At Wimbledon tennis aired the endless battle between Anderson and Isner, the longest semifinal in the history of the London tournament won in the fifth set 26-24 by the South African, over six and a half hours of play between two giants over two meters tall from the devastating serve for 99 games.
While across the Channel racket enthusiasts were enjoying a historic day closed by the suspended match between Nadal and Djokovic, those of cycling tuned into the Tour experienced almost six hours of nothing, witnessing to the longest and most boring stage of this edition, from Fougères to Chartres of 231 km, which will be remembered only for the Dutchman's winning sprint Dylan Groenewegen, to his first success in the Grande Boucle.
Un victory that breaks the duopoly established by Gaviria and Sagan who this time had to settle for second and third place. The Tour, waiting for the real mountains and the moves of the big names, has up to now almost always been a sort of daily world championship for fast wheels. A challenge to the last dash that still sees dry-mouthed noble names of the world sprint such as Greipel, Degenkolb, Kittel, Kristoff, Démare and Cavendish (the latter for the first time finished in the top ten of the order of arrival after days of absolute anonymity).
Greg Van Avermaet didn't struggle much to keep the yellow jersey, also increasing the advantage over the second, Geraint Thomas, by 3" thanks to a "bonus" won in the race. Waiting for the pavé of tomorrow's stage that will arrive in Roubaix to stir things up, the chronicles of the Tour record that it has been four years since a Frenchman no longer wears the yellow jersey. The last was Tony Gallopin on July 13, 1914, he wore it only one day because afterwards he took it back and never gave it up again Vincenzo Nibali, ruler of the Tour, the great home race that the transalpines have not been able to win for 33 years, from Bernard Hinault's last triumph in 1985.
