Will Clarke go wild for vets?
Quintana steals a lead on Froome
DARREN CLARKE will decide today whether to plug his inexperienced Ryder Cup qualifiers with experienced wild cards.
Rookies have taken five of the nine automatic places and although one of them is Masters champion Danny Willett, Clarke has made no secret of the fact he wants to “balance the team” with cup veterans for the Hazeltine showdown at the end of next month.
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer look certainties for two of the picks. Luke Donald – never on the losing side in four Ryder Cup appearances – may also get the nod over in-form rookies Russell Knox of Scotland and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.
Knox would have qualified if he had been a European Tour member when he won the WGC-HSBC Champions last November and boosted his case by adding the Travelers Championship this month.
Pieters was fourth at the Olympics and won in Denmark on Sunday. Kaymer played alongside Pieters at the weekend and said: “He would be my pick as he brings something special to the team.
“He hits the ball very far, is very good in the short game and proved he can play under pressure well.” swept under the carpet by the RFL’s human resources department and chief operating officer Ralph Rimmer.
Stokes said: “It’s the least professional organisation in the world. I witnessed homophobic abuse being thrown about by a very senior member of the Match Officials Department to another member of staff.”
Rimmer has denied the claims.
LEEDS RHINOS president Harry Jepson OBE has died aged 96. NAIRO QUINTANA regained the Red Jersey at the Vuelta a Espana as a dramatic stage 10 victory saw him open up a 58-second lead on Chris Froome.
The Colombian Movistar rider showed his renowned climbing skills on the 188.7km haul from Lugones to Lagos de Covadonga to pass long-time stage leader Robert Gesink with 2.5km remaining.
Gesink finished in second place, 24 seconds back, with Froome a further second down, as previous race leader David de la Cruz lost three minutes and 15 seconds to Quintana.
Third-placed Froome, who overall is one second behind Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), is now almost a minute down on Quintana heading into the second week of the Vuelta.
It could have been worse for Froome because he lost contact with 10km left as general classification rivals Quintana and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) surged up the special category climb to Lagos de Covadonga.
The Tour de France winner rediscovered his rhythm, though, and surged past Contador and others, while he was only edged out on the line by Gesink.
Movistar, however, are in good shape and can enjoy the Vuelta’s first rest day today. “It was a day for the team and for Nairo,” said teammate Daniel Moreno Fernandez. “That category of climbs suits him, so many rhythm changes from the beginning to the end.
“At first Froome couldn’t follow and the rhythm Nairo set was amazing. He just went off and did it alone; he’s extremely strong.
“It looks much better for us than it was in the Tour de France.”