Axel Merckx won the fifth stage of the Dauphine Libere on Friday after a solo breakaway in the French Alps, and six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong stayed comfortably in the chasing pack to finish 23rd.
Merckx, the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx, finished 2 minutes, 15 seconds ahead of second-place Inigo Landaluze in the 219km trek from Vaison-la-Romaine to Grenoble.
"It's the best victory of my career," Merckx said. "My objective was to win a stage on the Pro Tour. It's important for me. I had my father on the telephone. He said he was happy for me and knew I worked hard."
PHOTO: EPA
Benjamin Noval took third, 5:45 behind, while Armstrong finished 9:36 after the winner. The American will be trying to win his seventh straight Tour de France title in July.
Landaluze's performance was enough to claim the overall leader's jersey from Levi Leipheimer, who suffered a spill in the final descent and dropped to third overall.
"I was going too hard in the descent. I got too excited and should have known better," Leipheimer said. "The roads here at the Dauphine are always a bit sloppy. I was going too far into a corner, and I fell about six feet."
Leipheimer -- riding for the Gerolsteiner team -- had a bloodied elbow and several bruises. Armstrong and his Discovery Channel teammates asked the pack to slow down so his former teammate could get back on his bike.
Following a tough time trial Wednesday and Thursday's punishing climb up Mont Ventoux, Armstrong was not looking to challenge Friday. The 33-year-old Texan dropped to fourth in the overall standings, 3:12 behind Landaluze. Merckx is second overall, 2:32 adrift.
Armstrong, who got on the team bus without speaking to reporters, won the Dauphine Libere in 2002 and 2003, but a third title is not his priority. His main objective is to spend more time in the saddle, improve his rhythm and stay out of danger before the start of the Tour de France.
Merckx pushed out in front after about 110km, and Francis Mourey, Thor Hushovd, Mario Aerts and Landaluze formed a chasing group.
Merckx led the chasers by more than three minutes when he reached the summit at Col du Banchet, with the main pack nearly 14 minutes behind.
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
Leicester City on Sunday launched their quest for an immediate return to the English Premier League with a 2-1 win at home to crisis club Sheffield Wednesday after the visitors’ supporters protested against Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri. Wednesday are under several English Football League embargoes for a range of financial breaches, with payments of wages to players and staff delayed for the past three months. Owls fans made their feelings toward Thai businessman Chansiri clear by delaying their entry to their seats and the away end was empty as the players came onto the pitch at the King Power Stadium, with a
RSS