Home rider Igor Anton secured a dream victory for Euskaltel--Euskadi on Friday when the Vuelta a Espana went through the team’s Basque Country region for the first time in 33 years.
Race leader Juan Jose Cobo of Spain also had to respond to a double attack by second-placed Briton Chris Froome on the Vivero climb.
With two days remaining, Cobo leads by 13 seconds. Froome’s Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins of Britain is third at 1 minute, 41 seconds.
Photo: EPA
Cheered on by thousands of Basque fans welcoming the race back after a long absence, Anton powered away on his regular training climb on the Vivero for a solo victory in the center of Bilbao.
Second behind the climbing specialist on the hilly 158.5km 19th stage was Italian Marzio Bruseghin, 41 seconds back. German Dominik Nerz finished third at 1 minute, 30 seconds.
A winner on the prestigious Zoncolan climb in the Giro d’Italia in May, Anton told reporters: “This victory today is so important I could retire right now. In a sense it didn’t matter if I won, just being able to break away ahead of the pack was amazing, to be able to race through the Basque Country after a 33-year absence was something very special.”
“I had a lot of physical problems at the start of the race. I did not recover well after a hard Giro,” added Anton, who is down in 33rd place overall. “I was sunk mentally and physically, but I slowly got better and winning today has made it all worthwhile.”
Cobo said he was wary of the twin Sky threat from Froome and Wiggins in the last two stages.
“Today was a big step forward, but it’s not over yet,” Cobo said. “I’m sure Sky will keep attacking.”
Froome said: “I’ve got nothing to lose and all to gain so I went for it. Thirteen seconds is such a small margin it would be crazy to give the race to him.”
The Vuelta ends in Madrid today.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB