Alberto Contador won his third Vuelta a Espana title as Italian Adriano Malori took victory in the final stage’s 9.7-kilometre time trial in Santiago de Compostela yesterday.
Contador finished 1 minute 40 seconds behind Malori on the rain-soaked course and took few chances.
Though he lost 27 seconds to Chris Froome, he did enough to add to his 2008 and 2012 Vuelta victories, taking his grand tour successes to six.
New Zealander Jesse Sergent and Australia’s Rohan Dennis were second and third on the stage. But the day belonged to Contador, a Spaniard whose gritty win in Saturday’s 20th stage at Puerto de Ancares sealed an incredible triumph.
Less than two months ago, he broke his leg in a crash that forced him out of the Tour de France.
Neither he nor Froome managed a particularly impressive final stage, but that was mostly down to the weather.
While Malori, the Italian time-trial champion, set off and came home in 11:12 under blue skies, sunshine and on a dry course, that was not the case for everyone.
A torrential downpour seriously hampered the middle order, and by the time the favourites set off at the end, the roads were still wet, making the tricky, technical course treacherous.
Meanwhile, Dutch rider Dylan van Baarle won the Tour of Britain yesterday, holding onto the lead despite a strong time trial by former champion Bradley Wiggins on a final day featuring two stages in central London. Van Baarle finished 10 seconds clear of Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski. Wiggins was third, a further 12 seconds back.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Paris%20Agreement
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
