Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky on Sunday won the women’s road race on Sunday for a third gold medal at the UCI Cycling World Championships after she also claimed two track titles.
Demi Vollering of the Netherlands took silver just ahead of Denmark’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in third after the 154km run from Loch Lomond culminated with six 14.3km circuits of downtown Glasgow.
Kopecky also won golds on the track in Scotland in the points and elimination races.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I thought after those two world titles on the track, it would be almost impossible to win again here,” the 27-year-old from Flanders said.
“Three world titles in seven days is too crazy. I didn’t dream of this when I was a little girl, back then I just wanted to be competitive on the bike. I never knew I would become this good,” she said.
The first part of the course in open countryside was marked by gray skies and constant drizzle as the peloton crossed the Scottish Pennines.
However, an elite clique had already formed by the time the race arrived at the tricky urban circuit with corners treacherously rain slick.
The race looked like going to the wire with Lizzie Deignan of Great Britain, Christina Schweinberger of Austria and Swiss Marlen Reusser all in the mix until late.
Uttrup Ludwig started her winning bid on a steep incline just ahead of the final lap and Kopecky joined her as they opened up a gap.
As the Belgian finished stronger the Dane faded and was caught near the line by Vollering as they crossed just seven seconds off the winning pace.
“It was such a hard race, one of the hardest I’ve done. I can’t remember how many times I was vomiting,” the bronze medalist said.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
RSS