CYCLING:SPANISH RIDER Fran Ventoso (Movistar Team) was best in yesterday's sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia, taking a large bunch sprint into the town of Fiuggi.
He marked Italian rider Danilo Di Luca (Katusha) when he accelerated on the uphill finish, then powered by to hit the line ahead of stage-two victor Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre ISD).
Overnight race leader Pieter Weening (Rabobank) finished in the same group and preserved his two-second overall lead ahead of HTC Highroad riders Kanstantsin Sivtsov and Marco Pinotti.
General classification favourites Vincenzo Nibali, Michele Scarponi and Alberto Contador are all in the top 10 and perfectly placed heading into today’s uphill finish at the top of the second-category Santuario di Montevergine. At 1,253 metres, it is by no means the hardest climb in the race, but may provide indications as to who is in form in advance of Sunday’s more crucial showdown.
Philip Deignan rolled in five minutes back yesterday and is 23 minutes 58 seconds back overall.
In other news, four British teams have been announced for the An Post Rás, which begins on Sunday week in Dunboyne. The 2009 race winner Simon Richardson will compete with the Sigma Sport, joining forces with Dutch climber Wouter Sybrandy. The Motorpoint squad showed its strength in the recent Tour of Ulster, where Pete Williams won two stages plus the overall classification. His team-mate James Sampson was third and both will be part of their five-man squad.
The previously-victorious Rapha Condor Sharp team is also returning, and will include English riders Dean Downing and Ben Greenwood, while the fourth team is the smaller Forme-Procycliste-Sanlamere set-up.
The race will be preceded each day by the Race the Rás initiative, which will see 50 current and former GAA personalities ride the route, with 100 amateurs. The group includes three-time All-Star Seán Óg Ó hÁilpín, Galway’s Ollie Canning, Waterford’s Dan Shanahan and former Mayo and Roscommon football manager John Maughan, and is raising money for the Irish Cancer Society and Goal. Donations are welcome at racetheras.com or at any Ulster Bank branch.
FIXTURES – Saturday: Red Hand Trophy, 11am from Broughshane community centre. Sunday: Shay Elliott Memorial, 11am, Bray Wheelers Clubhouse; Waller Cup, Bohermeen, 11am; Trek women's Classic league, Bohermeen, 11am; North Down GP, starts from Donaghadee RFC, 10.15; O'Keeffe/O'Leary Memorial, Whitechurch; Connacht RR league; IVCA Kentstown CP, 9.15.
