Nibali reigns in Tour’s 10th leg

PLANCHER-LES-MINES, France – Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali stamped his dominance on the Tour de France by winning the 10th stage in the Vosges mountains on Monday – shortly after his biggest rival for the title, two-time champion Alberto Contador, crashed out due to injury.

Nibali, the Astana team leader, also regained the overall race lead from France’s Tony Gallopin – who had taken the leader’s yellow jersey from the Italian a day earlier – in the 161.5-kilometer (100-mile) trek from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles in the eastern Vosges mountains. 

With a final burst of speed in the last two kilometers (1.2 miles), Nibali overtook breakaway rider Joaquim Rodriguez. The Spaniard, heaving hard as Nibali overtook him, caught back up briefly but then the Italian accelerated brutally with 700 meters to go.

By the end, Nibali crossed 15 seconds ahead of France’s Thibault Pinot in second and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde in third, a further five seconds behind. The Italian recovers the yellow jersey that he wore for seven days after he won the Tour’s second stage in the hills of Yorkshire in northern England. (AP)