Spain's Satre Wins Tour de France
Sunday, July 27, 2008

Spain's Sastre wins Tour de France
Story Highlights
Spain's Carlos Sastre clinches victory in cycling's Tour de France
Cadel Evans of Australia and Austria's Bernhard Kohl finish second and third
Gert Steegmans wins the prestigious final stage on the Champs-Elysees
Sastre took command of the race on Wednesday's stage to Alpe d'Huez
Credit Agricole say Dmitri Fofonov tested positive for banned stimulant
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(CNN) -- Spain's Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France for the first time as he safely negotiated the 21st and final stage into Paris which was won by Gert Steegmans of the Quick Step team.
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CSC's Sastre, at 33 the oldest maiden winner of the Tour, finished 58 seconds clear of Cadel Evans of Australia with Austria's Bernhard Kohl claiming the final place on the podium.
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Gerolsteiner's Kohl, one of the revelations of the race, won the polka dot King of the Mountains prize, with Oscar Freire of Spain donning the green jersey of points winner.
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Sastre, who becomes the third Spanish rider in a row to win cycling's most prestigious race, effectively sealed victory with his fine performance in Saturday's 53 kilometer time trial where he easily countered the challenge of Evans.
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"I've dreamt of this since I was a child," said Sastre, who was surrounded by his wife and two children, Claudia and Yeday at the presentations.
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"I'm beyond words, to be here with my family is really special."
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He had taken the lead in the three-week race with an epic victory on the stage to Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday, forging clear of the main contenders while Evans gave chase in vain.
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As the peloton headed into Paris on the 143-kilometer stage from Etampes, Sastre cruised alongside his team car and was handed a glass of champagne by his CSC team boss Bjarne Riis, himself a former Tour winner.
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Once the bunch hit the Champs Elysees, the pace and intensity of the racing increased as riders looked for one final chance to grab stage glory in front of the massive crowds in the French capital.
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After several breakaway attempts were reeled in by the bunch, it all came down to a dash for the line in the final kilometer, with Steegmans, given a perfect lead out by his teammates, taking the final honors.
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He had to hold off a late charge by Gerald Ciolek of the Columbia team, with the consistent Freire in third place.
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Sastre, surrounded by teammates, was content to cruise in just behind the main group, conceding seven seconds to Evans, to make the margin of victory less than a minute for the second year in a row.
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Fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador was unable to defend his title because his new Astana squad was barred from the Tour because of doping misdemeanors by former team members.
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The issue of doping also cast a shadow over this year's race with the Credit Agricole team announcing on the final day that Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant.
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Three other riders were thrown out of the Tour for doping: Riccardo Ricco of Italy, and Spanish riders Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.
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Sastre's CSC team topped the team classification and had further cause for celebration as Luxembourg's Andy Schleck won the white jersey for the highest placed rider aged 25 and under.
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Schleck's older brother Frank finished in sixth place overall having initially taken the yellow jersey from Evans -- conceding it to Sastre on the Alpe d'Huez.

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 9:50 PM, ,


No injuries as 4 bombs rock northern Spain
Story Highlights
Two explosions occurred near the large northern city of Santander
There were no immediate reports of any injuries
Caller claiming to represent ETA called authorities Sunday morning with warning

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Four bombs went off in northern Spain Sunday after a warning from a caller claiming to represent the Basque separatist group ETA, CNN's partner station CNN Plus reported.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries.

After the warning call, the police cordoned off the targeted areas. The first explosion occurred near a beach in the town of Laredo. A short time later, a second bomb went off in nearby Noja, CNN Plus reported.

The Associated Press reported that another bomb detonated earlier outside a bank in the northern town of Getxo, damaging a cash dispenser. An hour later, a fourth explosion occurred at a golf course close to Noja.

A caller claiming to represent ETA called authorities Sunday morning warning that four bombs were set to go off in and around Laredo, near the large northern city of Santander.

ETA has routinely targeted tourist destinations in northern Spain during summer months. The blasts have rarely caused injuries but have often resulted in disruptions.

ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths and thousands of injuries during its violent campaign since 1968. The European Union and the United States list it as a terrorist group.

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 11:32 PM, ,



Spain hails Nadal as sporting 'giant'
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spaniards are celebrating their country's second sporting triumph in a week after Rafael Nadal won his first Wimbledon tennis men's singles title.
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Nadal held off a stunning fightback from five-times champion Roger Federer to secure a dramatic victory in a marathon five-set final, just one week after Spain beat Germany to win the Euro 2008 football championship.
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Spanish newspapers said Monday the "epic" match had turned Nadal "into a giant" as he became the first Spanish man to win Wimbledon since 1966.
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Spain's largest-circulation newspaper, El Pais, said in an editorial that the first decade of the new century was shaping up to be another stellar period for Spanish sports. As well as victories for Nadal and the Spanish football team, Spaniards have also won the Tour de France in the past two years (after other cyclists were disqualified or sent home) and have a good start in this year's Tour.
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El Pais compared this to another golden era, the 1990s, when Spaniard Miguel Indurain was a five-time Tour de France winner, Spaniards won 22 medals at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and there was winning play at the Roland Garros tennis tournament in France and the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
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Various newspapers predicted this would be only the first of many Wimbledon victories for Nadal, who has become a dominant force on clay at Roland Garros but until Sunday could not beat Federer on the grass at Wimbledon.
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"The hero of Wimbledon," headlined El Mundo, noting that he's the Spanish tennis player with the most Grand Slam victories. "King of the Grass," wrote newspaper ABC.
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The newspaper Publico wrote, in an allusion to an advertising campaign featuring Nadal, that "being Spanish is no longer an excuse, but a responsibility."
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The marathon finals match at Wimbledon had an 18.4 percent TV audience share in Spain, with more than 2 million viewers.
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Very healthy, but not nearly the 80 percent share, and 14.5 million viewers, that the Spanish football team had a week earlier when winning the European Championship.
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Nadal triumphed 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 in fading light in the longest men's final in Wimbledon history, as the French Open champion prevented top seed Federer from becoming the first man in history to win six successive titles.
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The second seed's four hour, 48 minute triumph means he becomes only the third man in the Open era -- after Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg -- to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.
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As well as becoming the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in 1966, Nadal also avenges his defeats to Federer in the last two finals and puts an end to the Swiss star's grass-court run of 65 consecutive wins.

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 2:31 PM, ,