Germany’s Tour Down Under winner Andre Greipel recorded his first ever stage win in a major Tour when he landed the 17th leg of the Tour of Italy on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old High Road cyclist edged out British teammate Mark Cavendish, who has already won two stages this year.
Spain’s Tour de France titleholder Alberto Contador retained the overall leader’s pink jersey with just four stages remaining before they cross the finishing line.
Both Greipel and Cavendish, who won Commonwealth gold for his birthplace of the Isle of Man on the track in 2006 in Melbourne, raised their arms in triumph as they crossed the line almost in unison.
Cavendish had worked his heart out for his teammate and on several occasions stopped Italian rider Daniele Bennati from overtaking them — Bennati eventually finished third.
Greipel acknowledged that his victory was not just a solo effort.
“After the finish line, everybody in the team was delighted,” the German said. “Cavendish as well. It is a team victory, one doesn’t win a sprint without it being so.”
Contador for his part was happy that it had not been too testing a day even after it came following a rest day.
“It was a quiet day,” said Contador, who will be unable to defend his Tour de France title as his Astana team have not been invited by the race organizers as they have had several high profile drug scandals in recent years.
“I felt well, I didn’t have any allergy problems. As for the final few days? Both Riccardo Ricco [second, 41 seconds behind] and Gilberto Simoni [third, over a minute in arrears] are dangerous. But Simoni has more experience,” said Contador, referring to the 36-year-old Simoni’s two previous Giro victories.
Ricco, though, gave Contador a boost as he revealed he was not in the best of health.
“I am a little troubled by bronchitis today [Wednesday] and had trouble breathing,” Ricco said. “Last night [Tuesday] I could not sleep. I was still coughing during the stage. But even if it is the cruel reality, I have no intention of giving up.”
Russia’s Mikhail Ignatiev had led a three man breakaway — they had an 8 minute lead at one point — with him being the last of the trio to be swept up just 4km from the line.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and