Belgian cyclist Van Avermaet defends his leadership at the Tour de France

Arras, France, Jul. 15 (PL) Belgian Greg Van Avermaet will try today to maintain the lead of the Tour de France, whose ninth stage will be contested over 156.5 kilometers.

On the localities of Arras and Roubaix, the pointer of the fair will try to neutralize the attacks of his main rivals, the Briton Geraint Thomas and the American Tejay Van Garderen, at seven and nine seconds respectively .

This Saturday, the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegem was awarded the eighth stage by traveling the 181 kilometers between the cities of Dreux and Amiens, at 4: 23.36

He was escorted on the podium by the German André Greipel and the Colombian Fernando Gaviria, who scored the same time. 19659003] The Tour de France is a professional cycling tour around French geography.

It is celebrated in July and belongs to the International Cycling Union's World Tour Calendar, the highest category of the game

Regarded as the most important race in the world, the Tour was played for the first time in 1903.

Since its inception, the race has been or halted twice, due to the two world wars: from 1915 to 1918, and from 1940 to 1946.

This is the second and oldest of the great cycling tours, with the Giro d'Italia and the Return to Spain

pgh / dan