German rider Tony Martin won the Tour of Algarve on Sunday with Tour de France champion Alberto Contador finishing fourth on his return to competition after his provisional one-year ban for doping was lifted.
Martin won the 17km time trial between Lagoa and Portimao to lift the trophy with a 32-second overall lead over his Dutch team mate Tejay van Garderen.
Contador, who was defending his title, had been in second place since Thursday, but dropped to fourth after finishing the time trial 45 seconds slower than Martin.
The three-time Tour de France champion had been suspended provisionally since August after testing positive for a small amount of the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol, but the Spanish Cycling Federation on Tuesday lifted the ban.
Contador’s battle to clear his name may not yet be over, with cycling’s world governing body still to decide whether to appeal.
The 28 year-old Spaniard said on Wednesday that he has yet to decide with his team director whether he will defend his Tour de France title in July.
TOUR OF OMAN
AFP, MATRAH CORNICHE, OMAN
Dutch rider Robert Gesink won the Tour of Oman here on Sunday after the sixth and final stage.
British star Mark Cavendish won the final stage — his first victory of the year — beating Russian Denis Galimzyanov and Andrea Guardini of Italy in a sprint finish.
Cavendish is widely seen as the best sprinter in the world, but has suffered a troubled start to the year, crashing twice in the Tour Down Under and then the Tour of Qatar.
“Sprinters are generally very nervous in the opening races of the season,” said the 25-year-old Isle of Man-born rider, who has 23 stage wins on major tours to his credit, including 15 in the Tour de France. “Everyone wants to win, to open his account ... and until today [Sunday], I hadn’t any success, but I never really worried about that as I knew I had the legs for it.”
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and