Denmark’s Mads Pedersen on Sunday sprung a huge surprise when he emerged from a rain-drenched Yorkshire road race with cycling’s world title.
After 261km and over 6 hours, 27 minutes of exhausting racing in hostile conditions that took a huge toll on the field, the 23-year-old unleashed an astonishing late burst. He left a devastated Italian Matteo Trentin and Stefan Kung of Switzerland trailing in the silver and bronze positions.
“That’s an unbelievable day I didn’t expect this morning,” the Trek-Segafredo rider said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It was just survive, survive, survive. Then hope for the best in the sprint,” said Pedersen, who was far from favorite to beat Italian 30-year-old Trentin, usually a crack in the sprints. “When I saw the finish line, I thought: ‘Anything can happen.’”
The race was shortened as relentless overnight rain took its toll on the narrow roads through the Yorkshire dales, flooding an iconic hilly section of the route that featured in the 2014 Tour de France which was cut out altogether.
In the brutal conditions, only 46 of the 182 starters crossed the finish line. The rain also turned the Harrogate fan park into a quagmire and grounded the TV helicopters.
Dutch 24-year-old Mathieu van der Poel will have a hard time forgetting the Yorkshire weather, too.
The bookies pre-race favorite had looked set for victory with a lap to go, but cracked, suddenly and spectacularly.
“You have to keep in front, keep focused and keep going,” Pedersen said.
Three-time world champion Peter Sagan left his pursuit too late as the Slovak tried to bridge the gap with 5km remaining.
“Oh well,” said the nonchalant Sagan, who finished fifth and could have become the first ever four-time world road race champion.
“[It was a] good decision for these guys to attack. For me I thought it was too far to go,” said Sagan of the attack led from 31km out by Italian Gianni Moscon of Team Ineos, who came fourth. “The Germans and Belgians thought they would control the race, but it didn’t happen like that.”
Last year’s Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas took part even though he was off form and dropped out after a few of the nine laps of the treacherous Harrogate circuit.
“Wet, cold and not quite the feeling in the legs that I hoped for. It was a tough day out there,” Thomas said. “It’s not a nice feeling — in a home world championships... The atmosphere, the crowd was really good. This is something we’ll remember for sure.”
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS