Controversial Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde won the Tour of Spain on Sunday, capturing one of cycling’s three major tours for the first time just months after being embroiled in a doping scandal.
The 29-year-old Caisse d’Epargne rider just had to stay in his saddle on Sunday to win the event after starting the day with a lead of 55 seconds over his countryman Samuel Sanchez, who finished the tour in second place.
Third overall was Australia’s two-time Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans, who had been an outside favorite until Valverde took the golden jersey from him at the end of the ninth stage and who then lost a lot of time because of a puncture in the 13th stage.
Germany’s Andre Greipel won Sunday’s 21st and final stage in a sprint finish in Madrid ahead of Italy’s Daniele Bennati at the end of the 110km course from Rivas Vaciamadrid to the Spanish capital.
Valverde finished the stage in 26th place, 10 seconds behind Greipel and with the same time as Sanchez.
Valverde, who had been on the podium in this race twice previously, said his “goal is now achieved.”
“It’s a special feeling, now I know that I can win a big three-week tour, a harder one than the Tour of Spain,” he said. “Everyone had doubts, and I knew that I could achieve it because I had been close.”
The trophy will be some consolation this year for the Spaniard, who is serving a two-year ban for doping in Italy which prevented him from taking part in the Tour de France this year as it briefly passed through the country.
The anti-doping tribunal of the Italian Olympic Committee took the action last May after it said blood samples taken from him during an Italian stage of last year’s Tour de France matched DNA samples from suspect blood bags discovered in the 2006 Operation Puerto doping scandal.
Valverde has contested the allegations.
He said on Saturday that the Vuelta had not been his primary objective at the start of the season, but the decision in Italy changed his plans.
“I had to find another goal, in this case the Vuelta. I had to concentrate and leave all other problems behind,” he said.
The rider, who won the Tour of Catalonia in May, did not win a single stage in this year’s Tour of Spain.
But he remained strong throughout, helped by his team, and was able to respond to attacks by his rivals when needed, especially in the 14th and 19th stages.
“In the end the best man won,” Sanchez said. “It was 21 days and what counted above all was consistency and Valverde is the one who made the least mistakes.”
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