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US hopefuls down but not out at Tour’s 7th stage

By WTOP Staff

JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

NANCY, France (AP) — Two promising American riders with an outside shot at victory in the Tour de France this year hit the asphalt in crashes in Friday’s seventh stage, but picked themselves up to resume the chase of overall leader Vincenzo Nibali.

The 234.5-kilometer (146-mile) ride from Epernay in Champagne country to eastern Nancy, which was won by Italian Matteo Trentin, was the latest installment of a first week of many spills in the pack, some of which led defending champion Chris Froome to pull out with an injury. That has blown the race wide open.

While relatively unscathed physically, BMC leader Tejay van Garderen took the biggest hit on Friday among the 10 or so riders who stand a reasonable chance of victory.

He was in the center of the pack with about 16 kilometers left, got bumped on his back wheel by a Movistar rider as he moved to the right. They tumbled, and then van Garderen got rolled over by another rider’s bike.

He got back up, but lost more than a minute to Nibali and other contenders, even after several BMC teammates pedaled furiously to try to escort him back up to the pack.

“It’s a tough blow, but the Tour is long, the race changes,” van Garderen said of the time loss, and calling the crash “nothing major. So I’ll definitely be fine to start tomorrow… you just have to keep the course, you just have to keep fighting.”

More significant may be the withdrawal of Colombia’s John Darwin Atapuma, a good climber whom BMC was grooming to help escort van Garderen in the mountains ahead. Atapuma suffered a broken leg just above the knee.

Van Garderen, from Bozeman, Montana, dropped from 11th to 18th place overall, 3 minutes, 14 behind Nibali — after starting the stage only 2:11 adrift.

Andrew Talansky got bumped by Australia’s Simon Gerrans in the final mad dash to the line. Talansky rolled over and grazed his left arm, with his jersey ripped at the shoulder.

Under course rules, Talansky didn’t lose time in the title chase because his crash happened within the last three kilometers, so the Miami native remains eighth overall — 2 minutes, 5 seconds back.

“It’s not something that’s going to affect him much,” Garmin-Sharp team boss Jonathan Vaughters said of Talansky on French TV. “I don’t know if it was Gerrans’ fault, but he’s angry.”

Van Garderen and Talansky represent the top echelon of American cycling ambitions at the Tour in the generation after dethroned doping cheats Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong became emblems of a blighted era of drug use.

Nibali, the leader of the strong Kazakh team Astana, captured and has held the lead through a combination of savvy riding, calm and power on the English hills in Stage 2 — which he won. His lead is solid but not insurmountable with the biggest days of climbs in the Vosges, Alps and Pyrenees still to come.

Stage winner Trentin beat Slovakia’s Peter Sagan by no more than an inch. The finish was so close that the Tour’s website initially declared Sagan the winner.

Sagan, who claimed the green jersey given to the Tour’s best overall sprinter for the past two years, has finished in the top-5 of every stage this year — and second three times — but has yet to win. France’s Tony Gallopin was third.

“Honestly I didn’t know that I won. I told Peter that he had beaten me on the line,” Trentin said.

Trentin dedicated the victory to his Omega Pharma Quick Step team and its star sprinter Mark Cavendish, who crashed out in Stage 1.

Also falling in the finish-line crash, Swiss rider Mathias Frank, the leader of the IAM Cycling team, was undergoing a medical scan at hospital for a severely injured hip, the race medical report said. In an earlier crash, Dutch rider Stef Clement dropped out of the race and was taken to hospital after a blow to the head.

“There have really been a lot of crashes this year, in the final sprints,” Nibali said. “We all knew that Sagan wanted a win today … The end of the stage was very hard.”

In a possible preview of race action to come, Alberto Contador led a small attack along a low-grade climb with about 6-kilometers left, but he couldn’t shake Nibali. The Italian says he expects the Spanish two-time champ to attack in the mountains ahead starting this weekend, culminating with a tough uphill finish on Monday.

A shakeout among title contenders could be ahead in Saturday’s eighth stage, which winds through medium-height mountains along a 161-kilometer (100-mile) run from Tomblaine to Gerardmer-La Mauselaine ski resort.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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