
Carapaz solos to Giro stage 11 win, Del Toro stays in pink
Richard Carapaz won stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday with a solo ride in the last nine kilometres and leader Isaac Del Toro came second in a sprint to the line, finishing 10 seconds behind the former Olympic champion.
The stage was a challenging 186km ride from Viareggio to Castelnovo ne' Monti which had the most punishing sector on the Giro this year - the Alpe San Pellegrino climb with gradients of around 20 per cent.
Although a breakaway group led by nearly a minute with 15km to go, EF Education-EasyPost's Carapaz left the peloton behind and attacked to reel them in, overtaking them with nine km left.
The Ecuadorean powered to the finish with a lead of 18 seconds in the final kilometre while Del Toro led the chasers, beating Giulio Ciccone who completed the podium.
Del Toro retained the pink jersey while his UAE Team Emirates team mate Juan Ayuso is in second place in the general classification.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Brazil, Ecuador qualify for 2026 World Cup finals
MONTEVIDEO : Brazil and Ecuador secured their spots at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday, taking the second and third of South America's six automatic qualifying berths after champions Argentina booked their ticket in March. Brazil beat Paraguay 1-0 while Ecuador drew 0-0 with Peru as both teams climbed to 25 points with two matches to play, beyond the reach of Venezuela in seventh place. Uruguay (24 points), Paraguay (24) and Colombia (22) occupy the remaining three automatic qualification positions ahead of the final two fixtures in September. Venezuela (18) would earn a playoff spot against a team from another confederation by finishing seventh. In Sao Paulo, a goal from Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Jr. on the stroke of halftime made it a winning home debut for Brazil's new coach Carlo Ancelotti. "I'm very happy with today's result. We needed to win at home for our fans too and qualify for the World Cup, which was our goal," Vinicius said. "Now (Ancelotti) will have more time to work, to see what he can improve. Today wasn't one of our best games, but the important thing in qualifying is to win and prepare well for the World Cup." Brazil extended their record as the only team to play in every edition of the World Cup, with the five-times winners set to make their 23rd appearance in next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Ecuador qualified for their second straight World Cup by avoiding defeat in Peru. The visitors were penned in their own half for the final 20 minutes after midfielder Alan Franco was shown a second yellow card. The draw all but ended Peru's hopes of qualifying, leaving them with 12 points, six behind Venezuela. Earlier on Tuesday, Uruguay took a step closer to securing a spot with a 2-0 home victory over Venezuela at the Estadio Centenario, a victory which also snapped a four-match winless run in South American qualifiers. Uruguay dominated much of the first half but struggled to break down a well-organised Venezuelan defence until Rodrigo Aguirre put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute, heading in at the far post from a Maxi Araujo corner. Giorgian De Arrascaeta doubled Uruguay's lead just two minutes into the second half, firing a superb shot into the top-left corner to seal a win that secures Marcelo Bielsa's side of at least an inter-confederation playoff berth. Uruguay need only one point from their final two matches against Peru and Chile to make sure of a place at the finals. Argentina needed an 81st-minute equaliser from Thiago Almada to cancel out Luis Diaz's goal and secure a draw with Colombia, avoiding a second straight defeat to Nestor Lorenzo's side.


Independent Singapore
2 days ago
- Independent Singapore
'... fortunately, I had good legs' — Tadej Pogacar celebrates unexpected sprint win at the Critérium du Dauphiné
RHONE-ALPES, FRANCE: Tadej Pogacar clinched the victory in Stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné with an impressive sprint. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider outpaced top contenders Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the final sprint to seal the stage win and the race's first yellow jersey. Moreover, this sprint finish was unexpected for Pogacar, marking his strong start to the eight-stage race. With this, Pogacar expressed: 'Obviously, it's good, but the real test is coming at the end of the weekend… I was not [expecting it]. I was all prepared to come back to the bus pretty fast after the finish, to take a shower in the bus, take a comfortable seat, and enjoy the rest of the day. But I don't mind being here as well.' Highlights of the race Pogacar's victory came from a breakaway led by his opponent, Vingegaard. He made an unusual attack after the peloton slowed at the top of the Côte de Buffon, wherein Van der Poel and Pogacar followed. More so, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) caught up to join the group of five top riders. See also After her best year ever, what's next for Shanti Pereira? Van der Poel launched a sprint to try and beat Pogacar and Vingegaard with 1 km left. It was an intense moment, but Pogacar remained calm and surpassed Van der Poel to claim the stage win. Pogacar admitted: ' I followed the moves on the steep part of the climb, and then, Visma were clearly going for the stage win. They were trying, with everybody, to attack from the top. And that one was painful… And fortunately, I had good legs, and I covered all the attacks, and then, even Jonas, for the last one, for the cherry on the top, he attacked.' He added, 'Around 2 km to go, I was starting to think more about the sprint than just the GC, and I knew that Van der Poel was the fastest, obviously, in this group, but after a finish like this, you cannot count all of the rest out, they can be fast as well after a tough day.' Furthermore, Vingegaard admitted: 'I had a good day, to be honest. I'm happy with how it went today. Happy that I could make a difference, so yeah, I guess it's the first time I finished second in a bunch sprint. So I'm happy.' Stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné will happen south of the suburb of Prémilhat, having 204.6 km of challenging, hilly terrain. The route includes six climbs, setting the stage for a tough day in the saddle before finishing in the town of Issoire. In a social media post, Pogacar shared his win and said: 'Stage 1 ✅ Great legs, great team, great start. A bit off-script, but super racing between the rivals in the final🤝 Onwards we go 💪.' Netizens commented on the post: 'Now a sprinter World champ 🌈🌈🔥🔥,' 'Great job Tadej 🌈🤍💪🏻👑,' 'It is going to be a fun tour 🙌🙌,' and 'On another level yet again. What a sprint finish amongst the best rivals 💪.'


CNA
5 days ago
- CNA
Ancelotti hopes Raphinha will lift Brazil's attack against Paraguay
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador :Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful Raphinha will help sharpen his team's attack when they face Paraguay at home, the Italian said after blaming poor pitch conditions for Thursday's goalless draw with Ecuador. Ancelotti's much-anticipated debut as Brazil manager ended in frustration, as his side laboured to a goalless draw against Sebastian Beccacece's Ecuador in Guayaquil, where they were second best for large stretches, despite their wealth of talent. "I think the pitch conditions here made it a bit tricky to play a more intricate game from the back. It was harder to control the ball," Ancelotti told reporters after the match. "That said, we had two very good chances, with Vinicius Jr, with Casemiro in the second half. Yes, we could've done better in attack, but you've also got to take into account the strength of the opponent. "Ecuador played a very good game, just as we did... The journeys here are really long, that takes its toll a bit." The Italian manager, appointed last month, is under considerable pressure as he faces the tough task of guiding the five-times world champions Brazil back to form. The top six teams qualify directly for next year's World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Brazil remain in fourth place with 22 points in the continental standings. They face Paraguay on Tuesday in Sao Paulo, where Barcelona winger Raphinha is set to feature after missing the match in Ecuador. "There's room to improve, of course... I'm sure we'll improve in attack too, because today we were missing a very important player. That's Raphinha, who will be back, Ancelotti added. "I think the match against Paraguay will be different, because we will have more opportunity to control the game. We will need to play at a higher tempo, with more movement, more intensity. "I think the quality of the players is very high, so even if we don't have much time to work, we have still got that potential."