Germany’s Liane Lippert on Monday mastered the slippery conditions and a puncture to sprint to victory in the second stage of the Women’s Tour de France just ahead of Belgian race leader Lotte Kopecky.
Lippert profited from many of her rivals falling on the wet roads of the Cantal region including Dutchwoman Eva van Agt, who sustained a concussion after crashing against a security barrier while leading, 4km from the line.
Movistar Team’s Lippert pipped Kopecky on the line, timing 4 hours, 13 minutes, 43 seconds after the 151km run from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac in the Auvergne region of southcentral France.
Photo: AFP
“It was a very intense day from the start and ultimately chaotic, but I was well placed by my team,” said Lippert, who was “relieved to have avoided falls.”
As a track specialist, Kopecky demonstrated her skills in slippery conditions, particularly in the last hour of racing and even survived a puncture in the final straight.
“I lacked grip in the last meters. I understood why when I discovered after the line that my rear wheel was flat,” she said.
Dutch riders Yara Kastelijn, Anouska Koster and Van Agt made a break with 40km to go, but were caught in the final bends of a chaotic finale.
Defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten, the Dutch race favorite, took a tumble on the Plaines climb, the main difficulty of the day 46km before the line.
Kopecky leads Lippert by 49 seconds in the overall standings with Van Vleuten slipping to nearly a minute behind the leader.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS