UAE Cycling shines in Criterium du Dauphiné
A decisive Solo attack on stage 7
Riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Pogačar launched a powerful attack 12 km from the summit of Valmeinier 1800. His acceleration proved too strong for the chasing group, including Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who was unable to match the Slovenian's pace.
Vingegaard and Lipowitz try to respond
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) briefly joined forces with Vingegaard in pursuit, but the Dane pulled ahead to finish second. Lipowitz took third, trailing by over a minute. Pogačar reached the summit alone after conquering the 16.2 km climb at a 6.8% average gradient.
UAE team defends under pressure
Earlier in the stage, Visma-Lease a Bike attempted to disrupt UAE Team Emirates-XRG's control by pushing the pace on the Col de la Croix de Fer. However, Pavel Sivakov delivered a resilient effort to support Pogačar, preventing any isolation of the world champion.
Pogačar reflects on the stage strategy
Speaking after the race, Pogačar said, 'We had our own plan, but Visma went full gas early. I remembered the climb from before, and our goal was to stay in control. Pavel rode really well, and when he couldn't continue, he prepared me for the final attack. I committed to it and managed to hold the lead.'
Stage 7 results
Tadej Pogačar
(UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 4:10:00
Jonas Vingegaard
(Visma-Lease a Bike) – +14″
Florian Lipowitz
(Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – +1:21
General classification after stage 7
Tadej Pogačar
(UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 25:44:58
Jonas Vingegaard
(Visma-Lease a Bike) – +1:01
Florian Lipowitz
(Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – +2:21
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dubai Eye
2 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Russell wins in Canada as McLarens collide
George Russell celebrated Mercedes' first win of the Formula One season in Canada on Sunday while McLaren's Oscar Piastri went 22 points clear in the championship after teammate Lando Norris smashed into him and retired. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had hoped to win for a record fourth year in a row at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, had to settle for second after a challenge fizzed out behind the safety car. Russell's 18-year-old rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli finished third for his first F1 podium and the first by an Italian since 2009. Piastri was fourth, with the safety car leading the final lap before peeling off to clear the way for Russell to take the chequered flag. "Well done team. That made up for last year," said Russell, who also started on pole in 2024 but finished third. His last win before Sunday was in Las Vegas in November. "It's amazing to be back on the top step. I felt last year was a victory lost and probably got the victory today due to the incredible pole lap yesterday." Piastri now has 198 points ahead of Norris on 176, with Verstappen on 155 with Russell on 136. In the constructors' standings Mercedes moved up to second, ahead of Ferrari and 175 points behind McLaren. Headline Drama An uneventful afternoon erupted in headline drama when Norris hit the rear of Piastri's car three laps from the end -- a clash long predicted in the title battle between the pair -- while trying to overtake. The Briton, whose broken car stopped by the side of the track, was quick to blame himself when it all went wrong after they had earlier gone side by side. "I'm sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me," Norris said over the team radio. Piastri pitted as the safety car was deployed and rejoined with a tyre advantage over Antonelli that he could not use as the racing never resumed. "Glad I didn't ruin his race. In the end apologies to the team," Norris told Sky Sports television. "This wasn't even like a 'that's racing', it was just silly from my part." Stewards ruled he was solely to blame and handed him a meaningless five-second penalty. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth, the latter with a damaged car after hitting a groundhog. Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin and Nico Hulkenberg brought in more solid points for Sauber in eighth place. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas in their 200th race with Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams. A post-race protest by Red Bull was rejected by stewards five and a half hours after the race ended. Third place, after passing Piastri on the opening lap, made Antonelli the third-youngest driver ever to stand on the F1 podium. "I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest," he said. Russell led away cleanly from pole, with Verstappen slotting in behind. Behind them, Williams' Alex Albon tracked across the grass after starting ninth, with Alpine's Franco Colapinto moving briefly up from 10th before losing out to Hulkenberg and then falling down the order. Norris started on the hard tyres to go longer in the opening stint and was leading by lap 16 after others who started on mediums came in for pitstops. He then pitted on lap 29 and came out fifth, behind Piastri in fourth. Leclerc also came in on that lap but then questioned why Ferrari had made the call, with his hard tyres still in reasonable shape.
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Russell takes dig at Verstappen post Canadian Formula 1 GP pole
Mercedes' George Russell grabbed a dazzling pole position and then enjoyed cracking a joke at rival Max Verstappen's expense on Saturday after clocking a sensational lap in qualifying for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Briton was delighted with what he described as 'one of the most exhilarating laps of my life' and said, when asked about the prospect of starting alongside Red Bull's four-time champion, that he had 'a few more penalty points to play with'. His light-hearted jibe referred to his verbal rivalry with Verstappen since last season and their recent clash at the Spanish Grand Prix -- where the Dutchman rammed into Russell's car in the closing stages. Verstappen was handed a timed penalty that dropped him to 10th and also given three points on his drivers' super-licence, taking him to a total of 11 and within one point of a ban if he commits any further misdemeanors. Fans in the capacity crowd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve roared their approval as Russell warmed to his theme after clocking the only sub 1.11 lap of the weekend to date. Race winner George Russell speaks in the Drivers Press Conference. AFP 'We're mates, so it's all good,' insisted Russell, despite his tense and often strained relationship with Verstappen who, in Barcelona, said 'give him some tissues' after their clash. 'But I've got a few more points on my license to play with so, yeah, let's see,' Russell said. It may have been good-natured fun, but it was also a reminder to Verstappen that he cannot risk repeating his 'red mist' aggression and a possible race ban on Sunday. Russell captured his first pole this year at the end of a thrilling session. Russell clocked a best lap in one minute and 10.899 seconds to outpace Verstappen by 0.160 seconds. 'On my steering wheel, you've got the delta and I just saw every corner that I was just going one-tenth quicker and I got into the last corner and I was six-tenths off so I knew the lap was mighty,' Russell said. 'Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise, but I was so chuffed with it. It was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life, an awesome experience in front of this amazing crowd.' Verstappen, who is third in this year's drivers' title race behind the McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, shook hands with Russell to congratulate him, but will harbour hopes of claiming an unprecedented fourth consecutive Canadian win. Last year, Russell led from pole for 20 laps before pitting to hand the lead to Norris for five laps until he also pitted. Verstappen then took control to win ahead of Norris with Russell coming home third. 'I'm very happy with what we have achieved to be on the front row,' said Verstappen, having claimed Red Bull's 200th front row start. 'Tomorrow, we can have a solid race. We did the right thing with the tyres.' Asked about starting alongside Russell, the champion refused to comment, showing real irritation about the speculation on penalty points and bans. 'I'm not talking about it anymore,' he said, having already confirmed he would not change his aggressive style. 'It's a waste of time to discuss this. It's so childish and it is really annoying.' Agencies
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Pogacar wins first Dauphine ahead of Tour de France title defence
Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar wrapped up the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday with a podium finish in the eighth and final stage, which was won by France's Lenny Martinez. A winner of three stages in total, the Slovenian dominated the 77th edition of the Dauphine to top the overall classification by 59sec ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard -- three weeks before the start of the Tour de France. 'It's been a really amazing week,' Pogacar said. 'Once again today, the team did a great job. We managed to defend the (yellow) jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour.' German Florian Lipowitz completed the podium, 2min 38sec behind Pogacar, while Belgium's Remco Evenepoel came fourth at 4min 21sec. Sunday's final stage was a 133.3km mountainous trek from Val-d'Arc to Val-Cenis, with an uphill finish at the Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The 21-year-old Martinez caught Spaniard Enric Mas with 8km to go to give France its first victory in this Dauphine, finishing 34sec ahead of Vingegaard and Pogacar. Vingegaard tried to catch Martinez but was unable to shake off Pogacar. The Dane and the Slovenian then stopped attacking and rolled in together. Pogacar now has 99 victories to his name -- a record for an active rider at just 26 years of age. 'There's a lot of positives from this week and we turned all the negatives into positives, so it's all good,' said Pogacar, who bounced back from a poor time-trial performance in stage four to lay down the gauntlet to his principal Tour rivals. 'There's not much to do ahead of the Tour. I rest a bit, maybe some extra work for the time-trial, and then I'm ready,' the three-time Tour winner added. The 2025 Tour de France runs from July 5-27, with Pogacar the firm favourite following his first Dauphine crown. Meanwhile, French rider Romain Gregoire clinched the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday thanks to a late solo breakaway. Gregoire edged countryman Kevin Vauquelin in second place by 20sec, with Dutch rider Bart Lemmen in third. Pre-race contender Ben O'Connor was fifth, 1min 7sec behind, after a hilly 129.4km ride which started and ended in the town of Kuessnacht. Gregoire, 22, powered to his first major victory of the season by splitting from the breakaway in rain-sodden conditions in the final descent in central Switzerland. Agencies
