Spain's Igor Anton pulled on the leader's yellow jersey after climbing to victory in Sunday's second stage of the Tour of Switzerland to the ski station of Flumserberg.
The Euskaltel rider crossed the line six seconds ahead of Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen of High Road, Italy’s Damiano Cunego and CSC’s Frank Schleck following the 197km run that finished in rain and freezing conditions at 1,400m altitude.
Anton stuck with the favorites on the tough 10km final climb, pulling ahead on the steep final slope with an 18 percent gradient.
PHOTO: AFP
Germany’s Jens Voigt tried to break away preparing the way for an attack by Luxembourg’s Schleck some 4km from the line.
But Schleck could not maintain the pace, allowing Switzerland’s Oliver Zaugg to break through before Spanish climber Anton snuck through ahead of the favorites.
■ DAUPHINE LIBERE
AP, GRENOBLE, FRANCE
Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere cycling race on Sunday, putting the Spanish rider among the favorites for next month’s Tour de France.
Kazakh rider Dmitriy Fofonov won the seventh and final stage — a 128km ride from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Grenoble that featured three big climbs and a downhill finish.
Valverde, of Caisse d’Epargne, again demonstrated his strong form two months after winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Valverde finished with a total time of 27 hours, 39 minutes, edging Australia’s Cadel Evans by 39 seconds. Levi Leipheimer of the US was third, 1 minute, 24 seconds back.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
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