Kamna wins on Mt Etna as Lopez takes Giro d’italia lead We need to execute our plans consistently: DC coach Watson Mickelson and Woods named in PGA C’ship field
CATANIA: Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez took the overall lead of the Giro d’italia on Tuesday as Lennard Kamna won stage four ater they nursed a large lead up a 23km climb to a summit finish on Mt Etna in Sicily.
The two stars of the day had been part of a long-range breakaway that started the climb six minutes ahead of the chasers.
The overall favourites Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates whitled that lead down to just 2min 37sec as part of a group of the big guns including Romain Bardet and Mikel Landa.
Lopez of Trek-segafredo now leads Bora’s Kamna by 39sec in the overall, with Yates fourth at 1min 42sec and Carapaz of Ineos 11th at 2min 06sec.
“I don’t care how much my lead is, I just want to savour the moment,” Lopez said. “I don’t know how long I can keep it (the leader’s pink jersey),” he added.
This was the seventh time the Giro has climbed Etna and the 25-year-old Kamna can add this famous victory to his mountain stage win on the Tour de France in 2020.
“Lopez had some kind of problem on the last corner and I just about got it. Now I can continue this Giro with confidence,” Kamna said.
Ater a three-day stay in Hungary, the Giro peloton had a rude awakening on its arrival in Italy as a 14-rider escape group tore away early on the 170km ride from Avola to Etna.
Among the potential contenders for the overall title, the 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin dropped time on the final climb as British oufit Ineos set a blistering pace up the 1,892m summit.
“I can’t explain it, but it was unpleasant to be alone on the climb,” said Dumoulin of Jumbo.
Another rider who failed to produce was Italian veteran double Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali, who was dropped in the final kilometres.
Overnight leader Mathieu van der Poel made no effort to defend his lead on the climb, but had earlier atempted a long range solo escape.
Astana’s Colombian climber Miguel Angel Lopez withdrew early in the stage on a day marked by a motorbike crash that brought a clutch of riders tumbling to the tarmac.
Wednesday’s stage 5 is also in Sicily, running from Catania to Messina with a mountain to climb early on, making another escape a strong possibility.
MUMBAI: Placed fith and a step away from the top four, Delhi Capitals will take on thirdplaced Rajasthan Royals in Match 58 of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, hoping to win their sixth match of the league and maintain their chances of making the grade.
Delhi Capitals are clubbed together with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Punjab Kings at 10 points but have a superior net run rate. Rishabh Pant’s side will be looking to bounce back into form ater suffering a 91-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings in their last match at the same venue.
Delhi were carted around by the four-time champions, who made 208/6 in 20 overs and then bowled them out for 117 runs in 17.4 overs for one of their worst defeats.
Despite the huge setback, Delhi Capitals’ Assistant Coach Shane Watson was confident of a comeback and said they will have to execute their plans consistently to emerge successful in this close race for the top four spots. He also said that executing their plans consistently has been the biggest challenge faced by the team so far.
Speaking ahead of the match against Rajasthan Royals, Watson said they will be facing a tough opponent. Delhi had lost by 15 runs when they had first met Rajasthan in IPL 2022.
“The Rajasthan Royals have been playing well and they have been consistent throughout the tournament. Jos Butler has been incredible for them and Rajasthan have world-class spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra
Chahal. The Royals are going to be a tough opponent and every individual has to up their game,” Watson was quoted as saying by Delhi Capitals in a release on Tuesday.
When asked about the tough 91-run loss against Chennai Super Kings, Watson said, “Our last match against CSK certainly wasn’t our best game. CSK bated incredibly well to be able to get the total that they did. We were a litle bit off with our execution with the ball. And we just had one of those days with the bat when things didn’t go our way.”
The Australian further added, “Ricky (head coach Ricky Ponting) has always asked the players to learn from their last game, learn about the litle things that they can improve on individually, and then just move forward on to the next game. The most important thing is that the players need to keep learning.”
LOS ANGELES: Former world number one Tiger Woods and defending champion Phil Mickelson were both named in the field for next week’s PGA Championship on Monday.
Woods, who made a dramatic return from injuries sustained in a 2021 car crash at last month’s Masters, has not played since his final round at Augusta.
The 15-time major winner -- including the PGA Championship in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 -- is yet to confirm he will tee it up at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the second major of the 2022 campaign, on May 19-22.
The buzz about Woods’ possible participation at Southern Hills intensified ater he played a practice round at the course recently.
Reports have said Woods plans to play the tournament barring setbacks.
Woods has said he hopes to play in the 150th British Open in July at St. Andrews and a twoday tune-up event in Ireland before that, but has not been firm about other tournaments, including the PGA Championship and the US Open in June in Boston.
Mickelson, meanwhile, has not played since triggering uproar in February following publication of his remarks made last year concerning the new Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Series.
Mickelson subsequently apologized for the comments and announced he was taking some “desperately needed time away” from Golf.
US reports said on Monday that Mickelson has held talks with PGA of America officials about his schedule but has not decided whether he would defend his title.
“I think he’s trying to figure out when the right time is for him,” PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh told the “5 Clubs Conversations” podcast.
“I think the game is trying to figure out the right time for him, too. How long is enough? And is he ready mentally and physically to do it?”
It’s been oten speculated of late about what Mickelson’s return to golf might look like from a media standpoint. If he decides to play in the PGA, would he conduct an interview with a handpicked entity away from the tournament, or simply face what figures to be a charged atmosphere in a press conference early in the week? He and Waugh have clearly talked about that, according to Golf Digest.