Rejuvenated Hamilton has 50th GPrix win in his sights
Atapuma retains overall lead
Etixx-Quickstep’ Belgium cyclist Gianni Meersman celebrates on the podium after winning the fifth stage of the 71st edition of ‘La Vuelta’ Tour of Spain, a 171.3 kms route between Viveiro and Lugo, on Aug 23. (AFP) LUGO, Spain, Aug 24, (AFP): Belgian Gianni Meersman won stage five of the Vuelta on Wednesday, his second victory after triumphing on stage two, both wins coming on flat terrain.
Meersman won the sprint finish in the 171.3 km stage from Viveiro to Lugo in a time of 4 hr 16 min 42 sec, while Colombian Darwin Atapuma retained the overall lead.
Etixx-Quick Step rider Meersman finished ahead of Luxembourg’s Fabio Felline of Trek-Segafredo in second and France’s Kevin Reza of FDJ in third after being set up well by his team and sprinting fastest on the uphill run to the line.
Because of a crash in the last kilometre, overall leader Atapuma lost more than a minute and the stage results had Spain’s Alejandro Valverde first, but the MOV) s.t.; 7. Romain Hardy (FRA/COF) s.t.; 8. Jempy Drücker (LUX/BMC) s.t.; 9. Kenneth Vanbilsen (BEL/COF) s.t.; 10. Jose Goncalves (POR/CJR) s.t.
Selected others: 13. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 0:00; 14. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) same time; 30. Darwin Atapuma (COL/BMC) s.t.; 70. Alberto Contador (ESP/TIN) s.t.
Overall standings: 1. Darwin Atapuma (COL/BMC) 17h39:52; 2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/ MOV) at 28secs; 3. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 0:32; 4. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 0:38; 5. Esteban Chaves (COL/ORI) 0:38; 6. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/BMC) 1:07; 7. Rubén Fernández (ESP/MOV) 1:10; 8. Leopold König (CZE/SKY) 1:12; 9. Peter Kennaugh (IDM/SKY) 1:14; 10. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA/ETI) 1:22
Selected others: 13. Alberto Contador (ESP/TIN) 1:52.
BMC’s Colombian cyclsit Darwin Atapuma crosses the finish line during the fourth stage of the 71st edition of ‘La Vuelta’ Tour of Spain, a 163,5 kms route between Betanzos to San Andres de Teixido on Aug 23. (AFP)
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, Aug 24, (RTRS): Lewis Hamilton can become only the third driver to win 50 grands prix when Formula One returns from its month-long August break and gets back to business at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The triple world champion ended the first half of the season in blistering form, opening up a 19-point lead in the standings over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg with six wins -- four in a row -from the last seven races.
His win in Germany last month was number 49, and only Michael Schumacher (91) and Alain Prost (51) have reached the half century.
Hamilton, who trailed Rosberg by 43 points after May’s Spanish Grand Prix, is determined not to ease off.
“The first half of the season was a bit of a rollercoaster, so it’s great to be in the position I’m in with more than half of the to Lausanne for likely the last time next July ahead of the 2017 world championships in London.
“You can have a show without Bolt,” the veteran organizer said, reminding that the stadium was full for his July 2015 meeting. “You have to sell a show. There (are) new athletes.”
Freshening up track’s headline series is a priority for meet directors, who plan talks in Brussels next month after the Diamond League finals program. Some already met with IAAF President Sebastian Coe in Rio this month, Delapierre said.
“I think athletics has a good future beside Bolt,” he said, urging the sport to work now on finding a new vision. “We have not to wait for one more year with Bolt.”
Looking to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 22-year-old McLeod could build on his 110 meters hurdles gold to become a star.
“I know for sure the sport won’t die when Bolt is gone,” the former University of Arkansas student told The AP. “I know that there are a lot of athletes who will step up to the plate, especially in the sprints.”
McLeod acknowledged that, although Bolt’s showmanship can’t be copied, athletes need to entertain the crowds.
“I felt under pressure from the sportsmen, the fans, the press. This was awful and it was not like being at an Olympics, which usually unites people. This was not a competition, but a war - a old war,” Efimova told a news conference on Wednesday.
The four-times world champion announced in March that a doping test had shown she had taken the banned drug Meldonium and she was subsequently banned from all competitions.
But Efimova was cleared in July after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) acknowledged there was a lack of scientific evidence over how long Meldonium takes to be excreted from the body.
“The fact that my doping tests were taken abroad really helped me to compete in the Olympics,” Efimova said. “If they had been taken in Russia, then this would have been a harder question.”
Efimova was disqualified from swimming for 16 months in 2014 after traces of the anabolic steroid DHEA, which speeds up metabolism and helps with weight loss, were found in her system at an out of competition test in Los Angeles in 2013.
In Rio, she was jeered by the crowd and her main rivals, Americans Lily King and Katie Meili, refused to congratulate her on winning a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke.
“Of course, it was difficult for me in Brazil. A few people with whom I used to get on with well, now won’t even say hello to me or will just look at me in a strange way,” Efimova said.
“In terms of King and Meili, I only saw how they behaved on a recording. This was really unsporting behaviour. I understand that King is still young, but people should not behave like that.