Italy’s Daniele Bennati of the RadioShack-Nissan squad ended a run of four straight bunch-sprint wins by Germany’s John Degenkolb in the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday with a narrow victory over Britain’s Ben Swift.
Spaniard Alberto Contador retained the overall lead with three stages remaining in the race.
At the end of a high-speed, four-hour dash across the plains of northern Spain, Bennati inched ahead of Swift at the end of a drawn-out sprint in Valladolid’s city center. Australia’s Allan Davis was third and Degenkolb fifth.
Photo: AFP
Bennati, 31, dedicated his first victory of this year to Belgium’s Wouter Weylandt, the previous winner of a Vuelta stage in Valladolid in 2008, who was killed in a crash during last year’s Giro d’Italia, and to a Spanish member of his team’s management who has fallen ill.
“It was a very difficult sprint and I’d like to think that Wouter helped me take the victory today,” Bennati said.
“He was a teammate of mine, and he gave me strength today,” he added.
Bennati, a former race leader of the Vuelta in 2007, 2008 and last year, said his sixth stage win of his career in the Spanish Grand Tour was a result “of slowly but steadily getting better form throughout the Vuelta.”
“My nickname is ‘The Panther’ and panthers can always give one last swipe of their claws in a fight,” he added.
Contador remained in the overall lead, 1 minute, 52 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde, with another Spaniard, Joaquim Rodriguez, in third.
“It was a fast stage, I am sure we averaged 48kph at least,” said Contador, who took the lead from Rodriguez on Wednesday with a spectacular long-distance attack.
“There was always the chance of splits in the wind so I had to be well positioned and close to the front. I’m glad it’s over, one day less to go now and a day without problems,” he said.
The Saxo Bank-Tinkoff rider said he had spent much of the 204.5km stage, the longest of this year’s 2012 Vuelta, “thinking about how I took the lead and how perfect our tactic had been.”
“I talked it over with Joaquim during the stage and to tell the truth, even though we give each other a hammering during the stages, we discuss it in a friendly manner afterwards. And that’s a good thing about our sport,” Contador said.
After yesterday’s straightforward run from Penafiel to La Lastrilla, today’s final mountain-top stage finishes on the summit of the Bola del Mundo.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Aaron Civale got a little wild in the right-hander’s first start for the Chicago White Sox two days after he was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers. Civale on Sunday walked four of the first seven hitters he faced in a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers. The 30-year-old finished with four walks, one off his career high, while allowing six hits and two runs in five innings. He threw 65 strikes and 39 balls. Chicago trailed 2-1 when he was replaced by Dan Altavilla to start the sixth. “Not the cleanest,” Civale said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a week. First couple
RSS