Woosie leads Welsh challenge in Seniors
TEAM Sky’s Geraint Thomas remains six seconds off the Giro d’Italia lead time after breakaway rider Silvan Dillier won stage six.
Wales’ double Olympic gold medallist finished 39 seconds behind BMC Racing’s Dillier in a select group containing race leader Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), third-placed Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) and the rest of the general classification contenders.
Three of the five escapees managed to keep ahead of the peloton after spending 200km of the 217km stage from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane out front.
Swiss rider Dillier, Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo) and Austrian Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), who was a shock winner of the opening stage, dropped their companions with 5km remaining of a tricky run-in littered with climbs, descents and hairpin bends on southern Italy’s spectacular coastline.
Dillier kicked first inside the last 200 metres of the uphill finish and managed to hold off Stuyven by half a wheel to take his maiden grand tour stage win.
Twenty-four-year-old British climber Adam Yates (OricaScott), who finished fourth in last year’s Tour de France and won the young rider category, was sixth, 39 seconds astern of Dillier with Thomas 10th in the same time.
Yates and a group of big names, which include race favourite Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and defending Giro champon Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), are four seconds behind Thomas in the overall standings.
Orica-Scott directeur sportif Matt White said: “It was one of those days, a great day for the opportunists.
“We were not going to bring it back on the odd chance that Adam could go for the stage win.
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry over three weeks.
“He’s in a good place at the moment, but we’ve got to be very conservative in how we expend our energy.”
Thomas told TeamSky.com: “I felt pretty good.
“It’s just a case through these stages.
“The break going clear meant it was a bit less stressful.
“There might have been splits so everyone was wanting to be at the front and super on it.” of getting FORMER Masters champion Ian Woosnam spearheads the strongest Welsh challenge ever when the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex returns to Royal Porthcawl this summer.
The 58-year-old former world No.1 and 2006 Ryder Cup-winning captain has unfinished business at the famous old Mid Glamorgan links coming close to lifting the Wales Senior Open silverware in 2009 and 2013.
And, this time around, Woosie not only has some of the greatest names in the game to contend with in the likes of Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie and 2014 champion at Porthcawl, Bernhard Langer, but also a stellar cast list from Wales in Open rookies Phillip Price and Stephen Dodd.
Both have made a big impact among the golden oldies of the game after turning 50 last year with Pontypriddborn Price teeing it up on the lucrative Champions Tour in the States while Barry Islander Dodd lifted the Italian Open crown in just his third tournament in the Senior ranks.
They, along with Penarth-based Mark Mouland, present a weighty Welsh challenge and Woosnam would love nothing better than to lay his hands on the Senior Open title ahead of his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York in September.
He said: “It’s a very important year for me with the Hall of Fame ceremony and competing in the Senior Open on my home turf. It would be very special to finally put that trophy on the mantelpiece.
“I was close in the Wales Senior Open when I finished tied third at Royal Porthcawl in 2009 and 2013 but wasn’t really in contention at the Senior Open in 2014.
“Naturally, I’m very proud that the Senior Open is coming back to Wales for a second time and we will have a solid presence with four Welsh lads in the field.
“It’s a huge sporting year for Wales with the UEFA Champions League Final and the ICC Trophy cricket, both taking place in Cardiff next month. The Senior Open will be the third leg of a legendary summer of sport.”
In excess of 30 Major champions, dating back to Watson’s historic triumph in The Open at Turnberry in 1977, will be in the world class field, including a number of global stars who were not eligible in 2014 at Royal Porthcawl, such as John Daly, Todd Hamilton, José María Olazábal and David Toms.
They will join defending champion Paul Broadhurst of England, who won the title as a rookie at Carnoustie last year against stiff competition from golfing icons including Langer, Watson, Daly, Montgomerie and Woosnam.
Tickets are on sale now for the Open from July 27-30 and the early booking discount deadline has been extended. Hospitality packages are also available.
For tickets and more information, visit www.senioropenchampionship. com or call 0800 023 2557.