Vincenzo Nibali became the first Italian to win the Vuelta a Espana in two decades on Sunday with his first victory in a Grand Tour.
The 25-year-old Nibali maintained his 41-second lead over his closest rival, Ezequiel Mosquera of Spain, on a trouble-free day, finishing the largely ceremonial, 85km final stage in the leading group.
Nibali was 21st, on the same time as stage winner Tyler Farrar of the US who was first across the line in a bunch sprint. Nibali, who rides for the Liquigas-Doimo team, became the first Italian to win the race since Marco Giovannetti in 1990.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mosquera was second overall and Slovakian Peter Velits took third place, three minutes two seconds behind Nibali.
“Ever since the race began I always said that I was here to win and that’s what I did,” Nibali told reporters. “I’ve had a great race and with the help of all the team I’ve succeeded, but it wasn’t at all easy. Everybody said I was the biggest threat of all the foreign riders, but that hasn’t been extra pressure. I’ve had great form and that was really all that mattered.”
Nibali, who was the leader for two days after Spain’s Igor Anton crashed and abandoned, was ousted from the top spot by Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez after the Italian suffered badly on the summit finish of Cotobello.
However, Nibali then took a firm grip on the overall classification on stage 17’s time trial through the vineyards of Penafiel, where Mosquera replaced Rodriguez as his main challenger.
Mosquera attacked on Saturday’s final climb to Bola del Mundo, but Nibali was able to claw his way back into contention by the finish and keep the overall lead.
“I had to settle for second, but I’ve never been on the podium of a major Tour before so that’s a pretty big achievement in itself,” Mosquera told reporters.
After Nibali’s compatriot Ivan Basso won the Giro d’Italia in May, the Vuelta is Liquigas-Doimo’s second major stage race victory of the year.
Farrar, who won the final sprint ahead of Briton Mark Cavendish and Australia’s Allan Davis, said: “Winning on the last day of a Grand Tour is always a special feeling and it confirms I’m well on track for the world championships in Australia too.”
The King of the Mountains title was taken for a third consecutive year by David Moncoutie of France. Cavendish took the points jersey whilst Russian team Katusha won the team prize.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
RSS