Vuelta a Espana: Pedersen claims hat-trick of stage wins to tighten grasp on green jersey

2022-09-10 04:23:44 By : Ms. ivy yang

Mads Pedersen brought up a hat-trick of stage wins across the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, claiming stage 19 with a powerful sprint in Talavera de la Reina.

Pedersen, who was also victorious over stages 13 and 16, saw off challenges from Fred Wright and Gianni Vermeersch over a 138.3-kilometre stretch on Friday, adding to his lead in the Points Classification.

Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, retained La Roja and is closing in on an overall victory after a long downhill ride to the line prevented any challengers from gaining time on the race leader.

Brandon McNulty, Jonathan Caicedo and Ander Okamika led a three-man breakaway at the outset of the twin-mountain stage, comprising two laps of a circuit containing the Puerto del Pielago climb, but they were hauled back with 49 kilometres remaining.

Pedersen's Trek-Segafredo team then fended off several attacks as the stage built towards a bunch sprint, in which Pedersen turned on the style to beat Wright to another important triumph. 

"It was definitely really hard to control the bunch today but man, the team did so impressive. Everybody was so dedicated and working really hard," Pedersen said after crossing the line.

"It's never easy in a final like this, it's a lot of good guys in the peloton in the end. I was really happy with the speed the boys could keep at the end. 

"Three wins is of course super, super nice. Tomorrow we have to finish the day and then in Madrid we'll see how it goes. But I think no matter what, we can be really happy with these three weeks in Spain."

As well as extending his commanding lead in the Points Classification standings, Pedersen's win made him the first rider to bring up three stage victories in this year's race. The Dane moves clear of Sam Bennett, Jay Vine, Evenepoel and Richard Carapaz, who have two wins apiece this year.

Pedersen had managed just one stage victory at Grand Tours ahead of the Vuelta, taking stage 13 at the Tour de France in July.

1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 3:19:11 2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) same time 3. Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) same time 4. Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers) same time 5. Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) same time

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 73:18:23 2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:07 3. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (UAE Team Emirates) +5:14

1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 379 2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 174 3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 133

1. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) 50 2. Enric Mas (Movistar) 26 3. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) 23

Sandro Tonali has become the latest player to sign a new deal with Serie A champions Milan.

The 22-year-old, who joined from Brescia in September 2020 on an initial loan basis, has agreed a new five-year contract at San Siro.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli recently confirmed the club were in talks over extending the stay of Tonali, who is reported to have doubled his salary with his fresh terms.

Tonali has played 84 times for the Rossoneri since arriving, a tally bettered only by Franck Kessie (86), Rafael Leao (87), Theo Hernandez and Alexis Saelemaekers (both 89).

The 22-year-old has made exactly 100 appearances in Serie A. Among players with 100 or more appearances in the competition, Tonali is the youngest of them.

Milan announced the new contract on their official website on Friday, a day after fellow midfielder Rade Krunic extended his stay with the club until 2025.

Forward Leao is also in discussions over a new deal with Milan, who have started their Scudetto defence with three wins and two draws in their opening five games.

Primoz Roglic has blamed Fred Wright for causing the crash that led to his withdrawal from the Vuelta a Espana, labelling the incident "unacceptable".

Roglic was sent sprawling after touching wheels with Wright with just 150 metres remaining at the end of a dramatic stage 16 on Tuesday, and withdrew from the race the following day.

Three-time reigning champion Roglic had been second in the overall standings, and his withdrawal leaves Remco Evenepoel as the overwhelming favourite to clinch victory when the race concludes in Madrid on Sunday.

Speaking to Jumbo-Visma's team website on Friday, Roglic expressed his displeasure at the way his race ended and singled out Wright for blame.

"I can walk a little bit. I am happy with that for the moment," Roglic said. "After the crash, it took me time to straighten things out. I asked myself, 'how can this be?'

"My conclusion is that the way this crash happened is unacceptable. Not everyone saw it correctly. The crash was not caused by a bad road or a lack of safety but by a rider's behaviour.

"I don't have eyes on my back. Otherwise, I would have run wide. Wright came from behind and rode the handlebars out of my hands before I knew it."

Jumbo-Visma director Richard Plugge was equally unhappy with Wright's behaviour, adding: "Ten years ago, the older riders were sounding the alarm because the younger ones showed less respect, took irresponsible risks, and pushed their way through everything. 

"The younger ones of yesteryear are the older riders of today. But you still hear the same discussion, even though we are a generation ahead. So that has to change. 

"I'm glad that Primoz is speaking out, looking in the mirror and naming the behaviour of riders as well."

Bahrain Victorious rider Wright is second in the Points Classification standings, but is some 205 points adrift of Mads Pedersen after losing out to the Dane across Friday's 19th stage.

Roglic's withdrawal marks his latest setback during a difficult year. He was forced to leave the Tour de France ahead of the final rest day after suffering injuries sustained in a crash with a stray hay bale on stage five in July.

Football is, indeed, a funny old game.

Given the regular twists of fate the football calendar can throw up, it should perhaps be little surprise to see the start Marco Rose has been handed after being appointed RB Leipzig head coach this week.

The first two Bundesliga games for Rose will be against his former clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach, either side of a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to play Real Madrid in the Champions League.

"We all play in the same league so we'll face every team at some point," he said after he was announced by Leipzig. "It's definitely special and exciting, but I have a lot of work to do here so the scheduling isn't very important. We'll take it as it comes."

And he's right. Domenico Tedesco's replacement must get off to a good start to get Leipzig's season back on track, and who better to do it against than a Dortmund side that has already opened up a seven-point gap on them?

After winning just five points from their first five games, Leipzig are experiencing their second-worst start to a Bundesliga season, though they have beaten last season's effort by a point.

Following their 4-0 humbling at Eintracht Frankfurt last time out, they have conceded nine Bundesliga goals already for the first time ever, and have never scored fewer goals at this stage (also six last season).

Dortmund, on the other hand, have collected 12 points from their first five games for the third successive season, sitting second in the table, ahead of Bayern Munich in third.

Edin Terzic's men also won their first two away games for the first time since 2015-16, meaning they could win their first three on the road in a top-flight season for only the third time (also in 2000-01 and 2010-11).

Marco Rose was in charge of 46 competitive matches as coach of Dortmund last season, but now that he is set to take on his former club in his first match as coach of Leipzig, it must be noted that he has lost five of his last six competitive games against BVB (W1).

New boss Terzic has won all three of his competitive games as head coach against Leipzig, including a 4-1 victory in the 2021 DFB-Pokal final.

In fact, Terzic has recorded more wins and scored more goals (10) against Leipzig than versus any other team, so will be confident of piling more misery on them on Saturday.

Importance of Reus and Nkunku

Marco Reus made it 1-0 to Dortmund for the 45th time in the Bundesliga when he scored against Hoffenheim last week. In doing so, he drew level with Manfred Burgsmuller's club record.

Reus has had a hand in 17 goals in the top flight in 2022 (seven goals, 10 assists) – of current Bundesliga players, only Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku has been directly involved in more (25 – 17 goals, eight assists).

Nkunku will make his 100th Bundesliga appearance on Saturday, should he play, and is the only player since his debut in August 2019 to score at least 30 goals (35) and set up 30 (32).

He was directly involved in five goals against Dortmund last season (two goals, three assists) – a record he did not better against anyone else (four goals, one assist against Hertha Berlin).

Leipzig have only ever kept one clean sheet against Dortmund, which came in their first ever competitive meeting, a 1-0 home win in September 2016. They have since conceded at least once in all 12 meetings. Leipzig have never endured such a long wait for a clean sheet against any other side.

Despite losing Erling Haaland to Manchester City, BVB have continued to score goals, and have found the net in each of their last 33 Bundesliga games, the second-longest run in club history (37 games from 2020 to 2021).

No side has kept more clean sheets in the Bundesliga this season than Dortmund (three, level with leaders Freiburg), and only Union Berlin (three) have allowed opponents fewer clear-cut chances than BVB (five, and none over the last two matchdays).

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