Luis Leon Sanchez won the Paris-Nice race despite a bold raid from fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador on the eighth and last stage around Nice on Sunday.
Another Spaniard, Antonio Colom of Katusha, was the first to cross the line at the end of the 119km ride featuring three category-one climbs, outsprinting Astana’s Contador and Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck of Saxo Bank.
Caisse d’Epargne rider Sanchez, who took the overall lead with victory on Saturday, ended the stage 17 seconds behind, keeping the yellow jersey with a one-minute advantage over Schleck in second place.
France’s Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step was third, nine seconds further behind, with Contador fourth 1.24 off the pace.
“I had talked with Frank Schleck and I was confident his [Saxo Bank] team would do some work in the peloton,” Sanchez said.
Astana sporting director Alain Gallopin hit out at the Saxo Bank team’s tactics, saying their collaboration with Sanchez led to Contador’s defeat while failing to hand Schleck a victory.
Gallopin said that when Saxo Bank appeared to help Sanchez “I went to see Kim Andersen [Saxo Bank sporting director] and said to him, ‘Why are you doing that?’”
In Rome, Germany’s Andreas Kloden won the fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race on Sunday, topping a 30km individual time-trial between Loreto and Macerata ahead of Stijn Devolder of Belgium and Sweden’s Thomas Lovkvist.
Kloden, the winner in 2007, also took the overall lead in the week-long race that concludes today.
He leads Lovkvist by six seconds but with two stages remaining more suitable to sprint finishes, the German looks set to repeat his victory of two years ago.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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