Germany's Juergen Kottula won a rainy third leg of the Tour of Taiwan yesterday, while Japan's Kazyuki Manabe held on to the overall lead in the eight-stage race.
Racing for Merida Germany, Kottula edged defending champion Wong Kam Po of the Hong Kong, China, Team in a photo finish on the 169km course along the eastern coast.
Both covered the stage in 4 hours, 57 minutes and 27 seconds.
Finishing six seconds behind was Iran's Ghader Mizbani Iranagh of Giant Asia Racing.
Manabe of Japan's national team took control of the tour early, winning the first stage. His overall time of 12:07.00 gives him a four-second lead over Iran's Ahad Kazemi Sarai of Giant Asia Racing. Kottula, who placed third in the first stage, was third in the general classification with 12:07.13.
Taiwan's Lee Hsu-fan held the King of the Mountain honors given to the tour's best climber.
A heavy rain that began halfway through the race slowed down the racers on the rolling course, which has a 200m climb near the end.
Kottula said that he, Wong and Mizbani Iranagh broke away at the 70km mark and the chasing pack never caught them.
In the final 300m, Wong began sprinting, Kottula said.
"I was quick off his back wheel and I passed him at 150m," he said.
The race continues today with a 162km stage that follows the east coast from the city of Hualien to the Fu Long beach resort on the northeast cape.
The tour finishes Nov. 26 in the southern port of Kaohsiung, the island's second-largest city.
Kottula expected tough racing in the next two days.
"It's a long tour and the next two stages have a lot of mountains," he said. "The weather is also supposed to be windy and rainy."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two