The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| “Grandpa” Horner becomes oldest Grand Tour winner Posted: 15 Sep 2013 08:52 AM PDT American Chris Horner, nicknamed "Grandpa" by his peers, created more than one landmark when he won the Tour of Spain today at the age of 41. Horner is the first rider from the United States to win cycling's third Grand Tour. Andy Hampsten won the Giro d'Italia in 1988 and Greg LeMond took the Tour de France in 1985. At almost 42, Horner is also the oldest Grand Tour winner by a hefty margin. The father-of-three, who lives in Bend, Oregon, outstrips the Vuelta's oldest previous winner, Tony Rominger of Switzerland in 1994, by nine years, and he is almost six years older than the Tour de France's most senior winner, Fermin Lambot of France in 1922. "How long will I continue racing? I have no idea. At least two or three years would be good," the RadioShack rider told reporters before the start of today's final stage. "If my legs are still turning the same way, I will continue. "But I hope people appreciate everything I've done, it's so complicated to get to this level. This is the hardest victory of my career so far," added Horner, a professional of 19 years, who said he did not yet have a contract for 2014. "The problem is my age. If I was 20, it would be very different, 50 different teams would be offering me a job." Born in Okinawa, Japan, where his father was serving in the US army, Horner began working in garages and building sites as a teenager in order to buy his own bike. He turned professional for the small US-based Nutra Fig squad and spent a decade mostly with minor American teams. In 2005, aged 33, he took part in his first three-week stage race, the Tour de France, finishing 33rd, and then raced for two years as a team worker with Belgian squad Lotto. Horner's breakthrough in Grand Tour racing came when he finished ninth in the Tour de France in 2010, the same year that he took his first major stage race, the Tour of the Basque Country. In 2011, after winning the biggest race in the United States, the Tour of California, a bad crash and subsequent abandon put him out of the Tour de France, although the following year at RadioShack Leopard, his current team, he finished 13th. This year started badly for Horner, with a knee injury wiping out almost the first half of the season. However, a victory in the toughest mountain stage of the Tour of Utah in August and second place overall showed that the American had rising form for his one Grand Tour of the season, the Tour of Spain. "For many his victory is a surprise but not for me and I've been working with him for five years now," Horner's sports director Jose Azevedo told El Mundo newspaper today. "He's come to this race rested because (before Utah) he had not been racing for several months and at this point in the season that makes a big difference." Famous for his love of hamburgers and chocolate bars and his upbeat temperament, Horner's nickname in the peloton of the Tour of Spain is "el abuelo" – "Grandpa". "I've always been under-rated or not quite given the leadership when I think I should have had it for different reasons," Horner said earlier this week. "Maybe (because of) my age, or maybe I'm not brass enough, but there's always something in my career that made people think I'm not as good as I am." – Reuters, September 15, 2013. |
| Djokovic hauls Serbia level against Canada Posted: 15 Sep 2013 08:15 AM PDT Serbia drew level with Canada 2-2 in the Davis Cup semi-final after world number one Novak Djokovic beat 11th-ranked Milos Raonic 7-6(1) 6-2 6-2 in today's opening singles. Home favourite Janko Tipsarevic takes on Canada's Vasek Pospisil in the tie's final rubber for a berth in the November 15-17 final, where the winners will meet holders Czech Republic. Djokovic handed the 22-year-old Raonic a claycourt lesson in their first meeting, looking sharp and eager to erase the memory of Monday's US Open final defeat by Rafael Nadal. Thriving in the same kind of fervent home support which helped Serbia win the 2010 title when they beat France 3-2 in an epic final at the same venue, Djokovic outclassed his hard-hitting rival after a nervy start. The players traded breaks in the opening set before Djokovic, who dominated the rallies while Raonic used the slick red clay to good effect on his first serve, raced through the tiebreak to delight the bulk of 15,000 noisy fans in the arena. The electrifying atmosphere reached fever pitch when Djokovic saved a triple break point to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, pumping his fists in delight as he took the match by the scruff of the neck. Having tamed Raonic's serve, the 26-year-old Serb broke again to lead 5-2 and then wrapped up the second set with a searing crosscourt forehand. Although Raonic was backed by several hundred colourful Canadian fans, he succumbed meekly in the third set as a galvanised Djokovic broke serve straight away and raced through the final act to seal the match in two hours and eight minutes. Canada are looking to reach the final for the first time, having knocked five-times champions Spain out en route to their first semi-final in 100 years. – Reuters, September 15, 2013. |
| 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