friday, july 12, 2013
guyanatimesGY.com
Kittel pips Cavendish again to take Tour stage 12
WICB Regional Under-19 tournament bowls off in St Kitts on July 19 – full coverage on WindiesCricket.com, facebook.com/ windiescricket and @windiesregional
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German Marcel Kittel (second from right) pipped Mark Cavendish (left) on Thursday
ours, FRANCE – German Marcel Kittel claimed his third victory on this year’s Tour de France when he pipped Mark Cavendish on the line to take the 12th stage on Thursday. Kittel, who won the first and 10th stages, stayed behind the Briton’s wheel in the final straight and went past Cavendish at the very last moment. Britain’s Chris Froome avoided a late pile-up in the bunch and retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. Kittel became the first German rider to win three stages in the same Tour since fellow sprinter Erik Zabel in 2001. With Tony Martin winning Wednesday’s time trial and Andre Greipel taking the sixth stage in a sprint, German riders have now won five stages on the Tour. “I can go back and look at it over again, he was just faster,” Cavendish told reporters. “I don’t think myself or the team could have done anything different. He was just simply better, you know? The guys were really really incredible for me today (Wednesday). “It was a good duel between Omega PharmaQuick Step and Argos and
ultimately the guys went at the right time. They delivered me at the right time. I was just beaten by a better guy,” added the Manxman. Slovakia’s Peter Sagan took third place at the end of the 218 kilometre flat dash from Fougeres. He leads the points classification with 307 and Cavendish moved up to second on 211. The top positions in the overall standings remained unchanged with Froome leading Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by 3:25 and Dutchman Bauke Mollema by 3:37. Fourth-placed Alberto Contador of Spain is 3:54 off the pace. Dozens of riders were involved in the crash but as it occurred inside the last three kilometres all were credited with the winner’s time.
Shoulder fracture
Froome’s team mate Edvald Boasson Hagen was one of those affected and the Norwegian was later forced to pull out of the race with a shoulder fracture. “Edvald Boasson Hagen has been forced to abandon the Tour de France following a fractured right scapula on stage 12,” Team Sky said in a statement. “Fortunately this doesn’t require surgery but Edvald
will return home to Norway for further investigation and treatment.” It is the second time in this year’s race Kittel has beaten Cavendish in a sprint. Another specialist, German Andre Greipel, did not contest the finale having been held up behind the crash. Five men formed an early breakaway to open a nineminute gap but the sprinters’ teams reeled them in with five kilometres left. Both Kittel’s ArgosShimano and Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step teams took the front to lead their sprinters. Kittel, with no lead-out man left, took Cavendish’s wheel and perfectly timed his final effort. “It’s crazy, I’m speechless. My team really worked well today,” he said. “As we say in Germany, good things come by three. I want to congratulate (team mate) Tom Veelers for his hard work despite what happened to him,” Kittel added. On Tuesday, Dutchman Veelers crashed in the finale after bumping shoulders with Cavendish, who was cleared of wrongdoing by the race commissaires. Today’s 13th stage takes the peloton over 173 km from Tours to Saint Amand Montrond. (Reuters)
UCI President Pat McQuaid regrets Lance Armstrong donation
UCI President Pat McQuaid
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he International Cycling Union (UCI) made a mistake accepting a donation from Lance Armstrong in 2002, president Pat McQuaid has admitted. In 2012 Armstrong, 41, was banned for life and stripped of seven Tour de France titles for serial dop-
ing. The UCI received $125,000 from the American in 2002, but said in 2010 that this was not part of a cover-up. “On reflection, it would have been better had we not taken that money,” McQuaid, 63, told BBC Radio 5 live. The Irishman, who is seeking re-election as UCI president, added: “Having said that, when we took it, we announced publicly, with a press statement, that the money was being given and what the money was being used for. “It was done with the best interests, not in any underhand way.” Armstrong received a life ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency for what it called “the most sophisti-
cated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”. The UCI denied it accepted the money to cover up a positive drug test from Armstrong. McQuaid, who is opposed for the UCI leadership by head of British Cycling Brian Cookson, also believes the UCI is a victim of its own success in catching cheats. “When we catch cheats, it’s used in a sense as a stick to beat the back of the UCI and I think that’s a little bit unfair,” he said. “We spend in the region of seven million Swiss Francs (£4.87 million) a year to catch cheats. “You don’t spend that sort of money and fail. You don’t spend that sort of money and not want to catch cheats.” (BBC Sport)
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t John’s, ANTIGUA – The 46th edition of the West Indies Cricket Board’s premier regional youth tournament will bowl off in St Kitts on July 19 with three matches. The WICB Regional Under-19 tournament, will open with defending threeday champions Barbados challenging Guyana at Verchilds while hosts Leeward Islands will do battle against their arch-rivals Windward Islands at Conaree. The third match will see Jamaica matching skills with Trinidad and Tobago at EGSC Molyneaux. The three day format will be played from today to August 7 with five rounds of matches. The six traditional regional teams (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands) will be joined by the ICC Americas Under 20 team for the 50 Over leg which commences on August 10 and runs through
to August 20. The full tournament will consist of 36 matches (15 x 3 Day matches and 21 x 50 Over matches) played over 12 rounds. The regional youth tournament dates back to 1968 when it was contested under the British American Tobacco Series. It has been the main scouting ground for the region’s finest talent who going on to grace the international stage in full West Indies senior colours. Most of the current West Indies players found their footing in the Regional Under 19 Tournament before going on to represent the West Indies in Test, One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket. Guyana has been dominant in the three day format, winning the title on 13 occasions while Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have won nine each. Jamaica is next with eight titles. Leewards have won three times and the now disband-
ed Combined Islands held it twice and Windwards once. The 50-over tournament is in its 16th year, having been inaugurated in 1998. Trinidad and Tobago has won this title on five occasions (2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010), Jamaica four (1998, 1999, 2007 and 2009) and Barbados have done so thrice (2001, 2004 and 2011). Defending 50 over champions Windwards have won once (2012) while Guyana and Leewards have not yet held this title. The WICB will be providing full coverage of the entire tournament on its website and social media platforms. Live score updates from all matches will be provided on facebook (www.facebook.com/ windiescricket) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/windiesregional) while one match each round will be video streamed live on www.windiescricket.com The website will also carry full scorecards and match reports at the end of each day’s play.
Ricky Ponting hits ton in first-class swansong
Ricky Ponting
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icky Ponting batted for the entire day in his final first-class innings to finish on 169 not out and help Surrey earn a draw against Nottinghamshire. The former Australia captain batted sensibly to ensure his side, who had been in a precarious position, could declare on 3958 to save the match. At the close, every Notts player shook his hand as he left the field. Ponting’s innings came as his former Australian team-mates were fighting back against England in the first Test. It was the second century in his short spell at Surrey after he hit 192 on his debut against Derbyshire. Although he will not make any more
Championship appearances, with South Africa’s JP Duminy set to replace him as overseas player, Ponting will be playing one-day cricket for the county until the end of July. And he will finish his career after appearing for Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians in the Champions League, which ends on October 6. Resuming on 41 not out, the 38-year-old Tasmanian lost partner Arun Harinath in the first over of the day, bowled behind his legs by Harry Gurney for 69, and two overs later Zander de Bruyn was run out. When Steven Davies was bowled by Andre Adams, Surrey were 218-5 and just six runs ahead, but Ponting and Zafar Ansari shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 98 either side of
the lunch interval to give their side hope of avoiding defeat. The former Australia captain reached three figures before the break by dancing down the pitch to Samit Patel and hitting the spinner for his 14th four. The 38-year-old took his time in the afternoon, but hit 10 off a Graeme White over to reach 142 not out at tea. His efforts during the afternoon took Surrey to 356-8 – a lead of 144 with one session remaining. Ansari (27), Gareth Batty (0) and Chris Tremlett, overlooked for the Test at Trent Bridge, all fell to Patel after tea but Jade Dernbach (18 not out) shared an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 59 with Ponting, who left the field to a standing ovation.
(BBC Sport)