MARTIN WINS STAGE 6 OF TOUR; VAN AVERMAET KEEPS LEAD

MUR DE BRETAGNE: Daniel Martin won an uphill finish to claim Stage 6 of the Tour de France on Thursday, while Greg Van Avermaet kept the overall lead for a third consecutive day. Defending champion Chris Froome crossed eight seconds after Martin in 18th. Martin broke away on the straight two-kilometer ascent of the Mur de Bretagne, winning the 181km leg in over four hours. Van Avermaet, a support rider for title hopeful Richie Porte, has held the yellow jersey since BMC won the team time trial on Stage 3.

Matthysse vows to beat Pacquiao

KUALA LUMPUR: World welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse saluted Manny Pacquiao on Thursday but vowed to beat the Filipino when they square off on Sunday. “He is a great champion but he still hasn’t faced ‘The Machine’,” Argentina’s Matthysse said in Kuala Lumpur ahead of their WBA title clash.

Pedrosa to retire from Moto GP at end of season

PARIS: Spain’s Dani Pedrosa, three-time world Motogp championship runner-up, announced on Thursday that he will retire at the end of the season. The 32-year-old, who has the third-most podiums, including 54 wins, currently sits in the 12th spot of the Motogp standings.

Tokyo Oly relay to start in Fukushima

TOKYO: Tokyo Olympic organisers said that the torch relay for the 2020 Summer Games will begin in Fukushima, a region devastated by the 2011 tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster. The route for the relay was approved by the Japanese organising committee at a meeting with government officials. The torch will head south to the island of Okinawa before returning north and arriving in the Japanese capital on July 10.

Rajesh registers fiveshot victory

LUCKNOW: Rajesh Kumar Rawat delivered a sublime final round of six-under-64 to register an impressive win by five shots at the PGTI Feeder Tour event staged at The Palms Golf Club & Resort here on Thursday.