SR: Vincenzo Nibali

Showing posts with label Vincenzo Nibali. Show all posts

June 1, 2019

Sunday Sport: Giro in Verona

Warring factions, splendid music. Watching "West Side Story" last night, I was reminded of what a great story gang action can be, Maria and Tony, Romeo and Juliet, Vicenzo and Primosz. Things don't change much over the centuries.

Today, the Giro d'Italia comes to a last stage, after 21 stages winding in and out of the mountains of Italy. Beginning on May 11, today is the last stage of the race, a 17 km International Time Trial around the historic home of Romeo and Juliet, Verona. Individual struggle, Verona, sweat and skinsuits. What could be better than these to pass a good Sunday of Sports viewing?

Much of the Giro is about gang action... the individual teams work hard on behalf of their own team leaders, and do their best to end the hopes of their opposing teams' leaders. Today is an individual time trial, meaning that no matter how each cyclist has reached his place in the rankings, today he is on his own.

Readers of this space will remember Slovenian rider Primosz Roglic, whom we followed whilst he competed in ski jump, and followed his jump to cycling... With the podium in sight, he engaged in some unseemly behavior and was penalized today. He retains the third spot in the overall standings.

By custom, the leaders in the general classification of the race begin last in an individual time trial. As of Stage 20, the following are in the top 10 of the overall Giro d'Italia:

1 Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) Movistar Team 83:52:22

2 Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:54

3 Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:16

4 Mikel Landa (Spain) Movistar Team 0:03:03

5 Bauke Mollema (Holland) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:07

6 Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) Astana Pro Team 0:05:33

7 Rafal Majka (Poland) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:48

8 Simon Yates (Great Britain) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:17

9 Pavel Sivakov (Russia) Team Ineos 0:08:27

10 Davide Formolo (Italy) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:06

Cycling again has done itself proud in this Giro. Cycling is always drug through the mud, as a sport of drugged up warring factions. The top ten list at the end of this Giro shows that they are from 8 different countries: cycling truly is a home of a diversity...

May 18, 2019

Sunday Sport: California, San Marino, and Brooks Koepka

Yesterday's cycling's Tour of California comes to an end, while the Giro d'Italia begins its second week. In California, the race to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, in the final stage of the race, resulted in a bunch sprint, with Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar (Team UAE-Emirates) maintaining his lead at the top of the standings, winning the overall race, while Sunweb's Cees Bol won today's stage. Peter Sagan was second over the Line of the 112 riders left in the race. EF Eduction First took the team competition in an overall win in the stage race.

Meanwhile, in San Marino, the Giro d'Italia cyclists will compete in their second Individual Time Trial today. If the San Marino time trial has loomed large over the opening week of this Giro, then so too has Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglič's (Team Jumbo Visma) presumed supremacy on the stage, as he is a great specialist at Time Trials. . His victory in the opening time trial in Bologna last weekend installed him as the favourite for Sunday's longer time trial. This one will go from the beach up into the mountains of San Mariano.

Valerio Conti (Team UAE Emirates) wears the maglia rosa as the overall race leader. Roglič reaches the end of the Giro's opening phase atop the virtual rankings of the pre-race favourites. Thanks to his victory in Bologna and his performance through the week, he holds a buffer of 35 seconds over other race favorite Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), 39 over Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), 44 over Miguel Ángel López (Astana) and 1:49 over Mikel Landa (Movistar). Roglič is an amazing 5:24 down on Conti, and surely will not regain the pink jersey from him in San Marino but, come Sunday evening, he might well have closed the gap enough that he will have an buffer which may lead him to victory by the final stage in Verona.

Brooks Koepka is currently at the top of the standings, with the lowest score, heading into the final round of the PGA Golf Championship, this year being held at the Black Course of the Bethphage State Park, Farmingdale, New York. Four of the top five spots in the competition, up to today, are held by Americans. The fifth spot is currently held by Thai golfer Atiwit "Jazz" Janewattananond. The challenging play, as well as the beautiful scenery, should attract many fans to their televisions today, or to attend the tourney personally on this final day.

May 11, 2019

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.