Carlos Sastre became the third successive Spaniard to win the Tour de France on Sunday in another major sporting triumph for his country this year. Australian Cadel Evans finished second overall, 58 seconds behind Sastre, who effectively secured victory on Saturday after resisting Evans in the decisive time-trial.
The chances of seven-times winner Lance Armstrong riding in next year's Tour de France are 50-50, his Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said on Wednesday. Tour de France organisers also appeared fairly indifferent over the prospect of Armstrong opting out of the race as they presented next year's route.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador found the time he spent off the road with Astana team mate Lance Armstrong tougher than the race itself, the Spaniard said on Monday. The 26-year-old picked up his second Tour title in Paris on Sunday, finishing ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Armstrong who came third.
Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has dismissed as irrelevant an offer by an anti-doping authority to test his urine samples from the 1999 race. France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) on Wednesday offered Armstrong an analysis of his samples from the 1999 Tour "to prove his good faith," French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported.
Lance Armstrong promised on Tuesday not to try to overhaul his Astana team mate Alberto Contador as overall race leader but still allowed himself to dream of an eighth Tour de France victory. The 37-year-old American, back in the saddle after three-and-a-half years in retirement, is second overall, one minute 37 seconds behind the Spaniard after the 16th stage.
Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991 and reached the latter stages the following season, finished second in Group H behind Arsenal who crushed BATE Borisov 6-0.
Though he left a mixed legacy, especially a dubious human rights record for allegedly having killed more than 500,000 people after he seized power in 1960s in an anti-Communist campaign, Asian leaders praised Suharto for having built the Indonesian economy.
Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong crashed on the first stage of Spain's Vuelta Castilla y Leon on Monday and was taken to hospital with a suspected collarbone fracture, organisers said.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jitender Kumar (51kg) became the fifth Indian pugilist to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Jitender Kumar beat former World Championship bronze medallist Nauman Karim of Pakistan to advance to the light-flyweight category quarter-finals of the second Asian Olympic Boxing qualifiers at Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. The Haryana boxer beat Karim, a bronze medallist in the 2003 World Championships, on points in a bout marred by a computer failure that necessitated manual scoring.
Arsenal's young guns continued to shine as they dismantled Standard Liege 4-0 on a hectic night of Europa League action that produced a full house of Spanish victories on Thursday. A summary of the matches.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
On a good night for English clubs in the Europa League, Manchester United hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Wolverhampton Wanderers also thrashed Besiktas 4-0 in Group K, and Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Standard Liege and finish first in their pool. The upset of the night came in Group J as Crivelli scored a 90th-minute winner against Borussia Moenchengladbach to send Basaksehir through and knock the Germans out, with AS Roma grabbing the runner-up spot thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Wolfsberger as the Europa League group stage concluded on Thursday.
Anthony Martial went from villain to hero as his second-half equaliser earned Manchester United a deserved point in a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
Holders FC Barcelona have been placed in Group E, along with Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb.
Thirteen teams have now qualified for the last 32 including Bayer Leverkusen, FC Zurich and Lazio who had already secured places in the next stage of the competition.
The seventh stage of the Tour de France burst into life at the finish on Friday as Marcel Kittel claimed his third victory in this year's edition, pipping Edvald Boasson Hagen to the line in the final sprint.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gifted Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev a set of books relating to religions born in India.
Tour organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) have vowed to continue the fight against the sport's blight and have no intention of waiting until next year.
Belgian Tom Boonen clinched his first win in two years on the Tour de France when he took the race's sixth stage, a 199.5-km ride from Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse on Friday.
Trump can afford to say that COVID-19 is a 'China virus', but we can't expect Modi to say that aloud while his actions may speak louder, says Rup Narayan Das.
Indian boxer Gaurav Bidhuri (52kg) is fast making a name for himself at the International Boxing Association's semi-professional World Series of Boxing, churning out three consecutive wins for his franchise Italia Thunder in the ongoing season.
'The events of 2020 have actually put our relationship under exceptional stress.' What External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the All India Conference of China Studies on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
'We did not want India to either default or forfeit this tie'
MC Mary Kom will never be able to forget the 26-year-old Azize, who dashed her 2016 Rio Olympic dreams by defeating her in the second round of the 2016 World Championships in Astana.
There is a possibility of a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Russia.
These measures are part of initiatives by these nations to attract Indian tourists, says Aneesh Phadnis.
The civilian leadership informed the military authorities that Sharif's hour-long meeting with Jindal was a part of back-channel diplomacy. And Jindal had the backing of some important Indian officials for the meeting to defuse ongoing tension between the two countries, the report said.
It is apparent that an easing of tensions at the border and a disengagement of troops is on the cards, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik does not endorse the Indian Olympic Association's call for a boycott of the 2022 Commonwealth Games but at the same time feels that dropping shooting from the event's roster is "wrong on the athletes."
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
She couldn't make the cut through qualifiers but star woman boxer M C Mary Kom's Olympic dream is not quite over yet as India has decided to seek a wildcard entry for her in the Games scheduled from August 5 this year. Mary Kom (51kg) had missed out on qualifying for the Olympics after bowing out in the second round of last month's World Championships -- the second and final qualifying tournament for women for the Games. The 33-year-old was required to make at least the semifinals to be assured of an Olympic berth in the mega-event in Astana, Kazakhstan. "She has been a phenomenal athlete and looking at her overall contribution to the sport, we have decided to request for a wildcard for her. However, her application will be among the many that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) will examine before taking a final decision," Chairman of the ad-hoc committee currently running boxing in India, Kishen Narsi, told PTI. Mary Kom, who is called 'Magnificent Mary' by AIBA, is a five-time world champion besides being a bronze-medallist from the London Olympics. The multiple-time Asian champion could not get an Olympic quota place in either of the two qualifying events for women boxers and is keeping her fingers crossed for a wildcard.
Sonia Lather (57kg) stood just one win away from ending India's six-year-old gold medal drought at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship as she advanced to final after outpunching Kazakhstan's Aizhan Khojabekova in the last-four stage in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday. The 24-year-old Sonia, who is a 2012 Asian Championships silver-medallist, defeated Khojabekova 3-0 to set up a clash with Italian Alessia Mesiano, who got the better of Bulgaria's Denitsa Eliseeva by a similar margin. The lone Indian left in the fray, Sonia was quick off the blocks against her rather sloppy rival. Combining right hooks with power-packed jabs, Sonia threw Khojabekova off balance on more than one occasion. Khojabekova was mostly clueless when it came to defending herself and her feeble attempts at attack were blocked or evaded effortlessly by the quick-thinking Haryana girl. In the end, it was hardly a surprise that judges ruled unanimously in Sonia's favour.
Welcoming Jaishankar, Foreign Minister Wang referred to the Indo-Pak tensions without directly mentioning about India scrapping the Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Sofiane Feghouli's late goal eased the nerves at Valencia's Mestalla as the Spanish club grabbed a 3-1 victory over Monaco in the first leg of their Champions league play-off round tie on Wednesday.
Manchester United were given a troublesome tie against Club Bruges in the draw for the Champions League playoff round on Friday, although it could have been worse as they avoided Lazio, CSKA Moscow or Monaco.
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
The SCO is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO and its membership will help India have a greater say in issues relating to security and defence besides combating terrorism.
Foreign ministry spokesman said no change in China's position in case of non-NPT countries.
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