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.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
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