Giro d'Italia LIVE: Stage one set for fierce fight to claim maglia rosa as race begins in Albania
The opening stage, a 160km run from the port town of Durres to the Albanian capital Tirana, is unlikely to be a battleground for the title contenders, however. The sprinters may be eyeing up the finish but it's the likes of all-rounders Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock who are the favourites to get over the punchy hills and have enough left in the legs to fight for the maglia rosa at the end of the day.
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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Albania v Serbia World Cup qualifier stirs memories of chaotic 2014 clash
Outside a cafe three blocks from Arena Kombetare, two men stood on chairs and fastened attachments to the awning. Thursday lunchtime had just passed and Tirana was gearing up for a match that could have filled the national stadium at least 10 times over. There was no trouble identifying Albania's flag, the double-headed black eagle spreading from its centre. The second banner being hoisted has become common currency too. It bore the word 'Autochtonous', presenting a version of the 'Greater Albania' map that transformed a football match into a major diplomatic incident in 2014. By Friday morning that flag had been replaced with its less incendiary alternative. Perhaps the authorities had popped in for a quiet word. They want to eliminate potential triggers for the kind of chaos that erupted in Belgrade 11 years ago, when a drone lowered the controversial image into Partizan Stadium during a European Championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania. The ramifications of that night stretched far beyond sport and there were sighs of relief when, the following November, a rematch in the provincial Albanian city of Elbasan passed without major incident. Faces surely plunged into palms at both countries' football associations last December, though, when they were drawn together in World Cup qualifying for 2026. Eyebrows were raised externally but there was nothing to prevent them meeting again: despite a long and bloody history whose freshest scars were inflicted during the war in largely ethnic Albanian Kosovo, the nations are not in active conflict. Neither had asked to be kept apart from the other. It was inevitable that the problem of navigating their relations around the football stadium would resurface one day. No resources are being spared in solving it. About 2,000 police personnel will be deployed for the sides' first Group K meeting on Saturday night, including special forces and counter-terrorism operatives. Additionally, sources suggest as many as 500 plainclothes officers will be situated among the 22,500 crowd. Away fans will be absent. Anti-drone equipment is being installed in the surrounding area and potential miscreants have been warned their devices will be shot out of the sky. Presumably any planned disruption would take a different form; drones were not quite commonplace in public life when that tiny craft unleashed hell in Belgrade. But those measures revive memories of Ismail Morina, the bearded and outwardly harmless crane operator whose willingness to admit responsibility for the 2014 incident brought national hero status. Although not widely reported at the time, Morina had an accomplice who has since preferred to remain in the shadows. Morina's openness came at a cost: he was arrested before Serbia's visit in 2015 for illegal possession of weapons, keeping him safely out of view for the game. Later he was imprisoned in Croatia and Italy, where he has residency, on a Serbian arrest warrant issued through Interpol. He has returned to Albanian stadiums, being held aloft in the Arena Kombetare stands at a match against Czech Republic in 2023 and exchanging shirts with the goalscorer Jasir Asani. Recently he has been seen at domestic games but, in the buildup to Saturday's meeting, his previously active social media accounts have disappeared. If any of his old associates know where he is, they will not say. The assumption must be that he would not risk approaching the venue on Saturday. He would not be the only ultra, past or present, who is kept away. The Albanian FA has not sold tickets en bloc to supporters' groups, instead allocating them by random draw from more than 200,000 applications and hiking up prices. It appears a deliberate attempt to sanitise the atmosphere; the Tifozat Kuq e Zi group, which provides the most vibrant spectacle at national team games, responded furiously and pointed to an 'organised farce' aimed at the wealthy. They will host an alternative gathering by the Pyramid of Tirana, 400 metres from the stadium, where permission has been granted for a big screen. Match ticket prices on an intensely active black market have exceeded £1,000 at the top end. The fact Albania and Serbia will co-host the Uefa Under-21 Championship in 2027 adds another dimension. If the stakes are high for Saturday's hosts, there is plenty riding on the occasion for European football's governing body. Such an ambitious arrangement, driven largely by the Albania FA president and Uefa executive committee vice-president, Armand Duka, may appear untenable if anything goes wrong. Tifozat Kuq e Zi has expressed its views on the co-hosting by verbal and visual means; it senses this has contributed to its ostracisation. The only distraction during Albania's training session on Thursday evening was a set of zealously deployed sprinklers, their presence hardly unwelcome in temperatures touching 30C. Elseid Hysaj, the Lazio full-back, is the only squad member who played in the Belgrade fiasco. 'We should not repeat the images of past years,' he said. 'The coach has asked us not to panic about this match. We need calm and emotional balance.' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Sylvinho, the manager in question and one of international football's more affable characters, joked while playing keepy-uppy with his staff but is under pressure to deliver. The same can be said of Dragan Stojkovic, his opposite number. England, who complete the Group K quintet with Latvia and Andorra, are deemed near-certain group winners by both camps. Albania and Serbia know they are jostling for a playoff spot and that their meetings, the second of which takes place in four months, will be decisive. At 1.40pm local time on Friday, Serbia's players arrived at their hotel a mile to the west of Tirana's city centre. Armed officers from RENEA, Albania's anti-terrorism force, flanked two buses that had travelled from the airport under escort. The first step of a weekend-long operation had passed smoothly. Should that remain the case, perhaps the spectre of 14 October 2014 will finally begin to fade from view.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Roldan wins Tour of Britain stage two in Saltburn as Faulkner takes overall lead
Mara Roldan pulled off a successful late breakaway on the steep approach to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, winning the second stage of the Tour of Britain Women by 12 seconds. The 21-year-old, who rides for Picnic-PostNL, made a push for victory with 14km to go and held on to win ahead of Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek). British teenager Cat Ferguson (Movistar) finished fifth for the second stage in a row, just behind third-placed Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Roldan's teammate Megan Jastrab. Also in the chasing group was Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly), who finished ninth but did enough to take the overall leader's green jersey. Faulkner, the Olympic road race champion in Paris, leads a frustrated Markus by just four seconds. Ferguson is fourth behind Wollaston, 14 seconds off Faulkner's mark, with two stages to go. The day began at Hartlepool docks in wet conditions, with stage one winner and overall leader Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) falling early to all but end her GC chances. Le Court sits 21st overall after stage two, while the two-times former winner, Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) is down in 16th place. Stage three on Saturday will start and end in Kelso as riders take a circuitous 148.7km route through the Scottish Borders. The race concludes with a 10-lap circuit around Glasgow city centre on Sunday.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Albania and Serbia face each other in a World Cup qualifier that's about more than just football
When Albania and Serbia face off in a 2026 World Cup qualifier on Saturday, the match in Tirana carries more weight than just the score. This clash is one of the most politically charged and emotionally intense rivalries in European football, rooted in deep historical and ethnic tensions, especially relating to the Kosovo conflict and broader Balkan history. With national identities deeply entwined, organisers are working to ensure the echoes of past confrontations are kept at bay. The last time the two teams met on Albanian soil was in 2015, when Serbia won 2-0, despite Serbian fans being banned from the match. Both nations are in the same European qualifying group alongside England, Latvia, and Andorra. The 2014 Belgrade brawl fresh in memories A 2014 game between the teams in Belgrade was abandoned when a drone carrying an Albanian flag sparked a full-scale brawl. Albania was awarded a 3-0 victory after a ruling said the match couldn't be continued due to the hostile environment at the stadium. That clinched Albania's qualification to the 2016 European Championship — a first for the team. That match had already been considered high risk. Kosovo, which has a majority Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia in 2008 — a move Serbia does not recognize. Football, often a mirror of nationalism and politics, reflected this deep divide. As Tirana braces for the latest showdown, memories of that night — and the nationalistic fervor it unleashed — hover just beneath the surface. Serbia's tense ties with Kosovo Serbia and Albania remain at odds over the status of now-independent Kosovo, and fan rivalry is still intense. North Macedonia or southern Serbia. For players, this is a contest overshadowed by history, politics, and national pride — a reminder that sometimes sport is anything but just a game. Albania defender Elseid Hysaj, who was part of the 2014 match, said the chaos "should not be repeated." 'We should be calm and be conscious that we are football players," he said. 'We are here to please the fans and give our best for the victory.' Organisers remind fans it's a game Armand Duka, president of the Albanian Football Federation, called on Albanians to see the match as a sports event 'where the team gets support and positive energy from the fans to achieve the goal.' 'We want to give the message: let's live it as a sport festivity,' Duka told The Associated Press. There will be a heavy police presence, road closures, and searches of fans entering the stadium. Serbian fans are barred, which "will contribute to a quieter environment,' Duka said. The sides have taken steps to forge a better relationship. Albania and Serbia will co-host the men's Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a project that aims to overcome political tensions. 'Players do not bear the burden of history or of the political tensions,' Duka said. 'They compete on the pitch to win, to give the best for the jersey they represent and, above all, to build the bridge of respect through the game.' Nationalists and soccer fans at odds Although political tensions have somewhat subsided in recent years, nationalists and soccer fans on both sides are deeply at odds. Both Albania and Serbia have faced sanctions from European soccer's governing body because of politically-charged incidents involving fans. Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic, however, recently added fuel by telling Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic at a big rally of his supporters that Serbia must win. 'Go there and beat them,' he said, addressing Stojkovic who was in the crowd. Stojkovic and some players have tried to ease tensions, saying it is just another match. 'Everyone says that the first game is very important," Stojkovic said of Serbia's opener in Group K. 'We are very focused on starting the way we want to and we will prepare to play the best we can in that sense, with all due respect to Albania.'
