Dutchwoman Demi Vollering on Sunday succeeded compatriot and great rival Annemiek van Vleuten to win the second edition of the Women’s Tour de France in Pau.
To cement her status as world No. 1, all that was missing from the 26-year-old’s trophy haul was a victory in a grand tour.
On Sunday, she achieved that after finishing second in the final stage time trial behind Marlen Reusser of Switzerland to claim “the most beautiful success” of her career.
Photo: AFP
The Team SD Worx leader finished the eight-stage race over three minutes ahead of Belgian teammate Lotte Kopecky and Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Canyon-SRAM.
Van Vleuten, 40, competing in her final season, finished off the podium nearly four minutes adrift of the winner.
“Of course I worked a lot to achieve this result,” Vollering said. “But this success is the result of a good personal balance thanks to a great entourage in particular.”
It was her 15th victory this year after dominating the spring classics, with a hat-trick in the Ardennes — Fleche Wallonne, Liege and Amstel — that only compatriot Anna van der Breggen had achieved before her.
However, the former speedskater’s week was not easy.
She said she had been “very tense” in the early stages and was furious after being penalized 20 seconds for an extended shelter behind her team’s car during the fifth stage, which dropped her from overall second to seventh.
On Saturday, Vollering powered through the mountain-top fog to win the most demanding stage and grab the leader’s yellow jersey and a 1 minute, 50 second advantage on Niewiadoma heading into the final day.
She extended that lead on Sunday to take revenge on Van Vleuten who had beaten her last year just as she had done by just nine seconds in the spring at the women’s Vuelta.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that