Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky on Sunday won the women’s road race on Sunday for a third gold medal at the UCI Cycling World Championships after she also claimed two track titles.
Demi Vollering of the Netherlands took silver just ahead of Denmark’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in third after the 154km run from Loch Lomond culminated with six 14.3km circuits of downtown Glasgow.
Kopecky also won golds on the track in Scotland in the points and elimination races.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I thought after those two world titles on the track, it would be almost impossible to win again here,” the 27-year-old from Flanders said.
“Three world titles in seven days is too crazy. I didn’t dream of this when I was a little girl, back then I just wanted to be competitive on the bike. I never knew I would become this good,” she said.
The first part of the course in open countryside was marked by gray skies and constant drizzle as the peloton crossed the Scottish Pennines.
However, an elite clique had already formed by the time the race arrived at the tricky urban circuit with corners treacherously rain slick.
The race looked like going to the wire with Lizzie Deignan of Great Britain, Christina Schweinberger of Austria and Swiss Marlen Reusser all in the mix until late.
Uttrup Ludwig started her winning bid on a steep incline just ahead of the final lap and Kopecky joined her as they opened up a gap.
As the Belgian finished stronger the Dane faded and was caught near the line by Vollering as they crossed just seven seconds off the winning pace.
“It was such a hard race, one of the hardest I’ve done. I can’t remember how many times I was vomiting,” the bronze medalist said.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS