Dutch cycling star Van der Poel gets up from crash, goes on to win world road race title

Gold medalist Netherland's Mathieu van der Poel (C) Belgium's Wout van Aer (L) and Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar stand on the podium after the men's road race at the Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland on Aug. 6, 2023. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 07 August 2023
Follow

Dutch cycling star Van der Poel gets up from crash, goes on to win world road race title

  • Van der Pol: I almost completed my career, in my opinion, so for me it’s maybe the biggest victory on the road
  • The men’s road race Sunday was halted for about 45 minutes early in the 271-kilometer run from Edinburgh to Glasgow when a group of environmental protesters refused to leave the road

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND: Mathieu van der Poel crashed while leading the road race at the world championships, breaking his shoe and tearing his jersey, yet the Dutch cyclist maintained his poise, quickly remounted and pulled away for a remarkable victory Sunday.

Van der Poel had been riding with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, one-day specialist Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, a former world champion. They pulled back Alberto Bettiol’s solo breakaway, then van der Poel headed off on his own, flying through the rain and over the wet roads to victory in downtown Glasgow, Scotland.

“It was one of the biggest goals I had left, and to win it today is amazing,” he said. “I almost completed my career, in my opinion, so for me it’s maybe the biggest victory on the road. I cannot imagine yet riding in the rainbow (jersey) for the next year.”

That includes the Paris Olympics, where van der Poel will be among the favorites next summer.

Not even a mistake Sunday, when Van der Poel slid his bike into a barrier on a tight right-hand turn, could stop him. By the time he reached the finish line, the grandson of Raymond Poulidor had accomplished what the French icon never did — he finished on the podium four times at the world championships but never on the top step.

Van Aert, one of the pre-race favorites, pulled away down the final stretch to take the silver medal for Belgium, and Pogačar beat Pedersen in a head-to-head sprint by less than the length of his front tire to claim bronze for Slovenia.

It was an impressive performance by PogaCar, who won a series of one-day races early in the year before breaking a wrist in a crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He returned in time to make a run at a third Tour de France title, but despite winning two stages, he could not keep up with Jonas Vingegaard over the last week and finished second for the second straight year.

The men’s road race Sunday was halted for about 45 minutes early in the 271-kilometer run from Edinburgh to Glasgow when a group of environmental protesters refused to leave the road. Riders sat in team cars, and even chatted with UCI president David Lappartient, while officials near the Scottish town of Falkirk arrested five people.

The route took riders across the Firth of Forth and through some hills north of Glasgow, but there was never enough elevation to break apart the peloton. The early breakaway was brought back well before the riders reached Scotland’s largest city, setting up a dramatic 10 laps over a highly technical 14.3-kilometer circuit through the downtown area.

A select group of 16 riders, which included Neilson Powless of the US and defending champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium, began to fracture with about 30 kilometers to go. Ultimately, a quartet of the world’s best riders decided it was up to them to pull Bettiol back, and van der Poel joined Pedersen, Pogačar and van Aert on the attack.

On a short, steep ramp, van der Poel kicked free of the group, only for disaster to nearly strike.

The five-time cyclocross world champion was about 30 seconds ahead of the star-studded trio when he tried to navigate one of the 90-degree turns in the rain. Van der Poel’s bike slid out from under him, and the 28-year-old Tour de France and Giro d’Italia stage winner ended up against a metal barrier, his jersey torn and the buckle on his right shoe broken.

“I was not taking risks. Not at all, actually,” van der Poel said. “I don’t know. In this corner, all of a sudden I was on the ground. ... It’s not that I was taking risks, in my opinion. I just had to stay on the bike.”

Van der Poel quickly got back on it, losing just a handful of seconds, and began to pull away again — all while fidgeting with his right shoe, trying to get it tight enough to allow him to make a normal pedal stroke.

The winner of Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix simply kept going, though. He crossed the finish line more than a minute ahead of his closest pursuer, throwing his skinned arms in the air in celebration of the Netherlands’ first title in 38 years.

“When I saw that nobody was following,” van der Poel said with a smile, “it gave me wings.”

In other world championships Sunday:

• Italian endurance star Filippo Ganna narrowly defeated Daniel Bigham of Britain for the men’s individual pursuit title, and fellow Italian Jonathan Milan beat Ivo Oliveira in the bronze medal race.

• Henrique Avancini of Brazil won his second men’s mountain bike marathon title ahead of Martin Stosek of the Czech Republic and Lukas Baum of Germany, and Mona Mitterwallner of Austria regained her women’s title by holding off Candice Lill of South Africa and Adelheid Morath of Germany.

• Lotte Kopecky of Belgium won her second straight elimination race title ahead of silver medalist Valentine Fortin of France and bronze medalist Jennifer Valente, the new scratch race world champion from the US

• Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand held off fast-finishing Martha Bayona of Colombia to win the keirin title while defending champion Lea Friedrich of Germany took the bronze medal.

• IUri LeitAo of Portugal won the multidiscipline omnium thanks to victories in the scratch and tempo races and a second-place finish in the elimination race, while France’s Benjamin Thomas won the final sprint of the points race to take silver and Shunsuke Imamora of Japan edged Denmark’s Niklas Larsen by two points for bronze.


Nassr’s title hopes dented by Qadsiah

Updated 19 April 2025
Follow

Nassr’s title hopes dented by Qadsiah

Al-Nassr lost 2-1 to Al-Qadsiah on Friday in what was a huge blow to their chances of winning the Saudi Pro League title. The defeat means that while the Yellows stay in third and eight points behind the leaders Al-Ittihad, there are now just six games to go. Time and matches are running out.

It was a hard-fought clash between two teams who may have to settle for a top three finish and a place in next year’s Asian Champions League. Both had chances, and both teams will feel that they could have taken all three points.In the end, however, there was just one winner.

Ten minutes before the break and Al-Qadsiah were ahead to draw first blood. Pierre-Emerick Abuameyang broke free down the right and while the Gabonese goalgetter’s shot was blocked, Turki Al-Ammar was on hand to open the scoring from close range.

It was a close run thing for much of the match, with Cristiano Ronaldo working hard to inspire Al-Nassr. Six minutes from time, however, Al-Nassr were level thanks to Sadio Mane. The Senegalese forward timed his run perfectly and then controlled a long pass from Otavio to and then fired home past the goalkeeper in one quick motion.

It seemed that Al-Nassr had earned a point at least but, then, with three minutes remaining, the hosts retook the lead and took the points. Nahitan Nandez hooked the ball into the six yard box and there was Aubameyang to head home to give the newly-promoted team a vital win.

Earlier in the day, Al-Ahli thrashed Al-Fayha 5-0. Brazilian defender Ibanez scored twice before England striker Ivan Toney also bagged a brace. Riyad Mahrez completed the five-star performance from the Jeddah giants.

"It was important to get the win but there is a long way to go until the end of this season," said Al-Ahli coach Matthias Jaissle. "Let's see what happens."

In the end however, Al-Ittihad remain in first place while Al-Hilal are in second.


F1 title fight is increasingly focused on McLaren but Verstappen still hopeful

Updated 18 April 2025
Follow

F1 title fight is increasingly focused on McLaren but Verstappen still hopeful

  • Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have all had their moments but none has been a consistent challenger, as McLaren’s 58-point constructors’ championship lead shows
  • Jeddah hosts the fifth race in six weeks in a hectic start to the season, which stays at a record 24 races

JEDDAH: Ahead of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, this Formula 1 season is looking like McLaren vs. McLaren. Still, defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull says he hasn’t lost hope.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are the only ones to consistently have the pace through the first four rounds of the championship.
Norris has a three-point lead but admits he isn’t at his best — though he had the fastest time of the day in practice on Friday — while Piastri has momentum after winning in Bahrain last week.
Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have all had their moments but none has been a consistent challenger, as McLaren’s 58-point constructors’ championship lead shows.
Friday practice
Norris went fastest in the second practice session, while Yuki Tsunoda crashed to continue his difficult start with Red Bull.


Norris was .163 seconds faster than Piastri in the second session, which was run under floodlights and more representative of race conditions than the hotter daytime session. Verstappen complained earlier in the day of his car feeling “very loose” in high-speed corners but ended Friday third fastest, .280 off Norris.
In his third race weekend with Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson, Tsunoda clipped the wall on the inside of a corner and slid into the barrier on the other side, requiring a red flag.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the surprise leader in the first session, just .007 of a second faster than Norris. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was .07 off Gasly in third and Piastri fourth, barely a tenth of a second off the pace. Lewis Hamilton was eighth in the other Ferrari. Verstappen was ninth.
Verstappen’s hope
Verstappen is the only non-McLaren driver to win a grand prix this season, but in Bahrain he was struggling so much that Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said he was concerned the Dutch star might reconsider his future.
Verstappen said this week he wasn’t considering the championship picture this early in the season.
“I’m not thinking about that. I just go race by race,” he said. “At the moment we are not the quickest. So then naturally it’s very tough to fight for a championship, but it’s still a very long road ... I’m hopeful that we can still improve things.”
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso dampened speculation Verstappen could seek to join his Aston Martin team after Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey made that move last year.
Asked if he’d welcome being Verstappen’s teammate, Alonso said Thursday: “Yes, but it’s unlikely to happen. Very unlikely.”
Alonso’s current teammate is Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Busy schedule
Jeddah hosts the fifth race in six weeks in a hectic start to the season, which stays at a record 24 races. There’s a little respite after Saudi Arabia, with two weeks till the next event in Miami.
“It’s on the upper end of the limit. It feels like race 10 already,” said Williams driver Alex Albon, adding it’s especially tough on mechanics and other crew members.
“As drivers, we travel better than everyone else in the paddock. We stay in better hotels than everyone else in the paddock — it’s just a function of being in a privileged position. With mechanics ... these are people with families. These are the people that really struggle.”
The rookies are still enjoying their first taste of F1, though.
“It’s just the beginning of my career, so I just want to keep racing and keep driving,” Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto said. “I’m learning new things every single weekend, so for me, if I could have another race next weekend, I would be very happy as well.”


Treble-chasing Inter sweat over Thuram’s fitness

Updated 18 April 2025
Follow

Treble-chasing Inter sweat over Thuram’s fitness

  • The Frenchman, Inter’s top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals, is likely to miss Sunday’s Serie A match
  • “The tests revealed fatigue in the adductor muscles of his left thigh,” Inter said

MILANO: Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram has a thigh injury, the Serie A leaders said on Friday as they wait to see if he can recover in time for their Coppa Italia semifinal against AC Milan next week.
The Frenchman, Inter’s top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals, is likely to miss Sunday’s Serie A match at fifth-placed Bologna, Italian media reported as the club confirmed Thuram underwent medical tests this morning.
“The tests revealed fatigue in the adductor muscles of his left thigh. His condition will be assessed day by day,” Inter said in a statement.
Champions Inter lead the Italian top-flight standings on 71 points after 32 games, three ahead of Napoli.
They host Milan in the second leg of their Italian Cup semifinal on Wednesday, after the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw.
Inter, one of eight teams who have won a league, cup and European Cup treble, could repeat the feat this season.
They face Barcelona, another treble-winning side, in the Champions League semifinals after advancing to the last four of Europe’s elite club competition with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich.
Thuram, who has started 26 league games and missed only one this season, recently dropped out of the France squad due to an ankle injury.


Klopp ‘happy’ in new job despite Real Madrid rumors: agent

Updated 18 April 2025
Follow

Klopp ‘happy’ in new job despite Real Madrid rumors: agent

  • Agent Marc Kosicke said 57-year-old Klopp was enjoying his new job
  • RB Leipzig coach Zsolt Low said he “could not imagine” Klopp moving to Real Madrid

BERLIN: Jurgen Klopp is “very happy” in his current post at Red Bull despite rumors linking him to a return to management with Real Madrid, his agent said Friday.
The former Liverpool manager became Red Bull’s Global Head of Soccer in January, taking care of a stable of clubs including RB Leipzig, the New York Red Bulls and Bragantino in Brazil.
Real Madrid’s quarter-final elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal this week has led to speculation manager Carlo Ancelotti is headed for the exit at the end of the season.
German media reported that Klopp was one of the names that the Spanish giants want to take over in the Bernabeu dugout.
Asked about the rumors, his agent Marc Kosicke said 57-year-old Klopp was enjoying his new job.
“Jurgen is very happy with his new role with Red Bull,” Kosicke told Sky Deutschland.
Also speaking on Friday, RB Leipzig coach Zsolt Low said he “could not imagine” Klopp moving to Real Madrid, adding the German was “very happy in the job.”
Low praised Klopp’s impact, saying “he’s shown that he can bring a club together, a group of 40, 50, 60 people, and take them with him.
“He adds incredible value with his experience, his human quality and his energy.”
In a 23-year career as a top-flight manager with Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Mainz, Klopp left each club of his own accord, a rarity in coaching.
“No matter where he’s been, he’s given 100 percent,” Low said, adding “regardless of where he is he’s stayed and done the job. It’s important to him to make a clean exit.”
Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso is considered a leading candidate for the Real Madrid job. Alonso, a former Madrid player, said Friday it was “not the time” to discuss his future.


Morocco ex-football club chair denies seizing villa in drug case

Updated 18 April 2025
Follow

Morocco ex-football club chair denies seizing villa in drug case

  • Said Naciri is being tried alongside the head of a regional council in eastern Morocco, Abdennabi Bioui, in a vast drug trafficking case
  • Naciri denied the allegation in court on Friday, saying he legally purchased the villa

CASABLANCA: The former president of Morocco’s most successful football club maintained in court Friday that he legally acquired a villa he is accused of seizing from a convicted Malian drug trafficker dubbed the “Escobar of the Sahara.”
Said Naciri, who was chairman of Casablanca club Wydad AC and president of the city’s prefectural council, is being tried alongside the head of a regional council in eastern Morocco, Abdennabi Bioui, in a vast drug trafficking case related to the jailed kingpin.
Both defendants — former officials of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), a member of the country’s ruling coalition — have been in custody since the end of 2023, and face charges of “possession, marketing, and export of drugs,” as well as corruption and related offenses.
Naciri was accused by the Malian trafficker, Ahmed Ben Brahim, of having wrongfully dispossessed him of a villa in an upscale Casablanca neighborhood, one of Naciri’s lawyers told AFP.
But Naciri denied the allegation in court on Friday, saying he legally purchased the villa though a real estate company in 2017 before finalizing the acquisition in 2019.
“I am taking advantage of my hearing before the court to refute the false allegations being made,” he told the court, presenting documents and testimony that he said supported his version of events.
The trial is the first in Morocco to see prominent political figures accused in a drug trafficking case.
It opened last May, and involves 25 people alleged to have played roles in the trafficking network of Ben Brahim, who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Ben Brahim, whose complaint initiated the proceedings against Naciri and Bioui, accuses the pair of helping him smuggle drugs to elsewhere in North Africa and the Sahel.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 25.