Slovenia's Matej Mohoric celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the Tour de France.
Slovenia's Matej Mohoric celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the Tour de France.
Slovenia's Matej Mohoric celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the Tour de France.
Slovenia's Matej Mohoric celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the Tour de France.

Sport

Matej Mohoric wins Tour de France Stage 19 for Bahrain Victorious

UAE Team Emirates' Pogacar retains overall leader's yellow jersey

The National

July 17, 2021

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Slovenian Matej Mohoric gave Bahrain Victorious something to cheer with his second stage win in this year's Tour de France.

Mohoric, who had already prevailed in the seventh stage in Le Creusot, attacked from the breakaway to wrap up a solo victory on Stage 19, a 207-km ride from Mourenx.

"It was just a sign to show people who question our performances to be mindful that we are making huge sacrifices to come here," Mohoric told a news conference.

The win comes two days after French police searched his team's accommodation and vehicles amid an investigation into potential doping.

"That brought us even closer together, we are more determined to show that we have nothing to hide and collaborate with the police," he continued.

Mohoric added that after feeling "weird" about the searches that were conducted until 2am local time, he was happy to comply with the investigation, as his team said on Thursday.

"I can't answer for my teammates, I can only speak for myself. At first I felt weird about being questioned but then I thought I should look at the bigger picture," he explained.

"This is actually good for the sport of cycling. To be transparent to have these questions because there were big problems in the sport in the past.

"I can only speak for myself but I never saw these things happen, something illegal, so I can be super clear about myself. If somebody needs to go through my stuff through my phone I will accept this."

The French prosecutor's office in Marseille on Thursday said it had opened a preliminary investigation into the Bahrain Victorious team after police searched the outfit's hotel.

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the leader's yellow jersey, talks to Slovenia's Luka Mezgec during the 19th stage of the Tour de France.
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the leader's yellow jersey, talks to Slovenia's Luka Mezgec during the 19th stage of the Tour de France.

It said the investigation was into "acquisition, transport, possession, import of a prohibited substance or prohibited method for use by an athlete without medical justification."

Mohoric's compatriot Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey for UAE Team Emirates after staying safe in the peloton, crossing the line more than 20 minutes 50 seconds off the pace.

Friday's stage was expected to end in a mass sprint but some 20 riders managed to break away from the main bunch and their advantage increased quickly, meaning Mark Cavendish has one last chance to win his 35th Tour stage on Sunday on the Champs-Elysees.

The Briton is tied with Belgian great Eddy Merckx, who bagged 34 stage wins in his glittering career as he won a record five Tour titles.

Merckx was at the start of the stage in Mourenx, where he has a velodrome named after him after he pulled one of his greatest feats, beating his rivals by more than eight minutes in a mountain stage on his way to his first Tour title in 1969.

France's Christophe Laporte of Cofidis was second in Friday's stage and Dane Casper Pedersen (Team DSM) came home third, both 58 seconds off the pace.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Updated: July 17, 2021, 10:54 AM