LE MARKSTEIN, France: Dutch veteran Annemiek van Vleuten took the yellow jersey in the women’s Tour de France with a crushing performance in the mountains which powered her to a remarkable solo victory on Saturday’s penultimate stage.
Movistar rider van Vleuten, 39, began the day almost a minute and a half behind the leader Marianne Vos but raced solo with 62km still to go in the mountainous 127.5km stage from Selestat to Le Markstein Fellering.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx) finished second, 3mins 30sec behind, with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) winning the sprint for third.
Van Vleuten, who was sick at the start of the week and almost pulled out of the Tour, now leads by 3min 09sec ahead of Vollering and is the clear favorite to win the race when it ends with Sunday’s stage eight on the Super Planche des Belles Filles.
“It has been such a roller coaster,” said van Vleuten.
“I have been so sick and to win with this is unbelievable and beautiful. To finish here solo, I had to try because I was behind.
“My style is always attacking not waiting for the final (sprint).”
Van Vleuten attacked as soon as the peloton arrived at the Petit Ballon, the first of the day’s tortuous climbs.
“I did a reconnaissance of the stage and noticed that the Petit Ballon was a difficult climb,” she said.
“After six days of waiting, surviving and recovering, I wanted to make the biggest time gaps and it meant going on the first climb. This stage suited me really well. I knew if I would be fit enough after being sick, it would be my day.”
Team Jumbo-Visma rider Vos, who held the yellow jersey at the start of the day after clocking two wins and five podiums in the opening six stages, was unable to stay in touch and eventually limped in almost 25mins after van Vleuten.
It was a bad day also for Lorena Wiebes, winner of two stages, who suffered a nasty fall on Friday and dropped out early in stage seven.
“It doesn’t make sense to try to come back. She was far behind and in pain. To bring her back up only to get dropped again... It was easier for her to just roll in,” said Team DSM director Albert Timmer.
Fit or not, it would likely have made no difference to van Vleuten who was on another plane to the rest of the field.
Her early break on the Petit Ballon, 85km from the finish, was matched at the start by compatriot Vollering but with 62km remaining on the Col de Platzerwasel, the second of the day’s big climbs, she shook her off.
From then on, the three-time winner of the Giro d’Italia and time-trial gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, was on her own and never looked like wilting.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) attempted to give chase but could never get close enough to close up the gap on the front two.
As the chasing group cranked up the pace, so the Italian began to tire and she was gobbled up on the final ascent up the Grand Ballon, 12km from the finish.
Third place came down to a dog fight between stage three winner Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez), Juliette Labous (DSM) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) who were neck and neck at the summit of Grand Ballon before the Dane snatched it in the dash for the line.
Sunday’s final stage sees the riders racing a 123km with two major climbs from Lure to La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges, where Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the defending champion, won in the men’s race three weeks ago before finishing second overall in Paris.
LONDON: Thomas Tuchel has been given a one-match suspension and fined £35,000 ($41,000) after the Chelsea manager was sent off following his furious clash with Tottenham boss Antonio Conte, the Football Association (FA) said on Friday. Tuchel’s touchline ban has been suspended temporarily, pending the full written reasons for the decision, allowing the German to take his place in the dugout for Sunday’s Premier League clash at Leeds. Conte has been fined £15,000 after both managers admitted improper conduct following a pair of angry exchanges during last Sunday’s stormy 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel and Conte were booked after they first squared up to each other when the Italian celebrated Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s equalizer close to the Chelsea technical area. Then, after Harry Kane headed Tottenham’s second equalizer deep into stoppage-time, Tuchel shook hands with Conte at the final whistle in such an aggressive way that it drew a fiery response from his counterpart. The feuding bosses had to be separated by players and coaching staff, but were both sent off by referee Anthony Taylor. “An independent regulatory commission has today ordered that Thomas Tuchel be fined £35,000 and banned from the touchline for one match, and Antonio Conte be fined £15,000 after they respectively breached FA Rule E3,” the FA said. “Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte admitted that their behavior after the final whistle of the Premier League game between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday, August 14 2022 was improper, and both managers requested a paper hearing. “These sanctions are subject to appeal, and Thomas Tuchel’s one-match touchline ban has been suspended temporarily pending the independent regulatory commission’s written reasons for its decision that will be made available in due course.”
BARCELONA: Police said they had recovered Robert Lewandowski’s watch, stolen as the star striker signed autographs before a Barcelona training session. The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the 33-year-old striker, who joined from German club Bayern Munich in July, arrived at training and stopped in front of fans for autographs, Catalan police told AFP Friday. A young man approached and snatched the watch from the player’s wrist. Spanish media reported the watch was a Patek Phillippe worth 70,000 euros ($70,300) and that Lewandowski climbed back in his car and gave chase but lost the thief. The police were alerted at 4:30 p.m. local time (1430 GMT) and within an hour they had caught the 19-year-old, who was hiding in the bushes around the stadium. They recovered the watch which was nearby. He was arrested for “robbery with violence,” the police said. They explained that even though Lewandowski was not hurt, taking the watch off his body was considered violent.
JEDDAH: Golf Saudi and Spain’s La Reserva Club de Sotogrande joined forces at Aramco Team Series Sotogrande this week to offer 100 women and girls the chance to start a golf journey that could see them playing alongside star players in 2023.
Golf Saudi launched its Ladies First Club in 2020, introducing golf to women in the Kingdom and encouraging them to keep playing the sport.
The initiative at La Reserva Club Sotogrande is international, and women will get the chance to play golf for the first time.
The Ladies First Club International will feature free beginner golf lessons by experts from both Golf Saudi and La Reserva on Friday and Saturday.
The club’s top practice facilities will prepare the newcomers for expert practice. They will then be invited to continue playing golf by enrolling in a program that will continue through next summer.
Participants who want to join Ladies First Club International at La Reserva Club can sign up in person at the event.
Until the Aramco Team Series Sotogrande returns to La Reserva Club in 2023, the long-term strategy will give participating women and girls access to at least one free lesson each month.
The goal is for women from the program to have the opportunity to play with top Ladies European Tour players in the tournament’s official pro-am.
Majed Al-Sorour, deputy chairman and CEO of Golf Saudi and Saudi Golf Federation, said: “It is exciting that we’re using the success of Golf Saudi’s Ladies First Club in Saudi Arabia to continue driving interest and participation in golf internationally.”
He said: “The central ambition of the initiative is for as many women as possible to take up golf and then continue to play the sport that has the potential to be life-enhancing in so many ways. Kicking off this initiative with La Reserva Club de Sotogrande and the Aramco Team Series is a great platform to raise awareness and inspire more newcomers to the sport — and win an amazing chance to play with the pros next year.”
JEDDAH: British boxer Anthony Joshua weighed in more than 10 kilos (22 pounds) heavier than defending champion Oleksandr Usyk on Friday ahead of their “Rage on the Red Sea” world title rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Two-time heavyweight champion Joshua tipped the scales at 110.9 kilos (244.5 pounds) while Ukraine’s Usyk weighed 100.5 kilograms (221.6 pounds), both similar to last year’s fight in London.
Usyk, 19-0 and the favorite after his unanimous decision on Joshua’s home turf, confounded predictions that he had packed on several kilos of muscle to counter the towering Joshua.
The fighters came face-to-face in a 90-second stare-down before shaking hands and posing for the cameras.
“All this stuff, weight, face-off, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s all about the fight,” Joshua said. “I’m just ready for 12 rounds, 100 percent. Anything shorter than that, it’s a bonus.”
Many commentators have written off Joshua after a hesitant showing against the quick and skillful Usyk at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.
But the 6ft 6ins (1.98m) Briton, who is striving to become a three-time world champion, has promised to be more “competitive.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested Joshua will go for the knock-out.
Saturday’s clash will be the 12th consecutive world title fight for Joshua, the 24-2 former Olympic gold-medallist whose other professional defeat was a shock TKO by Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019.
Joshua avenged that loss six months later in the “Clash of the Dunes” in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, the first heavyweight world title fight in the Kingdom.
Elsewhere on the undercard, Saudi Arabia’s Ziyad Al-Maayouf will face Mexico’s Jose Alatorre on Saturday, and said earlier this week he has been overwhelmed by the support he has received and feels a little under the pressure with all eyes on him.
And in a moment of history for sport in Saudi Arabia, Somali-born Briton Ramla Ali will fight the Dominican Republic’s Crystal Garcia Nova in the first women’s professional boxing match in the Kingdom.
Also in an action-packed night of boxing, the Rage on the Red Sea undercard includes several other exciting fights, with former WBA and Ring magazine super-middleweight champion Callum Smith and former two-weight world champion Badou Jack both featuring.
SOTOGRANDE: German golfer Chiara Noja — the youngest European golfer ever to win a professional tour event — has been announced as the latest Golf Saudi ambassador, following in the footsteps of icons of the women’s game including Anna Nordqvist, Anne Van Dam and Carlota Ciganda, all of whom have been named Golf Saudi ambassadors this year. Noja became a scratch golfer aged 11, before topping the European Rankings at both Under-12 and Under-14 levels, and has maintained her upward trajectory ever since, turning professional in October 2021, aged just 15. She has enjoyed a stellar first year on the pro tour, making all the cuts at the Dubai Moonlight Classic, Aramco Saudi Ladies International, and the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah. In June, Noja secured her maiden professional victory at the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge, nine strokes ahead of Sára Kousková, and rose to the top of the LETAS Order of Merit. Majed Al-Sorour, the CEO and deputy chairman of both Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation, said: “Chiara immediately impressed me when I saw her play last year in Saudi Arabia. She put in two impressive back-to-back performances at both of our tournaments. “To not only make the cut in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and finish T40, but to do so with a shoulder injury, before following this up with a T26 in the Aramco Team Series (shows) her talent and bodes very well for both our new partnership, but also for the future of women’s golf on the Ladies European Tour,” he continued. “Having also both lived and played in the Middle East, she has the potential to become a role model for all young girls here in the region and help us with our long-term aims at Golf Saudi of developing the women’s game in the Kingdom.” Noja will not only feature in Golf Saudi-owned events going forward but will also, more importantly, aid the organization in its ongoing journey to bring golf to new audiences, particularly young girls and women, both globally and within the Kingdom. Noja’s ambassadorship was announced during this week’s Aramco Team Series event in Sotogrande, which runs until August 20. The field is packed with global stars, with Noja facing household names including Nelly and Jessica Korda, Nordqvist, Ciganda and last year’s winner Alison Lee. Part of Noja’s new role with Golf Saudi will be to mentor female amateurs. She will draw on her own experiences of rising through the amateur ranks and explain what it takes to become a professional, as well as discuss how golf can reach new audiences and ensure its future development. “I have always enjoyed fantastic support from the whole team at Golf Saudi, not only via invites to their fantastic events but also in terms of advice. By turning professional, I have been able to concurrently continue my academic career whilst still developing and improving as a golfer,” Noja said. “I was lucky enough to make my debut on the Ladies European Tour at the end of 2020 and the subsequent 12 months gave me the confidence to turn professional in 2021,” she continued. “Golf Saudi is doing amazing things for the game whether it’s through their Mass Participation programs to drive youth engagement and their efforts to draw more people to our sport, particularly young girls and women. “I am delighted to be confirmed as the latest Golf Saudi ambassador and to not only work alongside so many female superstars from women’s golf but also to support such an ambitious organization as Golf Saudi. Having come to prominence at a similar time to Golf Saudi, I’d like to think that we’ll be able to share insights mutually and both do our bit in terms of growing the game in Saudi Arabia and globally.”