Dauphine?

Theo Bos

 Richie Porte

Peter Sagan

Cycling Season proceeds forward with the Criterium du Dauphine, June 9-16.  

Simon Yates

Who's your cycling hero?   

Saturday Sport: Giro, Madrid Open

This weekend, the finals will be played in Madrid at their Open of Tennis.  Yesterday, Dominic Thiem saved two match points as he came from behind to end Roger Federer's participation in his first clay tournament in three years.  The Austrian prevailed 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a thrilling quarter-final, despite Federer's strong start.   Thiem, who had come into the tournament on the back of winning in Barcelona last month, looked to hit back quickly but Federer saved two break points in his opening service game of the second set.  Thiem was now showing the form that has made him one of the major contenders for the French Open and he earned three more break points in the sixth game.

Thiem took the momentum in the second set and carried through into the deciding set and finally broke Federer in the third game. Thiem now meets world Number one ranked  Novak Djokovic today for a place in the final.  Djokovic had been given a walkover after his scheduled quarter-final opponent Marin Cilic withdrew after suffering from food poisoning.  In Saturday's other semifinal, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, feeling quite at home in Madrid,  will play Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tsitsipas has also advanced in the doubles tournament, with his partner Wesley Koolhof of Holland, but they lost today in the semifinal game. 

Cycling's Giro d'Italia kicks off this weekend with an 8.2 km individual time trial around the medieval streets of Bologna.  The stage finishes up the steep and fabled climb of San Luca. The race will continue throughout the month, with 21 individual stages, full of cycling action.    The 21st and final stage will be on June 2nd.  It will be an additional individual time trial around the medieval streets of Verona, in northern Italy.  The closing stage will be a 17 km affair, which may very well be extremely exciting, or may be boring, depending on the standings at that time. 

 Italian Vicenzo Nibali is a perpetual favorite in the race.  Simon Yates considers himself a favorite. He led the race last year until four stages from the end, when he fell behind more than a half an hour in one day's stage, and never recovered.