Friday, 8 July 2011

Bradley Wiggins quits Tour

Wiggins has won three Olympic gold medals for Britain

Britain's Bradley Wiggins broke his collarbone as he crashed out of the Tour de France before compatriot Mark Cavendish went on to win stage seven.

The 31-year-old Team Sky rider - who was sixth overall when the Tour left Le Mans - was caught up in a multiple pile-up around 40km from the end of the 218km stage in Chateauroux.

Cavendish later clinched his second stage win of the 2011 Tour as Thor Hushovd retained the yellow jersey.

It was his 17th career Tour stage win.

The Manxman, third in this year's points competition and only 17 points off the leader Jose Joaquin Rojas, is now in the top 10 on the all-time list for stage victories.

The HTC-Highroad rider's latest victory came on the same road in Chateauroux as his maiden triumph in 2008.

There was a lot of fighting all day, a lot of stress. We've been lucky - up until

Geraint Thomas - Team Sky team-mate of injured Bradley Wiggins

"It's a very special day for me," said Cavendish.

"Out of all the stages this is the one I wanted [again]. I had to go for the intermediate sprint, which was really dangerous. A few of the riders are getting dangerous now. But the guys [my support riders] were incredible today, I'm so proud of them staying together.

"I'm gutted for Bradley. People may doubt him, but he's in the best form of his life."

Team Sky, who had celebrated their first Tour stage victory asEdvald Boasson Hagen won on Thursday, echoed Cavendish's observations on recently-crowned British road champion Wiggins.

Principal Dave Brailsford said: "It's obviously a devastating day for the team. Bradley's in great shape, team leader, it's the end of his Tour.

"It's a shame we never got to see him going in the mountains. He was in the form of his life."

Welsh Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas lost possession of the white jersey for the best young rider on Friday, with Radobank's Robert Gesink taking it ahead of stage eight.

Both he and team-mate Boasson Hagen also dropped down the general classification.

Speaking on behalf of the eight remaining members of Team Sky, Thomas - who was ahead of the incident on a Tour which now seen eight riders withdraw - said: "It's obviously gutting for the team. I was really looking forward to riding for him in the mountains because he's in great shape.

"There was a lot of fighting all day, a lot of stress.

"We've been lucky up until now. We've managed to avoid it all. Unfortunately Brad had that crash. He was just behind and I heard it.

"He'll be back. Come the end of the season I'm sure he'll be up there at the worlds (the World Road Championships in Copenhagen) - and I'm sure he'll be back (at the Tour de France) next year."

STAGE SEVEN RESULT:

1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/ HTC-Highroad) 5 hours 38 minutes 53 seconds

2. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita/ Lampre - ISD) same time

3. Andre Greipel (Ger/ Omega Pharma-Lotto) "

4. Romain Feillu (Fra/ Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) "

5. William Bonnet (Fra/ FDJ) "

6. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus/ Katusha Team) "

7. Thor Hushovd (Nor/ Garmin-Cervelo) "

8. Sebastien Turgot (Fra/ Team Europcar) "

9. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa/ Movistar Team) "

10. Sebastien Hinault (Fra/ AG2R La Mondiale) "

OVERALL STANDINGS:

1. Thor Hushovd (Nor/ Garmin-Cervelo) 28 hours 29 minutes 27 seconds

2. Cadel Evans (Aus/ BMC) +1"

3. Frank Schleck (Lux/ Leopard Trek) +4"

4. David Millar (GB/ Garmin-Cervelo) +8"

5. Andreas Kloeden (Ger/ RadioShack) +10"

6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/ Leopard Trek) +12"

7. Andy Schleck (Lux/ Leopard Trek) same time,

8. Tony Martin (Ger/ HTC-Highroad) +13"

9. Peter Velits (Svk/ HTC-Highroad) same time

10. Robert Gesink (Ned/ Rabobank) +20"

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Have the ICC finally come to their senses?

It has been announced that the ICC have gone back on their decision to have the 2015 Cricket World Cup as a 10 team event which would have omitted the associate nations. The cricket governing body announced after the conclusion of the highly successful World Cup in India that the 2015 competition would contain just 10 teams. This decision received huge amounts of criticism and the ICC then decided to meet in June to discuss their decision. It was announced that the 2015 World Cup would contain 14 teams, which allows four associate nations to compete. The associate nations will have to qualify through a qualifying competition in which the four semi-finalists will progress.

Ireland and Netherlands will be firm favourites to qualify and this means there is only two more places for the remaining associate nations. Ireland and Netherlands are so far ahead of all the other associate countries and it constantly shows. The decision to allow 4 associate members in the 2015 World Cup is a massive boost for Irish Cricket who are currently searching for Test match status. The Irish have showed their quality over the past few years with some outstanding performances and results against the World's best. They are producing players who are currently impressing not just in England but on the World stage.

England's Eoin Morgan comes into mind straight away, currently a big part of England's ODI success. Former England player Ed Joyce has now returned to play for Ireland and he has been in fine form for Sussex this season. Not only do Ireland's bigger names continue to perform but the majority of Ireland's team are playing county cricket and succeeding. Niall O'Brien has firmly nailed down the wicket keeper- batsman position at Northants and recently scored his maiden first class one day century. His brother, Kevin has continued his fine World Cup form with some outstanding performances for Gloucestershire including an unbelievable century in a recent T20 match. Gary Wilson and Boyd Rankin both continue to get their games for Surrey and Warwickshire respectively. Ireland captain William Porterfield has had a terrific season for Warwickshire and has been a regular in the Bears' one day and four day sides. Youngster Paul Stirling has forced himself into Middlesex's team as an opening batsman with some scintillating performances in the shorter form of the game. 19 year old George Dockrell is yet to get a chance with Somerset thanks to injury but his time will certainly come. Ireland have also been buoyed by Hamish Marshall's decision to play for Ireland and the Irish side will be an even more dangerous outfit come 2015.

Hagan brightens up the sky

Edvald Bossan Haggan from Norway (SKY) took a rain soaked stage six of the Tour De France in a frantic finish.

Hagan took a hecic bunch sprint after a steep 500m hill in the last 2KM led to an unpredictable finish. Hagan’s win was the first stage win of the tour for British Team Sky after he was given a great lead out in the last 500m by team mate Geraint Thomas. From there Hagan powered through the middle of Matt Goss(HTC) 2nd and yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd(Garmin).3^rd. British rider Mark Cavendish gave today’s finish a miss considering the final climb too hard after his big effort yesterday.

On the finishing climb Thomas Voekler (Eurocar) looked like he might ruin Sky’s plans but his effort was soon caught by the chasing bunch.

The rain caused nervousness in the bunch again with a crash in the last 10KM brought down Levi Leipheimer an overall favourite who ended up losing a minute by the finish. All the rest of the overall favourites finished safely in the front group and Thor Hushovd kept the yellow jersey.

Tomorrow’s stage seven is as flat as they come so all eyes will be back on Mark Cavendish will he win in Chateauroux where he won his first ever Tour De France stage in 2008?

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Cavendish hushes the doubters

Mark Cavendish(HTC) came from behind to take stage five of the Tour De France from Caraix to Cap Frehel.

In a frantic stage which had crashes galore and an equally exciting finish the sprinter from the Isle of Man put his doubters in their place to take the win. None of his rivals had noticed Cavendish hiding behind them until he came around them to take the win 200 yards from the finish.

The stage was full of incidents and crashes which have littered the opening week of the race so far. Favourite and last year’s winner Alberto Contador was again one of the riders to hit the deck but finished safely in the bunch. Jérémy Roy (FDJ) and Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) were out in front of the bunch in the days break but were brought back with 5KM to go.

Thor Hushovd kept the yellow jersey and all the main favourites and Scottish rider David Millar finished safely in the bunch.

Mark Cavendish seemed to have messed up another sprint opportunity when his lead out train seemed to have lost him in the last kilometre. Then when the win seemed out of reach fellow British rider Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) led him to the front. From here the Manx missile did what he does best and powered around Philip Gilbert (Omega Lotto) 2^nd and Jose Rojas (Movie Star) 3^rd.

Stage six is another flat stage for the sprinters so Mark Cavendish will again be favourite in his chase to get the green jersey.

Tiger Woods withdraws from The Open

Former world number one Tiger Woods has confirmed he will miss this month's Open Championship at Sandwich because of his troublesome left leg injury.

The 35-year-old has not played competitively since suffering a recurrence of the injury at thePlayers Championship in mid-May.

"Unfortunately, I've been advised that I should not play in the British Open," Woods said on his official website.

Woods has 14 major titles, four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus.

Despite slipping to 17th in the current world rankings, Woods insisted: "I think my best years are still ahead of me and I'm very confident and optimistic about the future.

IAIN CARTER BLOG

Woods is still the biggest name in golf and draws fans wherever he plays, but the Open is perfectly capable of prospering without him

TIGER WOODS IN 2011

Events played: Six
Best finish: Tied fourth at the Masters
Scoring average: 70.45 (30th on the PGA Tour)
Total birdies: 61

Although he returned for the Players Championship at Sawgrass, Woods - who has not won a tournament since the Australian Masters in November 2009 - played only nine holes and dropped six strokes in the process before he withdrew from the event.

Former European Tour player Jay Townsend is concerned about Woods's future.

Townsend told BBC Radio 5 live: "I think Woods is living in denial. At 35-years-old he has had four surgeries on his left knee and he has a chronic Achilles problem. How can his best days be ahead of him?"

Irishman Padraig Harrington, who won the last two majors of 2008 while the former world number one was sidelined, described the news of the American's latest absence as "unfortunate for the game of golf and more unfortunate for him."

"He still is the name we would look out for the most. It's not that we want him to turn up and win, but it would be nice to have him there and bring the buzz he does," Harrington continued.

"It's a good feeling when you go down the stretch with Tiger and it's a great feeling when you beat him.

"He certainly pushed everybody else along. I'm looking forward to him getting back and disappointed he's not there."

Australian Brendan Jones was first on the reserve list to replace Woods but he declined the invitation so American Jason Dufner will fill the vacancy at Sandwich.

Live sports commentary

Welcome to our new blog covering live sports events with match previews and reports

DeGale gets European Title shot

James DeGale gets European title fight

DeGale won Olympic gold for Britain in 2008

Former British super-middleweight champion James DeGale will challenge for the European title in September against Poland's Piotr Wilczewski.

It will be the 25-year-old's first bout since losing the British title on points to George Groves in May.

Wilczewski, who won the vacant European and WBO Intercontinental titles in March, has lost only once in 30 fights.

"Challenging for the European title is a fantastic opportunity to get myself back in the big picture," DeGale said.

"I've been hard in training since my last fight and I'm ready to box tomorrow if I need to, come September I'll be in great shape."

DeGale's loss to Groves in May was contentious. The Londoner had been heavily favoured to beat his long-term rival, but lost on a split decision.

"The fight with Groves is in the past, I still believe I beat him, but I'm a positive person and now I'm focused on the future and a win will put me in a great position for a world title," he said.

I'm focused on the future and a win will put me in a great position for a world title

James DeGale

"My promoter Frank Warren has done a great job in getting me home advantage for this title shot and now I've got to go out there, do the business and win it in style.

"In fact, I'm about to sign a new three-year deal with Frank and I'm really happy that he will continue to build my career, as he has done since I turned professional.

"He brought Amir Khan back from a devastating knockout loss to a world title in only three fights so I know that he can do it for me," DeGale added.

Prior to his defeat to Groves, the former Olympic gold medallist had won his first 10 fights.

And Warren believes the bout with Wilczewski is a pivotal moment in his career.

"This is a make or break fight for James," he said.

"He's got a big opportunity in front of him against Wilczewski and now has to go out there and deliver the goods and show the fans what he can do."

Live Sports Commentary

welcome