Defending champion Frank Schleck won a two-man sprint in front of his home crowd to edge Italian Matteo Carrara in the second stage of the five-day Tour of Luxembourg, with Lance Armstrong retaining third in the overall standings on Friday.
Carrara took the race leader’s jersey following the queen stage of the race, a 202.7km trek between Schifflange and Differdange. He leads Schleck by one second.
Armstrong crossed the line in sixth position and kept his third place overall, 30 seconds behind Carrara.
PHOTO: AFP
The ride through the Luxembourg countryside featured seven short but demanding climbs, including three 2.2km ascents in the last 27km.
The 38-year-old Armstrong spent much of the day up front in the main pack. He was cheered by his girlfriend and kids at the finish line, but didn’t speak to reporters.
The American, who is riding in the minor five-day race as part of his preparations for the Tour de France, later said on his Twitter feed that his condition was improving.
Armstrong crashed last month in the Tour of California, where he hurt his elbow and received a cut under his left eye.
“Hot, hilly, and hard circuits at the end,” Armstrong said. “Legs coming around. Frank and Carrara were strong — congrats 2 them.”
Johan Bruyneel, boss of Armstrong’s RadioShack team, was content with the cyclist’s performance.
“We have to wait a bit more for results, but Lance was feeling good and I’m happy with his performance,” Bruyneel said.
Armstrong returned to competition last year following three years of retirement, finishing third in the Tour.
He will next ride in the Tour of Switzerland from Saturday next week to June 20 before bidding for a record-breaking eighth win in the showcase event next month. The Tour starts on July 3 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
As temperatures reached 30°C, Armstrong didn’t follow Schleck and Carrara when they attacked in the second of three loops around Differdange, in the Col de L’Europe. He finished in a group of five riders, 36 seconds back.
“It was a tactical race and when Schleck and Carrara jumped out of the pack they quickly took 20 seconds and the race was over,” Bruyneel said.
Armstrong spoke at his bus in the morning before the start of the stage, saying he still had to decide whether he would ride for another year after the Tour.
“I have options. It’s full schedule or there’s nothing, full retirement,” he said. “Or there’s a hybrid: It could be a mix of the two as well.”
Yesterday’s third stage was a 191.5km trek between Eschweiler and Diekirch. The race ends today in Luxembourg.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set