The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Gilbert delivers to become world champion Posted: 23 Sep 2012 09:16 AM PDT  Philippe Gilbert breaks away from the pack in the race to the finish. — Reuters pic The win salvaged a disappointing season for the Belgian who had struggled all year after finishing as world number one in 2011, having won the Amstel Gold Race, the Fleche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classics.  Gilbert celebrates the win. — Reuters pic "It is such a great moment, I had a bit of time to enjoy the final 200 metres," Gilbert told a news conference. "I went with 2.2 kms to go. It was very long but also very fast, I was focused on my effort until 200 metres to go." Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen finished second ahead of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde at the end of a 267-km ride from Maastricht that ended with a 16.1-km loop going up the Cauberg, a 1,200-metre ascent with a 5.8 per cent gradient, 10 times. Defending champion Mark Cavendish, who had no chance of retaining his title because of the course, pulled out exhausted after some 140 km. The Manxman ducked a fan's sign sticking out on to the course on the inside of an uphill corner and escaped with only a sore neck. Belgium did their best to control several breakaways, including one featuring Vuelta champion Alberto Contador and France's Thomas Voeckler, two outside bets for the win. Spain had several riders capable of winning the race but Contador's attack came too soon and Valverde failed to follow Gilbert's surge ahead in the Cauberg. Three-times world champion Oscar Freire, who was hoping for a small group sprint finish, could not sustain the pace either and settled for 10th in possibly the last race of his career. "In the last lap, we thought it would be a sprint so we wanted to work for Oscar but Gilbert's attack changed everything," Valverde told a news conference. "At the top of the Cauberg I knew that Gilbert would win, his attack was too strong," said Valverde. "(Alexander) Kolobnev counter-attacked then Boasson Hagen went behind and nobody wanted to work with the others. We were thinking about the medals." Boasson Hagen said there was no way of catching Gilbert, who took a silver medal with BMC in the team time trial last Sunday. "I was a bit too far behind when he went. I was hoping some other guy would close the gap and it would eventually be a small group sprint finish," the Norwegian told a news conference. — Reuters |
| Klizan beats Fognini in St Petersburg to win first title Posted: 23 Sep 2012 08:40 AM PDT  Martin Klizan with the winner's trophy in St. Petersburg. — Reuters pic The third seed from Bratislava, playing in his first Tour final, raced into a 4-0 lead after breaking Fognini in his first two service games before taking the opening set. Klizan, 23, looked much fresher than his fourth-seeded opponent despite having beaten top seed Mikhail Youzhny in a semi-final that lasted nearly four hours yesterday. Both players suffered from nerves in the second set, surrendering serve for five consecutive games before world number 45 Klizan clinched a well-deserved victory with a deft drop shot after 69 minutes. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan