Gregory Rast won the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday as Mathias Frank retained the leader’s yellow jersey.
Veteran Swiss Rast powered clear of Mathew Hayman, Alexander Kolobnev and Bert Grabsch over the final kilometer after the quartet had stayed out in front for much of the 186.1km ride from Leuggern to Meilen.
“This is such a big win for me,” a delighted Rast said. “This stage is close to my home and I know these roads very well. I’ve tried [for] 10 years to win a stage here and today I finally made it. I’m really, really happy.”
Photo: EPA
“It was hard out there today. There was no real sprinter in our group, just strong guys with motivation to win,” the RadioShack-Leopard rider added.
With Rast riding hard and out of sight, Australia’s Hayman pipped Kolobnev to second with Grabsch, who had earlier made several failed attempts to escape the leading group, rounding out the top four.
The four riders were never challenged after breaking clear of the peloton 30km into the stage with the pack eventually crossing line almost 11 minutes off the pace.
In the overall standings, Frank, of Switzerland, remains 23 seconds ahead of Czech Roman Kreuziger, with last year’s champion Rui Da Costa of Portugal in third at 35 seconds.
Yesterday’s seventh stage, a 206km route from Meilen to La Punt, featured four categorized climbs, including the HC Albula Pass just before the finish, a climb that peaks at 2,315m.
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