Category Archives: Sports

Contador wins Tour de France time trial in Annecy

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Alberto Contador won the time trial in Annecy, beating the time of Fabian Cancellara who ended up in second place. Contador continues to wear the maillot jaune as the Tour heads into the last three stages, the one on Saturday being the most awaited and feared — the climb to Mont Ventoux. Andy Schleck did very well but is still 4 min 11 sec behind Contador in 2nd place. Armstrong’s excellent time trial performance today moved him up to 3rd place. If Contador retains the lead after Mont Ventoux, he will win the Tour.

Schleck brothers do well in stage 17 of Tour de France 2009

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The Schlecks are doing well. Frank Schleck won stage 17 (Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand, very hilly) and his brother, Andy, came in third. Alberto Contador, who ended up in 2nd place, still wears the maillot jaune. Poo Denis Menchov crashed several times. He’s not having a good Tour de France this year even though he won the Giro d’Italia. Tomorrow’s individual time trial will be a very interesting one indeed.

Contador wins stage 15 of Tour de France in Verbier

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As expected, Alberto Contador (Astana) has won the first of the Alpine stages that ended in Verbier, Switzerland. He has also taken the maillot jaune. Lance Armstrong came in second. Contador showed his strength in the mountains and the next stages (rest day tomorrow) will test his experience and condition. Armstrong was very impressive indeed. A lot of people underestimated him because he retired four years ago and is much older than many riders.

Now things are getting interesting  . . .

Tom Boonen abandons Tour de France 2009 due to illness

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Tom Boonen (Quick Step) woke up this morning feeling very bad and decided to abandon the Tour de France. He says that he has not been feeling well with the start of the race but today, his illness — fever, headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches — just got worse. Hopefully it’s not swine flu.

The Tour is now heading into the Alps, the most punishing part of the race, not exactly Boonen’s specialty (he is a sprinter). Boonen did not expect to start this year because of a cocaine incident (minuscule amounts found in his blood, but outside competition) and his team went to court to force the Tour to let him start. So it’s disappointing for him and his team that after all that, Boonen falls ill. Sad.

The Belgian press has been very hard on Boonen because of all his non-cycling escapades (indulging in cocaine outside races).

Oscar Freire shot with air rifle, luckily minor injury

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Oscar Freire (Rabobank) was shot at with an air rifle in today’s stage (Vittel to Colmar) of the Tour de France. The team doctor removed a small bullet from the upper part of his leg. Julien Dean was reportedly shot as well with an air gun and came away with very minor injuries. Fortuntely both men are fine and will continue riding.

Watch video interview with Freire (half English, half Dutch).