Belgium’s Tim Wellens enjoyed a red letter day on the Giro d’Italia on Thursday with his maiden Grand Tour stage win as Tom Dumoulin held onto the leader’s maglia rosa.
The 25-year-old Wellens of Lotto-Soudal broke early and powered up the final 18km climb to Roccaraso, Italy, to come home alone after the 157km sixth stage.
On this year’s Giro’s first gentle taste of mountain air Dumoulin held off the challengers for his leader’s jersey, finishing fourth.
Photo: EPA
Looking in good shape the Dutch rider took a fistful of seconds off some of the main contenders for the general classification such as Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali of Astana, as well as Spanish duo Mikel Landa of Team Sky and Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.
“My attack was not planned, but I saw Nibali going so I went too,” the Giant-Alpecon team leader said.
“I really surprised myself. I was stronger than I expected. I didn’t think I’d be in that shape for climbing. It was not a high mountain, but it was still a proper climb,” the Dutchman said.
Photo: AP
Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang got closest to Wellens, the Danish rider reaching the race’s first summit finish in second place, 1 minute, 19 seconds behind, with Russian Ilnur Zakarin of Team Katusha on his rear wheel in third.
In the overall standings Dumoulin now leads Fuglsang by 26 seconds, with Valverde 41 seconds away and Nibali 47 second back.
Wellens made his stage-winning move 15km out when he slipped free from his companions in the breakaway, first Eugert Zhupa and Alessandro Bisolti, then Laurent Didier and Pim Ligthart.
“I have Pim Ligthart to thank,” Wellens said. “It was his idea to go away together at that point in the race. Then we bridged the gap to the leaders. I’m enormously happy with this victory. It’s a little bit of a surprise.”
One of the rising stars of Belgian cycling, Wellens was giving himself the perfect present to mark his birthday on Tuesday.
Up to this point he had come in second twice in stages on his first Giro in 2014, won last year’s Grand Prix de Montreal and claimed the closing stage in this year’s Paris-Nice.
He celebrated his career high by picking up his bike and waving it over his head.
Yesterday’s seventh stage was a 211km ride from Sulmona to Foligno, Italy, favoring the sprinters, despite a second-category climb.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS