Tadej Pogacar on Tuesday continued his dominance of the Giro d’Italia after pounding his way to victory in the shortened 16th stage, which started three hours late after riders rebelled at demands they race through snow.
Slovenian cycling superstar Pogacar burst to the fifth stage win — and second in a row — of his first ever Giro to take another big step toward a third triumph at a Grand Tour.
The two-time Tour de France winner could have held his position in the peloton and still led the three-week race handsomely, but he surged past Giulio Pellizzari in the final kilometer before holding five fingers aloft as he crossed the line.
Photo: AP
Pogacar gave Pellizzari his overall leader’s pink jersey as the pair embraced at the end of a tumultuous stage which was overshadowed by a revolt against race organizers RCS.
Riders were supposed to begin a 202km mountain stage between Livigno and Santa Cristina Val Gardena at 11:20am, but plans were changed after hours of discussion, confusion and anger within the peloton and the race began at 2:30pm.
The stage was twice shortened and eventually began in Laas, 118km from the finish, due to the hazardous conditions after a rider revolt against organizers who pushed for a full day’s racing.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The day started really on and off and we didn’t know what to do, but once we started racing it was fine,” Pogacar said.
At one point it looked like the day’s stage might not even begin as dreadful weather peppered the original start line in Livigno.
Shortly before noon in Italy, organizers RCS had said that riders were supposed to start a parade around snow-covered Livigno before heading to Prati allo Stelvio, 121km from the finish, where the stage proper would get under way at about 2pm.
However, there was no one at the start line despite RCS’ insistence on a start in Livigno, where local authorities had paid to have a Giro stage start in the ski resort.
“The riders are united on the issue,” Adam Hansen, president of the riders’ union, told broadcaster Eurosport, adding that they had voted unanimously to not participate in the stage as scheduled.
The start was then moved down to the valley and pushed back three hours so riders did not have to take the Giogo di Santa Maria pass, where the snow was falling heavily.
The peloton assembled in the shelter of a gas station before setting off, swaddled in rain gear, for the shortened run.
Ben O’Connor, who is fourth in the overall standings, called the Giro “one of the worst organized races.”
“This would never happen in 99 percent of other situations,” Australian O’Connor told Eurosport. “It’s just a shame that it is 2024 and you have dinosaurs who really don’t see the human side of things.”
French climber Valentin Paret-Peintre said that the peloton would only ride the full stage if RCS’ race chiefs “drive it in a convertible.”
Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe, who went it alone with 30km remaining only to give up the ghost, joked that he would spend the day “making snowmen.”
Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became an overnight celebrity on Chinese social media after Singapore’s 3-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday. China would have been eliminated if Thailand had won by three goals. Sunny made enough saves to prevent that from happening. Chinese fans have been lining up and buying out all the food at the stand
Teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam are to take on local sides at the Taiwan International 10’s Rugby tournament at the Bailing rugby fields in Taipei’s Shilin District on Saturday and Sunday. “The primary aim of this tournament is to propel the growth of rugby in Taiwan,” said Andrew Leakey, president of the Taipei Baboons and one of the event’s organizers. “By showcasing elite teams in an international arena like this, our objective is to ignite interest across various demographics and reach a broader audience,” Leakey said. “Central to our mission is the promotion of women’s
China squeezed into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a 1-0 defeat at South Korea on Tuesday, with Indonesia also progressing on a night of drama. Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in scored just after the hour in Seoul for South Korea, who were already into the next qualifying phase as group winners. The damaging loss left China’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but Thailand failed to take advantage as their dreams of progressing fell agonizingly short. They needed to beat basement side Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China into second place in
GOLDEN BOY: With Italy’s president watching, Tamberi was given a standing ovation when he walked onto the track, and he did not disappoint, jumping a record 2.37m Norway’s Karsten Warholm on Tuesday fired out a broadside at Olympic contenders in the run-in to the Paris Games by winning a third successive European Athletics Championships title in Rome as a galaxy of global stars showcased some scintillating form. Warholm, the Olympic champion and a three-time world gold medalist, timed 46.98 seconds for the victory. “I felt strong and I was in control,” Warholm said. “Now it’s back to training and keep on pushing.” “This is a good step on the road, but this is more to build confidence and get the gold medal. In Paris I’ll try to be as sharp