BRIEFLY : TOUR'S FIRST STAGE CLAIMED BY ITALIAN.Byline: Daily News Wire Services Italian Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (born March 22, 1967 in Lucca, Tuscany) is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1989, his last in 2005; 191 victories in all) and his colourful personality. , winner of four previous stages in the Tour de France Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and and the overall leader briefly during the 1993 race, added another victory Sunday and took the yellow jersey. Cipollini captured the first stage from Rouen to Forges-Les-Eaux, 119.3 miles, in a rush to the finish which gained him 20 bonus seconds. He also gained eight more seconds along the route in two intermediate sprints. The powerfully built Cipollini is like a locomotive near the finish line when he is at full speed. ``When I came out of the final corner, I just hit it,'' Cipollini said. ``Yesterday I had a good prologue and that helped me to take the yellow jersey.'' He was only 18 seconds behind in the short time trial Saturday, a good result for the Italian who is not used to a sustained effort. Despite his success on the flats, he is among the first to drop out when the Tour hits the mountains. In four previous Tours, he has dropped out each time. Cipollini gained 28 seconds on the pack Sunday and moved into the lead by 10 seconds over Chris Boardman Chris Boardman (born August 26 1968 in Hoylake) is a former English racing cyclist who won an individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics and broke the world hour record three times. He is also known as a specialist in the individual time trial. , winner of Saturday's prologue. Third was Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (born December 2, 1973, in Rostock, East Germany) is a German professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to achieve five second place finishes, along with a fourth place (2004) and a third place finish (2005). of Germany, 12 seconds behind. Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (born April 3, 1964), nicknamed the Eagle from Herning (Danish: Ørnen fra Herning), is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team , last year's overall winner, fell and dropped a minute to the leaders. Belgian Tom Steels and France's Frederic Moncassin, two other top sprinters, were second and third, respectively, Sunday. Tuesday's second stage is from St.Valery-en-Caux on the northern coast of France to Vire, 162.8 miles. Soccer: Marcelo Gallardo Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (born January 18, 1976 in Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain having joined them from River Plate of Primera División Argentina in January 2007. and Juan Veron scored first-half goals as Argentina beat first-place Paraguay 2-1 to move within a point of the South American leader in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup. In other qualifiers, Peru beat Bolivia 2-1; Ecuador and Venezuela tied 1-1; and Australia defeated New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. 2-0 to move within a victory of the World Cup Finals. Basketball: Yugoslavia beat Italy 61-49 in Barcelona, Spain, for its second consecutive European Basketball Championship and fourth in the last five. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion