Briton Mark Cavendish recovered from an early mishap to sprint away with the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday before being pulled out of the race, while Russia’s Denis Menchov kept the overall lead.
The Team Columbia rider made his move with about 300m to go, burning off LPR’s Alessandro Petacchi by a bike length to take a 3-2 lead in stage wins over his Italian sprint rival at this year’s race. Quickstep’s Australian Allan Davis was third.
Cavendish, who turned 24 on Thursday, had to change bikes shortly after the start of the stage because of a bump with French rider Yohann Gene.
PHOTO: AP
“I did a good sprint. I was put in the best position again by my team,” Cavendish told Rai television.
“I didn’t need to go 100 percent. I went 80 to 90 percent at the finish and I was able to win,” added the sprinter, winner of stages nine and 11 and the team time trial that opened the race.
However, Cavendish, who won March’s Milan-San Remo Classic at his first attempt, was later taken out of the Giro. With some tough mountain stages coming up, his team said they wanted him to concentrate on preparing for July’s Tour de France.
“He has already raced 55 days this year and it is our view that the best thing for Mark is to take some recovery now before the Tour,” team manager Rolf Aldag told Columbia’s Web site.
The pack arrived compact at the end of a virtually flat 176km run from Lido di Camaiore to Florence earlier on Friday and there was no change at the top of the overall standings.
After seizing the pink jersey with an impressive time-trial win on Thursday, Menchov still has a 34 second lead over its former holder, LPR’s Danilo Di Luca of Italy.
Astana’s Levi Leipheimer of the US is six seconds further back in third.
Seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Leipheimer’s compatriot and Astana teammate, is still 12th overall, 6 minutes, 34 seconds behind Menchov.
The world’s second biggest stage race, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, finishes in Rome next Sunday.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two