CYCLING
Lobato wins second stage
Spaniard Juan Jose Lobato won a tight sprint to clinch the second stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol in southern Spain, while Alberto Contador retained his overall lead on Thursday. Lobato suffered a minor head injury when crashing during Wednesday’s first stage, but timed his run to the finish perfectly to take the 191.7km stage from Utrera to Lucena ahead of German sprint specialist John Degenkolb and Slovenian Grega Bole in a time of 4 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds. Contador, a double Tour de France champion, had made a surprising burst for the line himself in the final kilometers, but finished among the peloton in 23rd to maintain his overall lead. Movistar rider Benat Intxausti moved up to second place just a second behind his compatriot after Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels lost 46 seconds on the leaders. Britain’s Chris Froome remains eight seconds off the lead in third overall after finishing back in 12th.
CYCLING
Kristoff edges bunch sprint
Norway’s in-form Alexander Kristoff, who picked up three stages last week in Qatar, came out on top in a bunch sprint in Thursday’s Tour of Oman third stage. The Katusha rider was followed home by Italian duo Andrea Guardini and Matteo Pelucchi at the end of the 158.5km ride around al-Mussanah Sports City. “The team is good, our ‘work rhythm’ is working well and that gives me a lot of confidence,” Kristoff said. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara retained the lead in the overall standings, four seconds clear of Spain’s Alejandro Valverde and five seconds up on Austria’s Patrick Konrad.
GOLF
Veterans roll back the years
Former major winners Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen struck a blow for the old guard on the PGA Tour as the two veterans surged into a six-way tie for the lead at the Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, California, on Thursday. Playing together in the opening round at a sun-splashed Riviera Country Club, the seasoned campaigners fired matching five-under 66s on a firm and fast-running layout with barely a breath of wind. Singh piled up six birdies and a lone bogey, while Goosen picked up three shots in his final six holes as they finished the round level with Americans Nick Watney, James Hahn, Daniel Summerhays and Derek Fathauer. Mexican Carlos Ortiz opened with a 67, while Germany’s Alex Cejka, Australian Geoff Ogilvy and Americans Justin Thomas and William McGirt carded 68s. “I kept my ball in play, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, and when I did miss I chipped it real close,” said former world No. 1 Singh, who has battled assorted health problems in recent years. “It was a comfortable round.”
GOLF
Five tied for lead in Delhi
Local favorite S.S.P. Chowrasia was among five names on a packed leaderboard on Thursday on the first day of the Indian Open after shooting a six-under 65. The Kolkata-born Chowrasia was level-pegging with Canada’s Richard Lee, Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat, Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren after the start of the four-day event at Delhi Golf Club. Chowrasia carded two birdies on the final three holes, playing alongside his fellow leader Lee, who picked up four strokes on the back nine. After Rahman and Chapchai also carded rounds of 65, Lagergren made it a five-way tie in the final round of the day. Some of the bigger names were also still very much in contention, including Miguel Angel Jimenez, who recorded a one-under 70.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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