogacar, something that until this year’s Tour was considered impossible. And today, perhaps more importantly, he did so having shown such sportsmanship when Pogacar crashed on that descent. What a moment, what a win. A brilliant ride from Vingegaard.
1km to go: Gaudu tries to drop Martinez and Thomas but ends up dragging them to the Sepp Kuss group, as Vingegaard looks back to see how far he has left Pogacar down the road. The flamme rouge arrives, and the agony will soon be converted to elation.
1.5km to go: Gaudu gets up to Thomas, and needs to take three minutes off him to claim third in GC. Next year, Gaudu may be France’s great hope. This time, it’s dazzling, it’s dynamic, it’s Denmark, as the gap between Pogacar and Vingegaard opens up to 40 seconds.
2.5km to go: Geraint Thomas needs a bike change, though has Martinez, his Ineos teammate, for company at least as Gaudu closes within seconds of him. That’s for the minor places since Vingegaard has smashed the rest of them, with 35 seconds on Pogacar, the rest almost in reverse as they climb the Hautacam.
3.5km to go: Pogacar and Van Aert join up, wordless between them, the gap to Vingegaard at 20 seconds, though it may as well be an hour. Pogacar has no way back. There will be no third successive Tour, barring an accident (or Covid).
Pogacar has cracked!
The green jersey of Van Aert leads the yellow of Vingegaard, ahead of the white jersey of Pogacar. Thomas is still a minute down, and Gaudu is on his tail. But here’s the moment the yellow jersey is decided, and Van Aert’s pacemaking leads to Pogacar being unable to live with the Jumbo-Visma pair. He drops off the back, and is immediately distanced. Vingegaard and Van Aert have the stage and the Tour in their grasp.
5km to go: Geraint Thomas starting to lose nearly a minute on the two leaders, while David Gaudu is going to get fourth from Nairo Quintana if it stays this way. Looking back down the road from the green jersey, the yellow jersey is visible, and Van Aert drops back take over from Kuss as pacemaker. Vingegaard will take polka if he finishes first or second at the summit. Poor Simon Geschke back in the grupetto is set to lose his prized possession.
Geraint Thomas is struggling. Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
6km to go: Van Aert seems to slow up, Martinez clinging on behind him, the gap at 36 seconds, with Kuss finally running out of gas. The longer this group stays together, the less chance Pogacar has to attack. But the plan seems to be for Vingegaard to attack. He has the manpower around him to engineer that but Jumbo-Visma may be setting up Van Aert for the stage win, too. They have plenty of cards to play.
7km to go: Thomas is dropping off Kuss, Vingegaard and Pogacar, as that trio speeds uop the Hautacam, passing a stricken Thibaut Pinot. The French are not going to end their stage-win drought here.
8km to go: Van Aert flips his elbow, and asks Martinez to do his turn. The Colombian acquiesces. Van Aert wants polka dot as well as the green jersey he can already call his own.
🏔 Here are the 6 men who can claim the polka dots👇
At the front 🇫🇷 @ThibautPinot and🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert are the best placed.#TDF2022 ⚪️🔴 https://t.co/Rxrkr5zF86
9km to go: The pace Kuss is riding along may soon see the GC group catch up the trio at the front. It’s running Pogacar into the red zone, draining his ability to chase down Vingegaard, to mount another of those wildcat attacks. Van Aert though decides to go off the front, and with that, Pinot’s chance looks to have gone, and it’s only Martinez who can stay with him.
Wout Van Aert attacks. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images
10km to go: Pinot asks his fellow travellers up the top to race alongside him, to take a turn. He drenches himself in water, but Van Aert and Martinez sit grim-faced behind him as he tries to ride them away. Is he bluffing? Does he have the legs? Behind him down the mountain, Sepp Kuss is pacing Vingegaard along and it’s Pogacar’s turn to hold the wheel. The gap is closing, Pinot’s pace is far slower than that of Kuss. Louis Meintjes will not be troubling Geraint Thomas for the podium; he’s toiling back down the hill.
12km to go: Meintjes goes off the back, but only to collect a bottle ahead of the climb. Thomas will be watching him like a hawk. Benoot and Kuss sit up the front of that group, Jumbo-Visma setting the pace. Up at the top, Pinot has a turn off the front, testing the legs of Martinez and Van Aert. Two races at one here, though Benoot’s day is done.
Here comes the Hautacam
Dani Martinez, Thibaut Pinot and Wout van Aert reach the bottom of the hill, and there is a stage win, a polka jersey and perhaps, in Van Aert’s case, the chance to land a GC win for Vingegaard. Louis Meintjes, chasing down Geraint Thomas’s third place, has joined the group of GC contenders.
15km to go: Up ahead, Van Aert, with two minutes on the chasing GC contenders, has a chance of the polka-dot jersey if he wins the stage. So too does Thibaut Pinot, to rescue something from a disappointing Tour. Vingegaard and Pogacar are joined soon enough by Kuss, Benoot and Thomas, who continues to hang on limpet-like to his place on the podium.
17km to go: All credit goes to Vingegaard and Pogacar seems to recognise that, even if his team aren’t so empathetic. They reach the bottom of the hill, and soon enough the Hautacam will beckon. Their slow pace down the descent has pulled backed in the likes of Kuss and Tiesj Benoot, in Jumbo jerseys, to push Vingegaard along.
Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
22km to go: Pogacar is on his radio, possibly requesting a new bike, his steed looks to have failed him. And the team care comes alongside him, offering a bottle after a short discussion. He seems to be angry with his team, as if they are asking him to attack someone he has just enjoyed a moment of brotherhood with. Ironically enough, Eurosport have turned to Alberto Contador for expert summarising. He describes it as a “historic moment”, but then says falling off is part of the race and the risk.
Pogacar crashes on the descent!
28km to go: Oh dear, that was almost very nasty, as Vingegaard almost comes a cropper, but then Pogacar actually comes off, and there will be road rash. Pogacar gets back on, gingerly, though rides like a demon to get back on, and Vingegaard sits up for his rival, and when they meet, there is a touch of hands
This was no Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador scenario. There is clear respect between the riders and they ease off in their chase down the hill, both recognising the danger involved. What a moment of sportsmanship.
33km to go: Pogacar’s pace means Tiesj Benoot, who had gone up the road to assist his leader, can’t keep up, and gets cracked. Meintjes, who had designs on a podium finish, with Thomas behind him on the road, also fails to live with the speed. Sepp Kuss can also offer little more in the way of assistance.
Van Aert, Dani Martinez and Thibaut Pinot are the three riders who go over top of the climb, Van Aert taking the mountain points and speeding down the Col de Spandelles. Through a hairpin bend covered by trees, Pogacar, with Vingegaard on his tail, go over the brow and they can begin their descent. The Hautacam is where it will be decided.
Thomas and Pogacar both attack
35km to go: Pogacar, once Kuss joins them, is hosed down by a rider he passes by, and then once Thomas joins the group, speeds on, and tries his best to shed Kuss, who then catches up again. The aim seems to be the speed up and slow down to shed Vingegaard and Kuss, in a game of cat and mouse. Then he slows down, allows Kuss and Thomas to rejoin him. Then off goes Thomas, up the hill, and stretching the field. Vingegaard looks highly stressed by all this happening around him. But can he be cracked? Pogacar goes off, and speeds past Thomas, with Vingegaard on the limit as he chases. Ciccone, the king of the mountains that never was, gets eaten up. The pace is relentless, deadly for those around them.
Pogacar goes off at the front!
38km to go: Van Aert has clearly been on the radio, and is doing his best to get over the top so that he can be there to aid Vingegaard later on. The result of that is that Ciccone has cracked, and that means Geschke, at the back of the field now and suffering, may yet find himself in polka at the end of the day. Ciccone is looking for Mollema, but no avail, the best-laid plans have been skewered by Van Aert. With McNulty winding it up in the GC group, the likes of Thomas and Yates are clinging on for dear life.
McNulty lifts the pace, but then sits back as his team leader goes away. Vingegaard reads the move, and sits off Pogacar, as the rest of the field is blown away as the dynamic duo power on. Pogacar is trying to isolate Vingegaard from his teammates. A glance back tells him Sepp Kuss can catch him up, and that he has Vingegaard out of the saddle, but that he is all on his own up this climb and then the Hautacam.
40km to go: It’s a 10km to go, a category one, and Ciccone and Mollema continue together, and Ciccone needs to finish fourth at the summit to overtake Geschke to take the mountains jersey. That looks more than likely. Back in the overall GC race, this is where the pack is likely to be split. Brandon McNulty takes up the pace, and attempts to do what he did yesterday, to shred the field. An early victim is Tom Pidcock, who soon spins off the back, unable to hold any wheels. McNulty blasts along, and plenty of bottles are being shed, with Jumbo-Visma’s people offering up bottles to their own men, but Geraint Thomas gets refused when asking for one. Gamesmanship. Vlasov’s dreams of climbing the GC are crushed by the pace of McNulty.
Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
45km to go: The Col de Spandelles approaches, and perhaps this is the moment for Pogacar.
⛰ And now : the Col de Spandelles
⛰ Et maintenant : le Col de Spandelles #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/kGkquvNV9X
50km to go: The peloton is led over the Col du Soulor by Nathan Van Hooydonck of the Jumbotron, with Pogacar and Vingegaard at close quarters. Ciccone is having a dig off the front of the leading pack while Nairo Quintana, a daredevil descender, is leading an attack on the descent. Pogacar goes with him, Vingegaard asked to follow.
55km to go: Down they fly to another short climb. The view of the mountains at the top of the Col D’Aubisque was truly awesome but there is no time to rest, this is a nasty, exacting test of mettle. This is the Col du Soulor, offering very little respite. Louis Meintjes continues to attempt to bridge the gap to the leading pack, but is getting no help from the riders around him. Bauke Mollema, the veteran, leads Ciccone over the top, lending vital help to his Trek-Segafredo teammate. And the descent can resume.
Ciccone takes the mountain points on Col d’Aubisque
66km to go: Louis Meintjes, who came second on Alpe D’Huez, chases the leading group led by Van Aert, as the climb twists itself round and round the hairpin bends, and slowly. Meintjes is about a minute behind, and on GC virtuel, he has ridden himself up to fourth. Long way to go yet today. Adam Yates, of Team Ineos, has been suffering today but the slow pace of the peloton has allowed him back on.
The group who will begin their descent together: Giulio Ciccone, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citröen), Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas, Carlos Verona, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost).
Ciccone is unchallenged as he goes over the summit first, and is now within three points of Geschke, who is sweating blood back down the hill. Ciccone will fancy picking up some more on the next hill.
The other news is that the two motorbikes that caused the accident including Jack Bauer have both been kicked off Le Tour.
Giulio Ciccone takes the mountain points. Photograph: Guillaume Horcajuelo/EPA
70km to go: Luis Leon Sanchez, a wily old fox, sets off from the front of the peloton, and eats the ground between him and Simon Geschke, who can’t stay with him and seems highly unlikely to be in polka tomorrow. A long long afternoon awaits, and there’s still around 5km of the Col d’Aubisque to go. The yellow jersey group is getting smaller, down to barer bones. Vingegaard is out of his saddle, no pressure as yet.
On this famous hill, from this article on the Basque Country.
Col d’Aubisque (1,700m) is next up, with pine and birch forests, hairpin bends and spectacular views. We stop to attempt to cycle the pass (I give up part way up!).
Nerves of steel are needed for the road cut into near-vertical cliffs around Col du Soulor (1,474m). It’s narrow, with a couple of tunnels, so you’ll need to drive it in the afternoon if your vehicle is over three tonnes (east to west in the morning). The scenery is sublime: the valley floor seems miles below – with nothing but a few concrete blocks between you – while impossible peaks loom above. This beautiful section of road is another favourite of diehard cyclists.
This climb has only ever been a summit finish three times, with the winners Bernard Labourdette in 1971, Stephen Roche in 1985 and Michael Rasmussen in 2007.
The latter was kicked out of the race while in yellow, only the second time that’s happened.
75km to go: Tom Pidcock, the hero of Alpe D’Huez, is up riding with Geschke, and has two teammates off him, only for Geschke to drop off the back. His polka dot jersey has been endangered by the Cofidis team’s failed efforts to get him up there, and his own lack of form. Giulio Ciccone, the Trek-Segafredo rider at the front, could close to within three points of Geschke if he takes the points at the top. All to play for. Jumbo-Visma have Tiesj Benoot up the front with Van Aert, to act as a launchpad if Vingegaard needs them later on. At the back of the field, Quick-Step are doing their best to save Fabio Jakobsen missing the time limit. He made it by just 15 seconds yesterday.
Thomas Pidcock. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images
Today's ascent up Hautacam is the last climbing challenge of @LeTour for the men. Riders will need to conquer the Col d'Aubisque and the Col de Spandelles before the final climb, which covers 13.41 km at an average incline of 7.74%. Follow along at: https://t.co/09B9vnCM82 pic.twitter.com/vGD2vSeJm9
80km to go: The chase is on on that first big climb. Geschke gives chase as that 30-man group soon breaks up, 21 seconds behind, and back in the peloton, the only UAE rider sat with Pogacar is Brandon McNulty, who led his man right to the finish yesterday.
Van Aert wins the intermediate sprint!
84km to go: Some calm? Seems like it for now, with an intermediate sprint and climb soon to come and a sizeable group away in front, though the gap is only around 20 seconds.
The makeup, a movable feast was this: Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Dani Martinez and Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Matej Mohoric 9(Bahrain Victorious), Alberto Dainese (Team DSM), Alexandr Ribsushenko (Astana-Qazaqstan), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Amaury Capiot (Arkea-Samsic), Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM), Nils Politt and Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Rigo Uran (EF), Matis Louvel (Arkea), Tony Gallopin (Trek-Segafredo), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)
Van Aert idles them home, nobody looking like they fancy challenging him. The green jersey is his, barring accident/Covid. The first climb approaches, and those 30 or so men will never be mentioned in the same breath again.
A crash at the back of the field!
95km to go: Van Aert joins up to make it a 30-man group up away at the front. A dog barks loudly as a bottle is lobbed. And at the back of the field, there’s a prang, A press motorbike took a tight street too keenly and Jack Bauer ended up going into the back of the UAE team car. That was ugly and Bauer was furious as he splatted off the back of that team car. Up ahead, Nils Eekhoff, the Team DSM rider, has a cut elbow. That was entirely the fault of the motorbike. Bauer takes some wipes to his elbow, it looks nasty.
Ouch. Nils Eekhoff gets medical assistance after crashing. Photograph: Daniel Cole/AP
Ridiculous, avoidable crash.
Thankfully Jack Bauer and Nils Eekhoff are ok.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/N8DZMzrHCZ
100km to go: It remains eventful, and there’s another break formed, only for it to splinter. Luke Rowe and Danny Martinez of Team Ineos are involved. There are signals made to work harder from within the group. Simon Geschke hasn’t managed to bridge the gap, it seems, as the gap goes up to just over 20 seconds.
110km to go: Mikkel Berg, who rode a big ride for Pogacar, is sat off the back of the peloton and looks to be suffering for yesterday’s efforts. Simon Geschke, the leader of the mountains points, is chasing down the breakaway, in an attempt to close off any other contenders for the polka pots on the first climb, the Col d’Aubisque. Eventually, the chase closes down the break and the pack is soon enough back together. Van Aert resumes the role of stalking horse up at the front. The pace is high, no rest ahead of the humps to come. Though as soon he rests, other attempt to make their escape.
Three weeks of daily Classics is quite something isn't it @JohnBrewin_?
We really should be rolling through unknown villages and meadows now while David Duffield talks about last night's dinner and Christi Anderson updates us on Tyler Hamilton's dog's flea problem.
Three weeks of daily Classics is quite something isn’t it @JohnBrewin_?
We really should be rolling through unknown villages and meadows now while David Duffield talks about last night’s dinner and Christi Anderson updates us on Tyler Hamilton’s dog’s flea problem.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 21, 2022
David Duffield’s already featured today in the preamble.
115km to go: That break is made up of as follows: Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost), Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) and Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco). The gap is teetering around 30 seconds.
A woman takes images with her mobile phone as Kazakhstan’s Andrey Zeits passes though the town of Saint-Pe-de-Bigorre. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP
120km to go: Van Aert is back in the pack and it’s left to others to chase the break. Christophe Laporte is on the front, replicating the actions of Van Aert, his Jumbo teammate. Michael Matthews is in this leading quintet, with Aleksandr Anatolyevich Vlasov, in eighth on GC, trying to join up. Van Aert then leads an expeditionary force from the peloton in an attempt to get within the break.
130km to go: No energy being saved for the climbs ahead, as Nils Pollit and Dylan Teuns chased after Van Aert as he makes a descent down the first hill of the day, they have nine seconds to make up on him, the peloton around 20 seconds behind but then the gap begins to go down, as a UAE-led peloton zip after him. Vingegaard and Pogacar are almost joined at the hip in the depths of the peloton, both covered up ahead of the battle to come up the road. Pollit and Teuns are pulled back in. Even Van Aert is struggling to live with the pace, the gap dwindling to five seconds. Stan Dewulf of AG2R catches him and overtakes him. Could this be the formation of a breakaway group?
140km to go: A reminder of what the stage looks like. Lumpy, in short and up the front, Van Aert drops Powless and flies away from the field. The man is relentless.
🚲 Stage 18 / Étape 18 🚲
🚩 Lourdes 🏁 Hautacam 📏 143,2 km ⏰ 13:30 CEST > 17:25 CEST ⛰ 1x 1⃣c, 2x HC 💚 km 58,5#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/ejDsjghEWu
The peloton flies along to Kilometre Zero and off goes Wout van Aert goes off up ahead, the race is on immediately. Looks like the Jumbo-Visma plan is for him to go up ahead, take the intermediate sprint and then work with Vingegaard later on in the stage. Nelson Powless, a regular in the breakaways, joins him up there. A powerful duo to pull away so early.
And we’re off. Photograph: Daniel Cole/AP
🇬🇧 @chrisfroome, 🇪🇸 @ImanolErviti and 🇮🇹@CarusoDamiano have not started today.
🇬🇧 @chrisfroome, 🇪🇸 @ImanolErviti et 🇮🇹@CarusoDamiano sont non partants.#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/bexKOGhQBA
Este jueves no tendremos en la 18ª etapa del #TDF2022 a @ImanolErviti, tras haber dado positivo por covid. Nuestro capi se encuentra en buen estado de salud. ¡Nos vemos pronto! 💙🙏
Imanol Erviti has returned a positive covid test, will not start @LeTour s18. Get well soon mate! pic.twitter.com/3yYWhy4tZg
Este jueves no tendremos en la 18ª etapa del #TDF2022 a @ImanolErviti, tras haber dado positivo por covid. Nuestro capi se encuentra en buen estado de salud. ¡Nos vemos pronto! 💙🙏
Imanol Erviti has returned a positive covid test, will not start @LeTour s18. Get well soon mate! pic.twitter.com/3yYWhy4tZg
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) July 21, 2022
Chris Froome out of Le Tour with Covid
The four-time winner has tested positive, and will take no further part for the Israel–Premier Tech team, for whom he rode to third on Alpe D’Huez. Will we see him again on Le Tour? The plan is for him to go for the Vuelta next month.
Unfortunately I won’t be taking the start today due to covid-19 😔 #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/RJziNXG52d
More retro action from 2000, watch
Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani do battle in a rather rainier Hautacam, including comms from Phil Liggett and the much missed Paul Sherwen.
All over for “G” in terms of winning a second Tour but a podium finish is still on, he was cracked yesterday by Pogacar’s UAE teammates.
Thomas said: “I didn’t really expect that, especially from Berg. He put in a hell of a shift for the rider he is. It’s cracking me actually, that he was hurting me so much on a climb. But fair play: they really took it on.”
Asked if Berg’s and particularly McNulty’s performance, which saw the American leading Pogacar into the final 200m, were what he had have expected, Thomas said: “Not at all, no. Fair play, both of them, and whatever they had for breakfast, because they were going.”
Tadej Pogacar’s teammate, Mikkel Berg, on the final chance to crack Vingegaard.
Everything is possible. Tadej, he had one bad day and lost the yellow jersey, so we need to put the pressure on and see if Jonas has a bad day. It’s one of the hardest stages in this year’s Tour. Tadej has good legs, we all feel confident and good that we can try to do something.
Preamble
A third and final day in the Pyrenees, and a last chance for Tadej Pogacar to land a blow ahead of Saturday’s time trial. The stage win went his way on Wednesday but Jonas Vingegaard was not for the cracking as the two leaders made their way together to Peyragudes’ finish line.
A path well known but not necessarily well travelled on Le Tour, the Hautacam has serious history. The last winner on its peak was Vincenzo Nibali, who rode in the yellow jersey into Paris, while its most famous day was in 1996 when Miguel Indurain, the winner of five consecutive Tours, cracked as Bjarne Riis appeared to be riding a hematocrit-powered motorbike up ahead of Big Mig. And talking of suspicious wins, it was in 2000 that
Lance Armstrong cracked Jan Ullrich, taking four minutes from the big, friendly giant.
Big Mig cracks.
Only one Frenchman has won on Hautacam, in 1994 when Luc Leblanc, that year’s world road race champion, crested the summit with Indurain just rwo seconds back and Marco Pantani 18 seconds back, the rest of the field splintered into smithereens. It’s a place where the big boys come out to play.
Per William Fotheringham in our pre-race preview:
Another stage that is too short for a break to gain much time before the big names get moving. It’s a brutal course covering the legendary Col d’Aubisque and the unknown Col de Spandelles before the final haul to a bleak plateau. The winner will probably be in the top six overall, and he will be odds on to take the final victory. Think Pogacar, Roglic, Vingegaard or, from the left field, the Australian Ben O’Connor.
NB: Such is this Tour’s attrition that O’Connor and Roglic are long gone from the peloton. Instead, they will be aiming for this year’s Vuelta.
Justin Thomas hits out of the bunker on the second hole during the third round of the Masters golf tournament on Saturday, April 9.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Tiger Woods watches his shot on the third hole during the third round.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Robert MacIntyre lines up his putt with caddie Michael Thomson on the sixth green on Saturday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Tiger Woods plays a shot from a bunker on the eighth hole on Saturday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Christiaan Bezuidenhout hits from the rough on the first fairway on Saturday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Scottie Scheffler lines up a putt on the 13th green during the second round of the Masters golf tournament on Friday, April 8. The world’s top-ranked golfer went into the weekend with a five-stroke lead.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
A view of the 10th green on Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Tiger Woods plays a shot on the fifth hole on Friday. He had a rough start with four bogeys in his first five holes, but he recovered to finish with a 2-over-par 74.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Collin Morikawa hits his tee shot on the 12th hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Fans — or patrons, as they’re referred to at Augusta National Golf Club — get a glimpse of Woods as he approaches the 11th green on Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Keita Nakajima, the world’s No. 1 amateur golfer, hits a shot after taking a drop on the 12th hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
A young spectator watches play on the 12th hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Erik van Rooyen plays his tee shot on the fourth hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Matthew Fitzpatrick lies on the seventh green to visualize a putt on Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Fans carry beverages near the seventh hole leaderboard on Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Masters champion, reacts to a missed putt on the seventh hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Shane Lowry reacts to a missed eagle chip on the 15th hole Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Masters pins adorn a fan’s hat on Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Billy Horschel points to a turtle on the fringe of the 16th green Friday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Woods tees off on the fourth hole during Thursday’s first round. He finished with a 1-under-par 71 in his return to competitive golf.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters in 2015, ducks under a rope after playing a shot on the seventh hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Scorers update the leaderboard on No. 11.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Sungjae Im putts on the 16th green on Thursday. The South Korean shot a 5-under-par 67 to lead after the first round.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Viktor Hovland looks for his ball on the 13th hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Justin Thomas hits a shot on the sixth hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Former Masters champion Danny Willett reacts to his tee shot on No. 18.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Woods is applauded as he walks onto the 16th tee on Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Joaquin Niemann tees off on the 11th hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
People watch Woods tee off on the 12th hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Matthew Wolff, not pictured, gets a ruling from an official after his ball was imbedded into the lip of a bunker on the first hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
A crowd watches Woods tee off on the third hole Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
From left, honorary starters Tom Watson, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus gather on the first tee Thursday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Raindrops coat the jacket of a gallery guard on Thursday. Rainy weather pushed back some of the tee times.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
From left, Fred Couples, Woods and Thomas skip balls on the water at the 16th hole on Wednesday. It’s a practice round tradition at Augusta National.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Weather warning signs are brought out on the range on Tuesday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Cameron Davis tees off on the 14th hole during a practice round on Tuesday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Couples greets fans during a practice round on Monday. Couples won the Masters in 1992 and remains a fan favorite.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
An insect lands on one of Augusta National’s famous azaleas on Monday.
The 2022 Masters golf tournament
Caddies examine the 13th green during a practice round on Monday.
