Australian Richie Porte yesterday conquered a brutal uphill finish to claim the third stage and the race leader’s jersey in the Tour Down Under.
Porte, the event’s winner in 2017, made the decisive move for his Trek-Segafredo team in the season’s opening UCI WorldTour event, to power up the torturous hill climb to the Paracombe finish in the fire-ravaged Adelaide Hills and win the stage by a commanding five seconds.
Australia’s Rob Powers (Team Sunweb) just held off Britain’s Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) for second place, with Australia’s Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) finishing fourth.
Photo: EPA-EFE
South Africa’s Daryl Impey — chasing a third straight Tour Down Under title for Mitchelton-Scott — finished sixth to lie six seconds behind Porte in the general classification with three stages left to Sunday’s finish.
“Hats off to the boys,” Porte said. “They did a really good job in controlling it.”
“I felt good at the bottom of the climb and got a bit of a gap there. It was just a shame there was such a headwind in the final bit, because we could have really done some damage,” he added.
It was a lung-busting surge by Porte up the 1.7km final ascent, leaving his rivals trailing in his wake.
Impey will need to win time bonuses in the remaining stages for a third straight title.
“It was always going to be a challenge getting close to the guys up here, but to finish in that group at the end, I was pretty chuffed,” Impey said.
“I think we’re in a great situation. Obviously we’d like to be in the [leader’s] jersey, but there’s still lots of bonuses to come and lots of opportunities in the race,” he added.
It was a courageous effort by Yates to get on to the stage podium after crashing heavily and injuring his left knee in Wednesday’s second stage and he occupies fourth overall, 11 seconds behind Porte.
“It was alright,” Yates said. “It was a little bit stiff in the morning, but once we got into it, it started getting better and better.”
Dennis, the individual world time trial champion, said his fourth placing was encouraging for the remainder of the race.
“It was a confidence boost ahead of [the] Willunga [final hill stage]. I really had to play mind games with myself and I really had to look after myself before that final climb,” Dennis said.
“I had [teammate] Dylan van Baarle in front protecting me, but Richie kicked on the climb and he was just too good,” he added.
The stage went through the charred Adelaide Hills area, where hundreds of properties were destroyed by raging bushfires last month.
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
MLB is experiencing an epidemic of guys being dudes. At ballparks all across the US, groups consisting of mostly young men are joining in on the “Tarps Off” trend that is loud, goofy, infectious and new to the baseball world. Joining in on the fun is simple: Go to the section where the party is happening, take off your shirt and start twirling it above your head. Soccer-like chants or singing usually follow — injecting a jolt of energy for a sport that is occasionally chided for its lack of energy inside the stadium. After getting its start in St Louis, Missouri, on
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
RSS