Colombia’s Esteban Chaves staged a late attack to win atop the summit finish in Verbier in Saturday’s eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, while Germany’s Tony Martin increased his overall lead going into Sunday’s concluding stage.
Orica GreenEdge rider Chaves finished three seconds ahead of Czech Roman Kreuziger and Dutchman Bauke Mollema in the Valais ski resort, with the chasing group that included Martin crossing 17 seconds behind.
It was a second win this season for Chaves, 24, who also won a stage at last month’s Tour of California.
Photo: AFP
“This is my most important victory,” Chaves said. “It’s my first WorldTour win. It comes at a really important race. Everyone here has the legs for the Tour de France. I don’t have the words for what this means to me.”
Meanwhile, triple world time-trial champion Martin, who has worn the leader’s yellow jersey since winning last Saturday’s opening time-trial, extended his lead over Dutchman Tom Dumoulin to 51 seconds.
Two-time defending champion Rui Costa of Portugal is lurking, 1 minute, 5 seconds adrift in third.
“It was a hard, fast stage,” Martin said. “The final climb to Verbier didn’t surprise. I did it already in 2009 at the Tour de France. I knew that it was steep, but that I could handle it.
“I was aware of the guys I had to stay with. I tried to stay with them as best I could, and stay in control as much as I could. I think I handled it well,” he said.
A group of six riders broke free of the pack early into the 219km ride from Delemont and the escapees would open up a lead of over six minutes before the peloton made a concerted effort to gradually reel them in.
Several teams jostled for position at the head of the pack, while Omega Pharma-QuickStep did their best to keep Martin as fresh as possible for the back-to-back climbs at the finish.
Movistar’s Jose Joaquin Rojas was the first of the escapees to reach the top of the initial category three climb, and it was then the turn of Team Sky rider Christian Knees to try his luck on the final ascent.
BMC’s Danilo Wyss subsequently decided to make his move, but the peloton was too strong and IAM Cycling set up home-favorite Mathias Frank for a strong finish, while Marti — not renowned for his climbing abilities — battled hard to keep up with his rivals for the overall title.
Kreuziger matched Frank all the way as the Swiss rider tried to launch an attack before the pack swallowed them up, leaving it to Chaves to jump clear of the field inside the final 2km and secure an impressive win in Verbier.
Yesterday’s final stage was a grueling 157km ride from Martigny to Saas-Fee that finishes with a beyond category climb.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
RSS