A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Gilbert bounces back from disappointment to take gold
CYCLING:The 2011 world number one Philippe Gilbert bounced back from a disappointing season in dramatic fashion yesterday, blasting clear of the leading group in the final ascent of the Cauberg climb and soloing to the finish to become cycling's Elite world champion.
The Belgian hit the line four seconds clear of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) while Alejandro Valverde (Spain) just about held off the chasers for bronze.
Ireland’s Dan Martin was aggressive at the start of the final lap, going clear in a breakaway group. These were however brought back and while he and Nicolas Roche were going well, they were gapped slightly on the final climb.
They finished 17 seconds back in 33rd and 34th respectively. Earlier, Ryan Mullen was best of the Irish in the junior race, placing 88th.
The best Irish performance of the weekend was Sam Bennett’s superb 10th place in Saturday’s under-23 road race. In fact, he felt he might have won the sprint for gold, but burned up important energy on the last lap after being delayed.
Impressive Frampton stops Molitor in the sixth round
BOXING:Carl Frampton is on the cusp of a major title shot after blasting out former world champion Steve Molitor to retain his IBF inter-continental and commonwealth super- bantamweight in Belfast on Saturday night.
The former Irish elite champion, nickanmed “The Jackal”, floored the Canadian in rounds three and four.
The ref waved it off 2:21 into the sixth round after the Ontario southpaw staggered back on to his feet after going down under another flurry of punches.
Saturday’s stoppage, amid an electric atmosphere at the Odyssey Arena, improves the unbeaten Belfast orthodox to 15-0, with 10 of those wins arriving inside the distance.
The emphatic nature of the victory over a quality a opponent marks out Frampton, who boxes out of Barry McGuigan’s stable, as a serious world title contender.
“Carl showed immense strength and power,” McGuigan said.
“He’s a powerhouse at super- bantamweight and there aren’t many guys in the world that can live with him.”
Duffy in a race to be fit in time for Cup
RUGBY:Connacht captain Gavin Duffy is in a race against time to be fit for his side's start to their second Heineken Cup campaign.
The fullback picked up a hamstring injury in the opening half of his side’s disappointing 27-17 loss in Glasgow on Friday night.
Coach Eric Elwood said that the extent of the injury had to be assessed but he feared that Duffy (31) could be out for a few weeks.
“We could be without Gavin for a few weeks. We need to establish the extent of it but he was in a fair bit of bother when he came off,” Elwood said. “Hopefully, it is not that serious but we need to wait and see.”
Connacht will open their Heineken Cup campaign on Saturday fortnight away to Zebre.
Elwood is hopeful that two of his big summer signings, Dan Parks and South African winger Danie Poolman, will finally make their debuts as they head into two Irish derbies on the back of another fruitless encounter.
Connacht host Heineken Cup champions Leinster on Friday night before travelling to Ulster the following weekend.
Breen records two victories in Barcelona
EQUESTRIAN:Hickstead-based Irish show jumper Shane Breen rode two winners in Barcelona yesterday, taking the day's featured speed class on Richard Davenport's 10-year-old Kannan mare Ominerale Courcelle.
Earlier, the Tipperary native landed the two-phase competition with his own Oldenburg stallion Balloon, a nine-year-old by Balou de Rouet.
On Saturday, Co Down’s Conon Swail won the speed class with Karl-Hennik Heimdahl’s eight-year-old mare Martha Louise.
Bertram Allen’s good run in the two-star classes in Vienna continued yesterday when the 17-year-old Wexford rider finish fifth in the 1.45m jump-off class, while Denis Lynch riding Night Train placed second in Saturday’s speed derby.
Australia too strong for Ireland
HOCKEY:A week ahead of the team hosting the Champions Challenge in Dublin, Ireland went down 3-0 to Australia in a warm-up game yesterday, in which UCD's Brenda O'Flannery made her debut.
Two goals from Emily Smith and another from Jodie Schulz settled the game, which Australia led by a single goal at half-time, Chloe Watkins and Anna O’Flanagan both going close to putting Ireland on the scoreboard.
Ireland open their campaign against South Africa on Saturday, meeting Scotland on Sunday before completing the pool phase of the tournament against the United Sates on Tuesday week. Australia, India, Belgium and Wales make up the other pool.
On the club front, UCD, badly hit by players on international duty, opened the defence of their Leinster League title with two draws, 3-3 against Pembroke Wanderers on Saturday and a scoreless draw against Corinthian yesterday. Railway Union, Loreto and Hermes all made it two wins out of two, Loreto top-scoring with a 6-0 win over North Kildare.
