Sports

| Monday, MarCh 11, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao U.S. midfielder Julie Ertz stands on the pitch after the team’s 2-2 draw with England in the recent SheBelieves Cup in Nashville, Tennessee. AP

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VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis has praised cycling for the value it places on discipline, selflessness and courage, but warned that the sport can become tainted by doping, dishonesty and corruption.

Francis met on Saturday with European and African cycling federations during their annual assembly in Rome.

The Argentine Jesuit cited the team spirit often seen in cycling but warned that it can become distorted when profit and prestige take over. He cited “doping, dishonesty, disrespect for oneself and one’s opponents, and corruption.”

Francis, a known soccer fan, has long promoted sport as an example of solidarity to be nurtured, especially among the young.

Geraint Thomas, meanwhile, kicked off a second block of early-season racing at Strade Bianche on Saturday, convinced he is back on track as he builds towards the defence of his Tour de France title.

Thomas and Chris Froome will again be joint leaders for the Tour de France, with the Welshman keen to land a rare second consecutive victory, with Froome chasing a recordequalling fifth win.

It seems the road will eventually decide who becomes Team Sky’s protected rider. But Thomas played down any tension about team leadership.

“We’ll just treat it like we did last year—just be open and honest with each other,” Thomas said as he prepared to roll out at Strade Bianche.

“As long as one of us wins, that’s the goal. If we end up racing against each other and someone else won, when one of us could have won, that would be a disaster.”

Thomas and Froome seem unlikely to race together until the Tour de France, but Thomas suggested they will have plenty of time to thrash out a joint strategy for the Tour de France while training together at altitude on Mount Teide.

Thomas has always insisted he would focus on the Tour de France in 2019, but rumours and calls for him to ride the Giro d’Italia have continued to circulate, with even bike sponsor Pinarello recently claiming that Thomas would ride the Italian Grand Tour.

“No, No,” Thomas made clear when asked if he would ride the Giro d’Italia.

“I’ll do this and back to Tenerife [for altitude training], then Basque, Romandie and Suisse, kind of a standard buildup. I really like racing in Italy and was really thinking about coming back, but it just didn’t fit,” he explained.

“I wanted to just target the Tour 100 percent because of being the reigning champ. Maybe if I was second or third last year, I might have done the Giro, but I just wanted to go to the Tour at 100 percent.”

Team Sky have still yet to confirm their Grand Tour plans, but Thomas and Froome will be team leaders for the Tour de France, with Egan Bernal and Gianni Moscon leaders for the Giro d’Italia. After missing the UAE Tour, Froome is expected to ride the Volta a Catalunya and the Criterium du Dauphine as his final Tour de France preparation.

Thomas celebrated his Tour de France for several months in the autumn and winter but has been training seriously since December and is gradually getting back to his racing weight. He is not expecting to fight for victory in March but does not seem concerned about results for now.

“I’m still on the nice progression up, so I feel a lot better than Valencia, but at the same time I don’t feel sort of ready to win. I want to enjoy myself, help my teammates where I can,” Thomas said.

Like most riders in the Strade Bianche peloton, Thomas is happy race on the dirt roads even if the Classics are no longer a goal.