Canada’s David Veilleux of Europcar won the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, a 121km ride around Champery, Switzerland, on Sunday.
The 25-year-old took the leader’s jersey after coming home almost two minutes ahead of the peloton, with Belgian Gianni Meersman coming in second ahead of Dutchman Tom-Jelte Slagter and Australia’s Richie Porte.
Riding the prestigious Tour de France warm-up race for the first time, Veilleux said it was better than a dream to win a stage.
Photo: AFP
“For my first participation, it’s a success. I’ve won the stage and taken the [leader’s] jersey,” Veilleux said. “What’s funny is that two days ago I dreamed that I was coming to the end of a Dauphine stage in the lead, but was passed on the line. I came second. This is better than the dream.”
While Veilleux’s team is not expecting him to challenge for overall success, they are hoping to keep hold of the leader’s jersey for a few days.
“We’ll defend the jersey and we hope to keep it until Wednesday’s time trial,” Europcar sports director Andy Flickinger said.
“Now it’s a bonus for the team,” Flickinger added.
In a stage that began and ended in Switzerland, but was raced for the majority in France, Veilleux escaped just 3km in, accompanied by Thomas Damuseau, Jean-Marie Bideau and Ricardo Garcia.
At one point the front-runners had a lead of more than 10 minutes, before Veilleux left his fellow escapees behind on the Col du Corbier climb with 47km left.
World time trial champion Tony Martin of Germany launched a counterattack, but was swallowed up in the final 15km.
Veilleux proved durable on the final two climbs, holding on to the majority of his lead at that stage, 3 minutes, 20 seconds with 20km to go.
The pace was fast enough to leave Andrew Talansky of the US and Norwegian champion Thor Hushovd trailing in behind the peloton by about 8 minutes and 15 minutes respectively, but the main challengers did not buckle, as Chris Froome came in a place behind his Sky teammate Porte, with Alejandro Valverde eighth and Alberto Contador 11th.
Yesterday’s second stage saw the peloton ride over a hilly 191km route from Chatel to Oyonnax, France.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS