Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen on Tuesday saluted his teammates for helping him secure victory in the third stage of the Tour de France warm-up the Criterium du Dauphine in a sprint finish.
“The team worked well for me in the final straight, the last climb and descent,” the 26-year-old told reporters in Tarare, near Lyon. “Geraint [Thomas] worked hard to catch those in front and they carried me along well.”
Boasson Hagen — a previous stage winner of the Dauphine in 2010 and winner of this year’s Tour of Norway — beat Australia’s Michael Matthews and Belgium’s Gianni Meersman to the line at the end of the 167km ride from Amberieu-en-Bugey.
Photo: AFP
Canadian David Veilleux of Europcar, the first-stage winner, kept the overall leader’s jersey going into yesterday’s fourth stage, a 32.5km time-trial around the Parc des Oiseaux, near the town of Villars-les-Dombes.
Team Sky rider Boasson Hagen said the Tour de France this year would be different for him after working predominantly for former world champion sprinter Mark Cavendish and eventual winner Bradley Wiggins and runner-up Chris Froome last year.
“Of course, winning a stage of the Tour remains a major objective. As for the classics, I hope to do better. We trained well in Tenerife, but I was ill then I had a sore knee. Winning a classic is more difficult. I think it’s compatible with the Tour even if I haven’t yet managed it,” he said.
For his part Veilleux pledged to give his all in yesterday’s time-trial, but said he did not know whether he would be able to hang on to the leader’s spot.
“I haven’t prepared specifically for this type of effort. I find it difficult to assess myself. I don’t have the chance to race at this level against these type of riders,” he said. “These two stages have allowed me to recover from my effort on Sunday, so I should have fresh legs.”
Veilleux is still not certain to be selected by his team for the Tour, but said he had been delighted to see the response to his efforts from fans, particularly back home in Quebec.
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
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS