Yara Kastelijn on Wednesday escaped in the hilly final 20km to win the fourth stage of the Women’s Tour de France in Rodez as Lotte Kopecky kept the yellow jersey.
Kastelijn was part of a 14-rider breakaway on the 177km stage, the longest of this year’s race. The Dutchwoman surged away on a climb and had pulled a minute clear by the finish, giving the Fenix-Deceuninck team, in its debut top-level season, a first victory on the Tour.
“The final meters were amazing,” Kastelijn told broadcaster Eurosport.
Photo: AFP
She was followed home by three other Dutch riders. Demi Vollering was second after a ferocious battle over the closing kilometers. Anouska Koster was one second behind and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten was fourth, another second back.
Belgian Kopecky, who attacked first from the peloton, faded to 14th, 16 seconds behind Vollering.
“It was a crazy day,” said Vollering, who despite gaining bonus seconds was unhappy she had not been able shake off her rivals. “Normally we don’t have such long races. You really feel it in the bunch, everbody’s really tired and no one has that really explosive attack to go away, but everyone can follow.”
Vollering jumped to second overall, 43 seconds behind Kopecky. Van Vleuten rose to sixth overall, 51 seconds off the lead.
Yesterday’s 126km stage from Orne-le-Chateau to Albi was likely to favor the sprinters.
The Women’s Tour de France finishes on Sunday with a 22km time trial in Pau, the day after the queen stage with a finish at the summit of the Tourmalet.
A dominant Cade Cunningham on Thursday scored 42 points as the NBA-leading Detroit Pistons swatted aside the New York Knicks 126-111 on the NBA’s return from its brief All-Star Game break. Billed as a must-watch clash between two Eastern Conference rivals each in red-hot form, the game at Madison Square Garden became an exhibition for Cunningham, who also provided 13 assists and eight rebounds. The 24-year-old burnished his credentials as a Most Valuable Player contender, helping a young, surprise-package Pistons side to improve the best record in the entire NBA this season so far, to 41-13. After the game, Cunningham said that he
Amanda Anisimova on Thursday ended a tearful Mirra Andreeva’s Dubai title defense with a comeback 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory in the quarter-finals. The second-seeded American trailed fifth seed Andreeva by a set and a break before rallying to complete a 2 hour, 38 minute win. She booked a place in the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the fourth time in her career. “I was almost in tears there at the end,” Anisimova said. “It made me emotional seeing her like that. I feel we both won today.” Anisimova was to face fellow American Jessica Pegula, who beat Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-3,
MEN’s FREESKI BIG AIR: Norway’s Tormod Frostad found an extra gear under the most intense pressure to post a winning total of 195.50 to top the podium Japanese teenager Ami Nakai on Tuesday set the pace in the Olympic women’s figure skating competition as freestyle skier Tormod Frostad soared to gold in an all-time classic big air final. Nikai, 17, upstaged teammate Kaori Sakamoto at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, while Alysa Liu of the US rounded out a powerful top three after the short program. Sakamoto is searching for an elusive gold at her final Winter Games, but faces a stiff challenge from a new generation of Japanese stars including Nakai and Mone Chiba. The 25-year-old Sakamoto, a relative veteran in the sport, won both of her segments in
Coco Gauff on Tuesday bounced back from her shock early exit in Doha last week with a comfortable victory over Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while Elena Rybakina opened her campaign with a dominant win. The American, who lost to lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her opening match in Qatar, made no such mistake against Kalinskaya, easing through the second-round tie 6-4, 6-4. Gauff is to face Belgian Elise Mertens in the last 16 of the WTA 1000 event. The two-time Grand Slam champion created headlines earlier this week for comments about anti-immigration policies in the US, saying: “I don’t think
RSS