Levi Leipheimer of the US won the 20th and penultimate stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday, while Astana teammate Alberto Contador of Spain retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
The 34-year-old Leipheimer moved into second place overall after finishing the 17.1km time trial up the category 1 Alto de Navacerrada mountain in 33 minutes, 6 seconds.
Contador followed 31 seconds later, just ahead of Alejandro Valverde of Spain.
Contador will complete a rare sweep of cycling’s three major races — the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta — if he retains his lead during the final stage.
Barring an unexpected upset or accident, the 25-year-old Astana rider will equal the feat of former cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi and Bernard Hinault, who also won the three cycling classics.
Contador won last year’s Tour and this year’s Giro. A Vuelta victory would see him claim all three titles within 15 months, besting Hinault’s previous record of 26 months.
Leipheimer is 46 seconds behind Contador overall. This year’s Tour champion Carlos Sastre of Spain, riding for Team CSC, is 4:12 back in third.
“It was important to maintain the overall lead,” Contador said. “They were really squeezing me from behind, so I didn’t have time to even think of celebrating until I’d finished. Now, I just want to rest a bit and savor the moment.”
Sastre said he was delighted to finish the stage 1:02 behind in fourth place to secure third place overall.
“I wanted to secure third place but it was difficult, which is all you know when you are out there fighting,” Sastre said. “But I did it. It was very important for me and I will be very happy to be on the podium in Madrid.”
The race was set to end yesterday with a 102.2km ride from San Sebastian de los Reyes north of Madrid to the finish down the central Castellana boulevard.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
MILWAUKEE PREVAIL: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points as the Bucks withstood Nikola Jokic’s 27th triple-double of the season to beat the Nuggets Golden State star Stephen Curry on Thursday drilled 12 three-pointers in a scintillating 56-point display that carried the Warriors to a 121-115 victory over the Orlando Magic. Curry’s explosive performance helped the Warriors dig themselves out of a 17-point hole, with the point guard signaling the start of the fightback with a three-pointer from beyond the half-court line to end the first half that pulled the Warriors within 66-52 at the break. In the third quarter, he single-handedly outscored the Magic with 22 points to Orlando’s 21. The four-time NBA champion finished two three-pointers shy of former teammate Klay Thompson’s record for most
RSS