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Ganna wins final stage Star of Bessèges, classification for Thomas
4.13 pm: The Italian Filippo Ganna has won the fifth and final stage of the Star of Bessèges. The Ineos rider did that in his specialty, the individual time trial. It went up slightly in the southern French Alès. The final victory of Frenchman Benjamin Thomas was not in danger on the final day.
Ganna was 6 seconds faster than Dane Mads Pedersen over 11 kilometers. Thomas, who drives for Cofidis, was third in 9 seconds. Bauke Mollema finished the race against the clock in fourth place, 11 seconds behind Ganna, the reigning world time trial champion.
Cyclo-cross rider Aerts secures overall victory in X2O Trophy
4.13 pm: The Belgian cyclo-cross rider Toon Aerts has secured the overall victory in the battle for the X2O Trophy in Lille, Belgium. Aerts was clearly too strong for the competition in the Krawatencross. His compatriot Eli Iserbyt, the only one who could threaten him in time in the standings, finished well behind outside the top ten.
There will be one more match in the competition, but a difference of more than 5 minutes can no longer be made up for. Iserbyt is about 7 minutes from Aerts.
Aerts was in the lead from start to finish. Behind him, his young compatriot Niels Vandeputte finished second. The Dutchman Lars van der Haar sprinted to third place.
Badminton player Caljouw takes fifth national title
3:28 pm: Mark Caljouw fulfilled his favorite role at the NK badminton in Almere. In the final the first seeded Caljouw Joran Kweekel was the boss with 21-14 and 21-10. The match lasted only 32 minutes.
The final was a repeat of the final battle of 2020. Even then, Caljouw won in two games. Last year the national championships were canceled.
It is already his fifth national title for 27-year-old Caljouw.
In the women’s race the title went to Gayle Mahulette, who, like Caljouw, was placed first. She defeated Jaymie Laurens 21-15 and 21-16. Mahulette (28) became Dutch champion for the fourth time.
Cyclo-cross rider Brand advances to X2O Trophy overall victory
2:40 pm: Lucinda Brand has won the Krawatencross, a cyclo-cross in Lille in Flanders that counts for the X2O Trophy. With this, the Baloise-Trek Lions rider extended her lead in the standings. There will be one more cross in the competition in time.
Brand only had to fear Denise Betsema in the standings, but the Texel rider drove an unfortunate race in Lille and finished seventh after almost 2.5 minutes. She had to be helped afterwards with a sore wrist, a result of a fall.
Just under a minute after Brand, Annemarie Worst finished second. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado completed the entire Dutch podium.
For Brand it was the eighteenth victory of the season. She booked seventeen of them dressed in the rainbow jersey. She lost that last week at the World Championships to Marianne Vos, who immediately ended her cyclocross season. Brand now wore the European championship jersey.
“Today it went easier than I expected after reconnaissance of the course”, Brand looked back on her successful performance. She was soon in the lead together with Alvarado and took advantage of a mistake by the Rotterdam. “I saw it happen and also knew that Annemarie was approaching. Then I continued for a while.”
Sausage was the best in a cross in Maldegem on Saturday, somewhat of a consolation for missing the world title fight due to a corona infection. “A little bit then”, she said after her second place in Lille.
ADO Den Haag wins briefly discontinued duel at FC Den Bosch
2:35 pm: The match in the Kitchen Champion Division between FC Den Bosch and ADO Den Haag was stopped for a short time on Sunday. According to ADO, that was because of chants and throwing beer from the stands in De Vliert, the stadium of Den Bosch.
Just before that interruption, at the start of the second half, the home side’s midfielder Barry Maguire had received his second yellow card. Against ten men, ADO striker Thomas Verheydt scored the only goal of the match in the 55th minute: 0-1. That was his nineteenth league goal this season.
ADO has regained third place in the Kitchen Champion Division with the win. FC Den Bosch remains fourteenth due to the defeat.
Van Rijthoven not to the main tournament in Ahoy
2:34 pm: Tim van Rijthoven failed to qualify for the main tournament of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam Ahoy. He lost in the second and final qualifying round to the Swiss Henri Laaksonen. It became 7-6 (6) 2-6 6-4 for the number 86 in the world.
The 24-year-old Van Rijthoven, the number 244 in the world, was admitted to the qualifications with a wild card. On Saturday, Jesper de Jong, Jelle Sels and Robin Haase were already eliminated in the preliminaries.
The main tournament starts on Monday. In it, Tallon groenpoor and Botic van de Zandschulp make their appearance.
Murray praises ‘good performing’ Dutch tennis players
2:03 PM: Prior to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, the Scottish former number 1 in the world Andy Murray spoke highly of the Dutch tennis players Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Groet. “They are attacking players who have been doing well for the past year and a half,” said Murray. “I expect them to improve further in the coming year. After that period you can better see what their potential is.”
With Greek track, number 62 in the world, the 34-year-old Murray trained for the first time before the Australian Open last month. “He finished very strong last year.” The 25-year-old Greek track then won five so-called challenger tournaments in a row. “Also on different surfaces. That’s really hard to do,” the three-time grand slam winner said at a press conference about the Dutchman’s performance.
Just like Murray, Van de Zandschulp and Greekpoor both participate in Rotterdam, in the ATP tournament that starts on Monday. Murray, number 102 in the world, received an invitation at the last minute, after the cancellation of the Russian top player Daniil Medvedev.
“I’m happy to be back,” Murray said. “The invitation was last minute, but I was training at home last week. It was an easy trip here.”
In 2009 the Scotsman won the tournament in Rotterdam. Last year he stranded in the eighth finals against the later winner Andrei Roeblev.
Cavendish (36) makes a comeback in Oman after a fall in six-day Ghent
2:01 pm: British cyclist Mark Cavendish returns to the peloton in the Tour of Oman after his crash during the six days of Ghent. His team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl reports that Cavendish will start his first road race from Thursday since the Münsterland Giro in October.
Cavendish was left with a collapsed lung and two broken ribs from his fall in Kuipke in Ghent. However, the rehabilitation went well and at the beginning of January the 36-year-old Briton again joined his team’s training camp in Calpe, Spain. He extended his contract with the Belgian team for a year last winter.
Cavendish already won a stage in the Tour of Oman in 2011.
Athlete Van Nunen avoids marathon Paris
12:44 pm: Athlete Bart van Nunen is preparing for the Paris marathon. The 26-year-old born Utrechter wants to run the limit in the French capital on Sunday 3 April for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene next summer. The Athletics Union has set that limit at 2.10.00.
Van Nunen initially wanted to attack that time on February 20 in Seville, but a minor injury has made him decide to move to Paris. Van Nunen has a personal best in the 42.195 kilometers of 2.10.16, run in Valencia in 2020. Thanks to that time, he was allowed to participate in the Olympic marathon last summer, but in Sapporo he had great difficulty with the warm conditions and got out.
Van Nunen is currently training in Portugal. He has cycled a lot there as an alternative to running, he said on Instagram.
Chelsea is waiting in Abu Dhabi for trainer Tuchel and goalkeeper Mendy
11:39 a.m.: Chelsea have brought 23 players to Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup. The English club flew to the emirate without Thomas Tuchel on Sunday. The German tested positive for the corona virus and was therefore already missing on Saturday in the FA Cup match against Plymouth Argyle, which Chelsea only won after extra time (2-1).
Captain César Azpilicueta and midfielder Mason Mount were injured against the third division team and Hakim Ziyech also suffered physical problems from the game. They all boarded a plane to Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Goalkeeper Édouard Mendy later joins the selection of the winner of the Champions League. Mendy will play the final of the African Cup against Egypt with Senegal in Cameroon on Sunday evening. Chelsea will start the World Cup on Wednesday in the semi-finals, three days later the final and the bronze medal match. It is unclear whether Tuchel can still lead his team in Abu Dhabi. “We don’t know when Thomas will be there, he follows government rules and is in isolation,” said his assistant Arno Michels.
Return of LeBron James inspires LA Lakers to comeback
10.37 am: Top basketball player LeBron James has made an impressive return to the NBA. The 37-year-old American missed the last five games due to a knee injury, but returned to the Los Angeles Lakers against the New York Knicks. He led his team to a hard-fought victory: 122-115 with a so-called triple-double (29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists).
The Lakers were 15 points behind halfway through the game, but mainly fought back thanks to a strong third quarter. Extra time was needed as the score was tied after regulation time (111-111). In the extra 5 minutes, the LA team took the win.
“A great win for us,” said James. “It felt good to be back on the field with the boys.” The Lakers have lost nine of their previous 13 NBA games and will have to work hard in the coming weeks to make it to the playoffs.
Phoenix Suns, the best performing team this season, recovered from Thursday’s loss against the Atlanta Hawks after 11 wins in a row. The Suns recorded their 42nd win of the season against the Wizards in Washington: 95-80.