| Frapporti snatches stage from Wiggins • Wiggins: 'I rode them off my wheels but ran out of road'• Italian moves up to 10th on general classificationMystic crystals, music festivals and magic mushrooms lend a special quality to the Isle of Avalon but it was a sense of unfinished business that was firing up Bradley Wiggins yesterday, quite possibly helped by the arrival on the race of Shane Sutton, the motivator in the GB Olympic team. It was not quite enough to ensure Wiggins the stage victory but his close second at the finish to the Italian Marco Frapporti was a morale boost for Team Sky after a frustrating couple of days.Wiggins was one of an eight-rider group that formed after early skirmishing over Dartmoor, seven of whom remained clear for the rest of the stage with the peloton nine minutes behind. None of the seven was a threat overall but their effort ensured Frapporti moved up to 10th overall. For the second day in succession the winning escape included the Irishman Daniel Martin, who had vowed to win a stage after missing the key split on Sunday's stage to Stoke and came painfully close yet again.Wiggins attacked first as the octet tackled the last little climb six miles out and as he was retrieved Martin went clear with the same brio he had shown on Tuesday approaching the finish in Teignmouth. Unfortunately for him, the outcome was the same, this time with Frapporti joining him then forging ahead alone. The 25-year-old Italian had only one win to his name as a professional until yesterday, a stage in the Tour of Grosseto, but in his last year as an under-23 he won the piccolo Giro di Lombardia, a good sign of a useful one-day racer.Frapporti's attack to dispose of Martin was well-timed and he had just enough in the tank to hold off Wiggins, who eluded his companions on a windswept stretch of road approaching the town. "I rode them off my wheel but just ran out of road," said the treble Olympic champion. "I thought this was the last stage where I could do something, with those rolling roads but I showed my face, which is what it is all about. I came here to do well in the overall standings but sacrificed myself, although in hindsight it would have been better not to do it and play a role in the overall."The Swiss Michael Albasini had looked relatively secure in the race lead before the flag dropped outside Tavistock but illness had struck HTC-Columbia the previous evening, with the Italian Marco Pinotti the first to succumb, and the yellow jersey had spent much of the night on the toilet. An immediate attack by three riders from the Dutch Vacansoleil team – Michael Golas, the previous day's stage winner Wout Poels, and the leader Johnny Hoogerland – splitting the field to smithereens.With Albasini's team-mate Tony Martin climbing off his bike as the chase was at its height the yellow jersey looked under threat, but somehow the remaining three riders in HTC did enough to ensure that the sting went out of the escape: Hoogerland and Poels dropped back, with Wiggins bridging to the remains of the move to form the stage-winning break. It was a close-run thing for the yellow jersey, who was put under pressure again over the Blackdown Hills, where the Australian Richie Porte and the German Patrik Sinkewicz went clear, prompting a sudden, violent reaction from the bunch."In the first half of the stage he was close to dropping out," said the HTC-Columbia directeur sportif Brian Holm. "In the second half once the break had gone and the bunch eased up, he was hanging on. He feels better than he did in the morning at least and we hope he will be OK." Wiggins said he felt many of the field were "exhausted" after the Welsh and South-Western stages, and tomorrow, on the longest stage of the race across East Anglia from Kings Lynn to Great Yarmouth, a decent breeze could cause the race to split.CyclingBradley WigginsWilliam Fotheringhamguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Peacock fumes at 'cowardly' Wigan pair • England captain angry at treatment of Danny McGuire• Thomas Leulaui attempts to apologise to no availJamie Peacock has exposed the bitter resentment simmering beneath the surface of the build-up to the Super League semi-final between Leeds and Wigan next Saturday by accusing two of the Warriors' players of cowardice.The England captain, who has been ruled out of the play-off series with ruptured knee ligaments, was as incensed as his Rhinos team-mates when Mark Riddell and Thomas Leuluai verbally abused the Rhinos stand-off Danny McGuire as he lay on the ground in the last minute of Leeds' dramatic 27-26 win in the first round of the play-offs eight days ago.The Wigan players were furious because they believed McGuire had pulled back their centre George Carmont to deny him a try-scoring opportunity and they were unaware that he had suffered a similar injury to Peacock's, one that is likely to rule him out for at least six months.Leuluai's subsequent visit to the Leeds dressing room to offer an apology does not seem to have appeased anyone in the champions' camp."For me, the most important thing from all of that was Mark Riddell and Thomas Leuluai standing over Danny while he was lying on the ground calling him a cheat," Peacock told the Yorkshire Post. "It has gone unmentioned so far but it was one of the softest things I've ever seen on a rugby field. It doesn't get any more cowardly and there's no place for that in our sport."Their actions prevented Danny getting treatment for a while and if we're talking about unsportsmanlike behaviour, that's probably the worst of any. I'm sure our lads will remember it going into Saturday's game. When someone's lying there with an injury like that, it's harsh and uncalled for."The Rugby Football League is investigating the behaviour of Hull KR supporters in Rovers' play-off defeat at Wigan last Friday, after the Wigan players were driven out of the in-goal area as they waited for a Rovers goal kick because of the danger of being hit by a missile.Three Hull KR players have been included in the latest batch of additions to an England training squad for this autumn's Four Nations series. The uncapped stand-off Scott Murrell and Liam Watts, a 20-year-old prop, are joined by the wing Peter Fox, but there is no place for the full-back Shaun Briscoe, despite his solid performances in last year's Four Nations competition.Eight players have been added from Warrington, the other club whose season ended with play-off defeat at the weekend, including the uncapped wing Chris Riley and forward Ben Harrison. Richie Myler has also been selected by the England coach, Steve McNamara, despite being overlooked by Warrington's Tony Smith in recent weeks.Leeds RhinosWigan WarriorsSuper LeagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Pavin 'proud' of his defeated US team • USA captain praises his side's final-day fightback• 'I went with what I thought was best. It nearly worked out'Corey Pavin said he was proud of his beaten side after they lost the Ryder Cup by a single point at Celtic Manor today.The USA staged a dramatic final-day fightback from three points behind to leave the tournament still undecided as the last singles pair Graeme McDowell and Hunter Mahan walked up the 17th fairway. But with Mahan needing to win the hole the American faltered before conceding the hole to hand the Ryder Cup back to the Europeans."I'm incredibly proud. I just had a talk with them. It was a difficult talk, but one from the heart," Pavin said. "I'm proud of what they did and how hard they fought all week. We win as a team, and lose as team."The talk we just had was very emotional. Took me a while to get back out here to talk to you. It's a culmination of two years of work and we came close, but we didn't quite get there. The bottom line is I'm very proud of the team and how hard they fought."Pavin's team had looked like they might pull off a remarkable turnaround when the Ryder Cup rookie Rickie Fowler birdied the last four holes of his late match with Edoardo Molinari. The 21-year-old, who Pavin selected as a wild-card pick, holed long birdie putts on the last two holes to turn attention to the final pairing, before a nerveless McDowell held on."It was amazing. I think he [Fowler] birdied 15-16-17-18," Pavin added. "The putt on 18 was incredible, it gave us a lot of hope and from a 21-year-old it was amazing. He's that type of player. I think we'll see a lot of him in Ryder Cups in the future."Asked if he regretted any of his decisions, Pavin added: "Absolutely not, no regrets at all. I'm quite content with everything except maybe the result."I went with what I thought was best. We went out strong with experience. I felt like every player was playing well on the team but I wanted experience up front and at the back – it nearly worked out."Ryder CupCorey PavinGolfguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sachin Tendulkar reaches 14,000 Test runs landmark as India fight back • 'Little master' notches another milestone in Bangalore• Marcus North century puts Australia in strong positionSachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to pass 14,000 Test runs as India fought to gain a foothold on day two of the second Test against Australia in Bangalore.Tendulkar reached the landmark with a cut off the bowling of Nathan Hauritz, bringing spectators and team-mates to their feet at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.The 37-year-old, playing in his 171st Test, finished the day unbeaten on 44 as the home side recovered from 38 for two to reach 128 without further loss at stumps in reply to the tourists' total of 478, to which Marcus North contributed 128.Virender Sehwag got the home side off to a bright start in their reply with 30 off 27 balls before he was caught by Mitchell Johnson at deep square leg off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus.Johnson then took Rahul Dravid's wicket for one, caught by North at third slip, which brought Tendulkar out to the middle, where he and Murali Vijay set about rebuilding India's innings.Earlier North, under pressure to retain his place in the Australian line-up for the Ashes, had compiled a fine century which featured 17 fours and a six.Alongside half-centuries from the captain Ricky Ponting (77) and Tim Paine (59), it put Australia in a strong position to square the two-Test series after suffering defeat in the opening match in Mohali.Harbhajan Singh was India's most effective bowler as he dismissed North and then wrapped up the Australian innings when Peter George was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off his bowling, leaving him with figures of four for 148.Australia resumed this morning on 285 for five and reached lunch 99 runs further on without losing a wicket.North progressed to his century in the afternoon session before Paine was stumped by India skipper Dhoni off Pragyan Ojha after a partnership of 149 and with the score on 405.Ojha struck again to trap Johnson lbw for a seven-ball duck before Harbhajan finally dismissed North as he holed out to Shanthakumaran Sreesanth at deep midwicket.Hauritz added 17 before he was unluckily run out by a direct hit from Cheteshwar Pujara after the batsman lost his bat as he attempted to slide it into the crease, before George's exit at the hands of Harbhajan left Hilfenhaus stranded on 16.Sachin TendulkarIndia Cricket TeamAustralia cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Newton, No. 5 Auburn top LSU, 24-17 By JOHN ZENOR 2010-10-24T01:02:20ZAUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Cam Newton and No. 5 Auburn are the last unbeaten team in the SEC. Not even LSU's defense could slow them down.... hosted.ap.org |