單飛到底！鯊魚哥咬下環法第20站賽段冠軍！

進入環法的最後一週，依舊展現積極的態度，昨夜的鯊魚哥(Vincenzo Nibali)，同樣在開賽便爭取加入突圍集團；在眾家主將拉高強度的情況下，後方的追兵來勢洶洶，但他依舊能頂住主將集團的壓力，在蔥仁谷(Val Thorens)的山頂終點，以單飛的姿態領先巴爾韋德(Alejandro Valverde)進站，摘下環法第20站的冠軍頭銜！ 

「一直到終點前500公尺，他們都沒有放棄追擊的機會，這座長坡像是永遠爬不完，當我看到集團加速時，自己也全力以赴，非常開心取得賽段冠軍的成果！」完賽後的鯊魚哥臉上帶著笑容。

「進入大賽的最後一週，我找到了好的感覺，想控制這場比賽並不容易，不過我腿上的狀態相當不錯。在賽前的會議當中，我們決定今天要加入突圍集團，因此我和特恩斯(Dylan Teuns)啟動攻勢，雖然主車群沒有給我們太大的空間，但領先集團的成員們合作相當密切。」 

昨夜的主將先是從菁英的領先集團加壓，最終開啟了單飛的旅程，對他而言，就像一場爬坡計時賽。清楚後方的集團，同樣對於這座單站冠軍充滿渴望，鯊魚哥在過程中未曾鬆懈。在完成環義賽的前期目標後，進軍環法的主將，雖然無法力拼總成績，但並沒有選擇放棄，最終以賽段冠軍的頭銜，榮耀了這場年度大賽，以及共同打拼的隊友和職員夥伴們。 

回首過去的紀錄，這已經是鯊魚哥生涯的第6座環法單站冠軍，也是他在三大賽中，累計第15座賽段冠軍。今年34歲的他，在賽場上的表現依舊頂尖，即便在去年的環法意外落馬，但今年的主將，依舊帶領車隊在環義站上領獎台，取得總排第2的佳績。而他的上一勝要回顧到15個月前，於五大古典賽中的米蘭–聖雷莫大賽(Milan–San Remo)的驚天突圍。

「當尼巴利退出總成績的競爭行列後，我們決定讓他休息幾天，並且嘗試在最後的山地站留下好的成果，他再一次用表現證明，自己是真正的冠軍！」鯊魚哥的指導教練暨帶隊總監之一的保羅·斯隆戈(Paolo Slongo)稱許子弟兵的表現，繼特恩斯的好表現後，這也是巴林美利達在本屆環法的第二勝！

同場加映

烏克蘭小將帕登勇奪環東雙海皇后站冠軍

以拉瓦雷多三尖峰為背景，我們的帕登(Mark Padun)是昨夜率先過線的一員！肩負起車隊主將的任務，烏克蘭小將在環東雙海的皇后站後，總成績暫居領先！

「拿下冠軍的感覺太棒了！歸功於隊友們的協助，我才能拿下這麼重要的成績，車隊今天的表現無懈可擊。雖然我在第一個下坡段發生機械故障，必須緊急換車，並且被迫兩度停下腳步，但隊友們仍帶領我回到主集團當中。」

「雖然我在最後的決勝坡段發起攻擊，但仍無法順利甩開對手，不過在小集團的衝刺當中，我還是最速的一員，非常開心自己有這樣的表現！」衝刺線上，赫爾曼斯(Ben Hermans)和凱塞多(Jonathan Klever Caicedo)分居2、3位。在全國錦標賽拿下計時項目後，帕登再次於賽場上展現潛能。

「對於車隊來說，這是精彩的一刻，我為選手們的好成績感到開心。」帶隊總監佩里佐蒂(Franco Pellizotti)分享道。

「這座山地站非常艱難，巴林美利達的成員們，確實跑了一場好比賽。除此之外，我家就住在離這裡不遠的地方，也讓這一勝的感受更加美好。帕登的表現相當不錯，從現在開始，我們會盡力守護領騎衫的榮譽！」

環東雙海第3站後，帕登暫居總成績與新人王的領先位置，巴林美利達將很有機會，問鼎本屆的總冠軍頭銜，我們會繼續努力！

原文：
Mark Padun delivered a fine display of his class in the Queen’s stage of the Adriatica Ionica Race: The young Ukrainian from the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM beat his last companions in a sprint to the line at the foot of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. One day later Vincenzo Nibali saved his Tour de France by soloing to the victory in the shortened mountain stage from Albertville to Val Thorens. 

The BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM had reasons to celebrate from the start of the Adriatica Ionica Race as Phil Bauhaus won the City Race held on a circuit in Mestre. The second stage of the race was mostly flat but featured a total of 30 kilometers on gravel roads. In the end just a bit more than 20 riders headed for the finish line. Heinrich Haussler could not outwit Deceuninck Quick Steps’ power in numbers, but he crossed the finish line in 5th and scored another good result for the team. The Queen’s stage of this new, five day stage race in the Northeast of Italy was more than 200 kilometers long, with its route leading into the heart of the Dolomites and the finish at the foot of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

At first the riders of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM had to overcome a scare however. With a combined effort they piloted Mark Padun as its co-captain for the overall standings back to the peloton after a mechanical. On the final climb to Lago di Misurina Mark Padun was unfazed by the scare earlier on. While he could not drop all rivals with his acceleration, only four were able to match his pace. And he kept all of them in check In the finale, thus scoring the second win of his season after having won the national time trial championships in Ukraine earlier in the month. With his win at the foot of the Tre Cime Padun also took over the leader’s jersey of the stage race.

Vincenzo Nibali had already shown a strong performance at the Tour de France on Friday, continuing a series of strong rides from riders of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM. In the two tricky previous stages Dylan Teuns and Damiano Caruso had finished in 5th each, and with Caruso it was no less than the Queen’s stage of this year’s Tour de France. Vincenzo Nibali made it into the lead group early on but got caught by the group of overall contenders on the slopes of the Col d’Iseran as the highest point to climb in this year’s Tour de France. At that moment nobody could sense that a strong hail storm would force the race organizers to stop the stage prematurely and treat the passage on top of the Iseran as the stage result. At the moment the stage was stopped Nibali was riding in a small group with a fine selection of cycling’s star riders.

The penultimate stage had to be shortened as well due to the weather conditions, and not by a bit: Only 59.5 kilometers remained to be ridden between Albertville and Val Thorens. While the initial 25 kilometers were almost flat, the remaining 34 kilometers were all uphill. Soon after the start Dylan Teuns joined a first group of attackers, and soon after Vincenzo Nibali managed to bridge the gap to this group with some other riders. From there the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM played its cards ideally: With 24 kilometers to go Dylan Teuns attacked but could not break away from the group. But when Nibali attacked with 13 kilometers to go nobody could keep up with him. Cycling fans got to see a thrilling pursuit on the final kilometers, with the «Shark from Messina» keeping his chasers at check. Thus Vincenzo Nibali got to celebrate a solo victory in Val Thorens.     

TOUR DE FRANCE, STAGE 20: ALBERTVILLE - VAL THORENS, 59.5KM
1. Vincenzo Nibali, ITA/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, in 1:51.53 hours
2. Alejandro Valverde, ESP, + 0.10
3. Mikel Landa, ESP, + 0.14

ADRIATICA IONICA RACE, STAGE 3: PALMANOVA - LAGO DI MISURINA / TRE CIME DI LAVAREDO, 204.6KM
1. Mark Padun, UKR/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, in 5:54.16 hours
2. Dayer Quintana, COL, st
3. Ben Hermans, BEL, st