Luis Leon Sanchez won the Paris-Nice race despite a bold raid from fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador on the eighth and last stage around Nice on Sunday.
Another Spaniard, Antonio Colom of Katusha, was the first to cross the line at the end of the 119km ride featuring three category-one climbs, outsprinting Astana’s Contador and Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck of Saxo Bank.
Caisse d’Epargne rider Sanchez, who took the overall lead with victory on Saturday, ended the stage 17 seconds behind, keeping the yellow jersey with a one-minute advantage over Schleck in second place.
France’s Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step was third, nine seconds further behind, with Contador fourth 1.24 off the pace.
“I had talked with Frank Schleck and I was confident his [Saxo Bank] team would do some work in the peloton,” Sanchez said.
Astana sporting director Alain Gallopin hit out at the Saxo Bank team’s tactics, saying their collaboration with Sanchez led to Contador’s defeat while failing to hand Schleck a victory.
Gallopin said that when Saxo Bank appeared to help Sanchez “I went to see Kim Andersen [Saxo Bank sporting director] and said to him, ‘Why are you doing that?’”
In Rome, Germany’s Andreas Kloden won the fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race on Sunday, topping a 30km individual time-trial between Loreto and Macerata ahead of Stijn Devolder of Belgium and Sweden’s Thomas Lovkvist.
Kloden, the winner in 2007, also took the overall lead in the week-long race that concludes today.
He leads Lovkvist by six seconds but with two stages remaining more suitable to sprint finishes, the German looks set to repeat his victory of two years ago.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning