Germany’s John Degenkolb underlined his status as the Vuelta a Espana’s strongest sprinter on Friday with a third victory in six days.
Victorious in all of the bunch sprints in this year’s race, the Argos-Shimano speedster used his trademark last-ditch acceleration to fend off Italian Elia Viviani by half a wheel on a motor-racing-circuit finish to stage seven.
Allan Davis of Australia was third while Katusha rider Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain retained the overall lead.
“After taking that first win [on Sunday] everything has been a bonus and it becomes easier to suffer,” Degenkolb told reporters.
“Today we suffered, you can see that from when we were in one line close to the finish because we were going so fast. Team Sky did a great job working for their sprinter Ben Swift and I even had a few problems following them,” he said. “But my guys had good timing, dropped me off exactly where I needed to be, and I came up to the line just in time for the win.”
Degenkolb said his third victory justified the Vuelta organization’s decision to invite his team for the second year running.
“We deserve our place here and we deserve our place in the Tour de France again next year too,” he added. “Normally the points jersey here is won by one of the overall classification riders, not like in the Tour, but I’ll fight for it. I fight for everything.”
Rodriguez stayed in front for the fourth day. Britain’s Chris Froome occupied second spot, 10 seconds back, while Spain’s Alberto Contador was third at 36 seconds.
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