Oly champ Van Avermaet takes Tour of Oman lead

Froome sees teammate Poels win Ruta del Sol second stage World Chess Federation says Swiss account frozen over Syria sanctions

MUSCAT, Feb 15, (AFP): Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet won stage three of the Tour of Oman on Thursday, edging out Portugal’s Rui Costa and Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko in the final sprint.

The stage was tailor made for the likes of Belgian Avermaet and riders who excel in the one-day classics.

The BMC team leader completed the mountainous 179.5 km (112 mile) stretch, involving three climbs from 4hr 36min 4sec, 2. Rui Costa (POR/ Emirates) at 3sec, 3. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/Astana) same time, 4. Gorka Insausti (ESP/Bahrain-Merida) st, 5. Nathan Haas (AUS/Katusha) 7, 6. Magnus Nielsen (DEN/Astana) st, 7. Odd Eiking (NOR/Wanty) 9, 8. Dries Devenyns (BEL/Quick-Step) st, 9. Miguel Moreno (COL/Astana) st, 10. Jesus Herrada (ESP/Cofidis) st.

UCI Professional Continental team Cofidis’ French rider Loic Cheteout stands on the podium wearing the most aggressive rider golden jersey after the 3rd stage of the cycling Tour of Oman between the German University of Technology and Wadi Dayqah Dam near Qurayyat on Feb 15. (AFP)

Overall Standings: 1. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 12hr 56min 44sec, 2. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/Astana) at 11sec, 3. Nathan Haas (AUS/Katusha) 13, 4. Gorka Insausti (ESP/Bahrain-Merida) 19, 5. Dries Devenyns (BEL/Quick-Step) 25, 6. Odd Eiking (NOR/Wanty) at st, 7. Miguel Moreno (COL/Astana) at st, 8. Jesus Lopez (ESP/Cofidis) at st, 9. Daniel Garcia (ESP/Cofidis) at st, 10. Merhawi Ghebremedhin (ERI/Dimension Data) at 33sec.

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Chris Froome admitted it had not been easy to focus in his first race of the season amid the controversy over his abnormal doping test, as he saw Sky teammate Wout Poels win the Ruta del Sol second stage on Thursday.

The four-time Tour de France winner finished seventh on the day, 27 seconds off the pace, having come home in the peloton on Thursday’s opening stage in the five-day race in southern Spain. ATHENS, Feb 15, (RTRS): The World Chess Federation (FIDE) says its Swiss bank accounts have been frozen because its president — with whom the FIDE secretariat is embroiled in a power struggle — is under US sanctions for alleged dealings with the Syrian government.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a Russian who has headed FIDE for over two decades, was placed under US sanctions in November 2015, accused of aiding the Syrian government.

Ilyumzhinov, a millionaire businessman and ex-politician, has denied the accusations.

“Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov denies the outrageous and false allegations made against him and is not aware that FIDE’s bank accounts have been frozen by UBS,” his London solicitor Nigel Kushner said in a statement.

“Mr Ilyumzhinov believes that the allegations form part of an ongoing smear campaign related to a power struggle at FIDE in advance of elections taking place this year.” UBS said it could not comment on whether individuals or organisations were clients of the bank.

“We can’t comment on whether individuals or organizations are clients of UBS. We follow all laws and regulations that are applicable to us,” UBS said.

Last March, Ilyumzhinov accused FIDE of an attempted “revolution” to oust him by falsely announcing his resignation. He said he intended to serve his full term and would decide this year whether to run for re-election in September.

FIDE, whose secretariat is based in Athens, says it transferred presidential powers to Ilyumzhinov’s deputy in December 2015 though its website still lists Ilyumzhinov as president.

“The Swiss Bank UBS has announced that they will immediately close our accounts,” FIDE’s treasurer, Adrian Siegel, said in a Feb 12 letter posted on its website.

“The white money strategy in Switzerland does not allow to do business with institutions or persons on the sanction list of the US Department of the Treasury. Thus, it was only a question of time until we face this serious problem.”

Siegel said FIDE had so far been allowed to keep its accounts because Ilyumzhinov had informed FIDE on several occasions that he would soon be removed from the sanctions list.