SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2016 SPORTS

Croatia, Puerto Rico win in Olympic basketball qualifiers

RIO DE JANEIRO: Italy and Serbia Republic 96-72. The Serbians, who won scored 20 points and Croatia shut down Croatia, which it beat 67-60 in group onds remaining. Backcourt mate J.J. cruised into the championship games of a silver medal two years ago in the Greece star Giannis Antetokounmpo in play. Francisco Cruz scored 20 points for Barea of the Dallas Mavericks also fin- Olympic Qualifying Tournaments on Basketball World Cup, will host Puerto the first semifinal. Dario Saric, a former lot- Mexico, which played the tournament ished with 14 points. Jannis Timma led Friday, moving a win away from a place Rico on Saturday in Belgrade. tery pick of the Philadelphia 76ers, added without top big man Gustavo Ayon. Latvia with 16 points. in the basketball field in Rio. Danilo The three qualifying tournaments are 16 points and eight rebounds. Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets scored determining the final three spots in the Antetokounmpo, the rising Milwaukee BELGRADE, SERBIA SERBIA 96, CZECH REPUBLIC 72 15 points as the Italians beat Mexico 79- Olympics. The semifinals in Manila, Bucks star, was held to nine points. He PUERTO RICO 77, LATVIA 70 Milos Teodosic scored 14 of his 16 54 in Turin. They will face Croatia, which Philippines, are Saturday, when missed all seven 3-point attempts and fin- Renaldo Balkman had a tiebreaking points in the third quarter, helping knocked off Greece, in Saturday’s final. meets Turkey and Canada plays New ished 3 for 14 from the field. follow shot with 1:08 left as the Puerto Serbia outscore the Czechs 51-36 in the Italy hasn’t reached the Olympics Zealand. Ricans ousted previously unbeaten second half. The star guard added six since winning a silver medal in 2004. A look at Friday’s four games: ITALY 79, MEXICO 54 Latvia. assists and three steals as Serbia shot Bogdan Bogdanovic had 21 points and Nicolo Melli scored 14 points for the John Holland scored 15 points and nearly 55 percent. Tomas Satoransky had eight rebounds, Denver Nuggets center TURIN, ITALY Italians, who got 12 from Marco Belinelli, former NBA guard Carlos Arroyo had 14 14 points, seven rebounds and seven Nikola Jokic added 19 points and eight CROATIA 66, GREECE 61 recently traded to the Charlotte Hornets. for Puerto Rico, making a 3-pointer that assists for the Czech Republic. Jan Vesely boards, and Serbia routed the Czech Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets Italy’s victory set up a rematch with provided a five-point lead with 35 sec- chipped in 12 points. —AP Crusaders crush Rebels 85-26 in 13-try rout

WELLINGTON: The Canterbury Crusaders Kieran Read, set the tone when he scored produced a Super Rugby 13-try spectacu- the opening try after 90 seconds. lar, including a Johnny McNicholl hat-trick, “We weren’t happy after last week and to thrash an understaffed Melbourne we wanted to start well and the boys did Rebels 85-26 in Christchurch yesterday. that, spot on,” Whitelock said. The lop-sided encounter kept the seven- Although the Rebels ranks were deci- time champions one point behind the mated by injury and flanker Colby Fainga’a Waikato Chiefs who also collected maxi- was converted into a back to plug a hole in mum points when they whipped the the second half, captain Nic Stirzaker made Queensland Reds 50-5 on Friday and no excuses. ensured the New Zealand conference will “It was a pretty rotten start, a charge go down to the wire. down and a try early and then it was tough Had Richie Mo’unga been at his kicking to stop the rot once it set in. We were pretty best the Crusaders would have been nudg- dreadful and they were exceptional,” he ing 50 points by half-time as they scored said. In addition to McNicholl’s triple, Ryan seven tries in the first 40 minutes to turn Crotty and Codie Taylor both scored two with a 43-7 lead over the injury hit Rebels. tries, while Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Alex They added a further six tries in the second Hodgman, Nemani Nadolo, Pete Samu and half and were threatening competition Matt Todd also crossed the line. records until their relentless scoring pace Mo’unga landed seven conversions and tapered off in the final quarter. Nadolo two. scored the Rebels only try in The Crusaders set the record for the the first half with Reece Hodge, Culum highest score in Super Rugby when they Retallick and Sefa Naivalu scoring after the beat the NSW Waratahs 96-19 in 2002. They break. Jack Debreczeni landed three con- scored a record 14 tries in that match which versions. was equalled by the Central Cheetahs earli- The Crusaders finish off the regular sea- er this year when they beat the Sunwolves son next Saturday hosting the Wellington 92-17. Stung by their loss to the Chiefs last Hurricanes in a rare afternoon match and week, and losing their place at the top of just ahead of the Chiefs’ clash in Dunedin the ladder, the Crusaders were determined against the defending champion Otago BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON: Britain’s , wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium after the eighth stage of to make amends as they thrived on auda- Highlanders. the cycling race over 184 kilometers (114.3 miles) with start in Pau and finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon, France, yesterday. — AP cious offloads against a brittle defence. The Rebels, who are well out of con- Sam Whitelock, in his 100th Super game tention in the Australian conference, play and captaining the side in the absence of the Queensland Reds on Friday. —AFP Froome seizes yellow Classics to blame for ’s Tour drought jersey with solo win BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON: Reigning champion followed by Martin as the peloton broke up diately darted clear on the descent. The LAC DE PAYOLLE: Only the host nation has old. “Classics in Belgium are so big that Chris Froome gave a demonstration of his ver- with few riders able to hang on. chasers seemed to look to each other for direc- produced more Tour de France winners everybody is watching this.” Anyone who’s satility in riding away on a fast descent to take Frenchman and Quintana tion and the Briton was away to win a fifth than Belgium but the northern neighbour been on the route of the Tour of the yellow jersey at the Tour de France yester- both accelerated but neither showed any great stage in eight for his nation. Stephen has now gone 40 years without victory. would attest to that — it is THE sporting day. Renowned for his blistering attacks on commitment to attack. Cummings won Friday’s stage while Mark is considered by many to appointment of the year in Belgium. steep climbs, the Briton stunned his Tour rivals A group of just 14 riders went over the top Cavendish has a hat-trick of sprint stage victo- be the greatest cyclist of all time and his by going clear on a speedy descent to the finish together with 16km to ride and Froome imme- ries. —AFP mark of five Tour victories has been ‘HARD TO DEVELOP’ of the 184km eighth stage from Pau to matched only by Frenchmen Bernard What makes a good classics rider is not Bagneres de Luchon in the Pyrenees. He Hinault and . the same as the proficiency needed to win caught everyone by surprise, commentators Yet since Merckx claimed his fifth crown a . and fans included, with a curious technique in 1974, only , two years Classics riders tend to be big and pow- where he slipped off his saddle and onto the Button needs a later, has managed to bring Tour glory to erful, particularly those who ride the cob- bike’s central bar to gain aerodynamic benefits, Belgium. Ten different Belgians have bles, while a Tour winner needs to be a yet still managing to pedal furiously. No-one in shared 18 Tour wins between them and yet good climber. Good climbers will struggle a select group of 13 challengers reacted quickly it is decades since one last looked capable to make their mark in the junior ranks in competitive car enough and Froome opened up a 13 second of claiming the greatest prize in cycling. Belgium, where there are no races suited to gap by the finish. Ireland’s won the finished third in their capabilities, consequently harming sprint for second from Joaquim Rodriguez of 2010 and fourth in 2012, but that doesn’t their chances of ever making a career in Spain. Froome now leads by 16sec overall from to stay in F1 tell the full story. cycling. “Firstly, we don’t have big moun- young Briton and Rodriguez, while He originally came fifth in 2010 but two tains in Belgium,” added Van Avermaet. “If previous yellow jersey holder Greg Van riders who finished above him-Alberto you do a lot of classics racing when you’re Avermaet finished a long way back. SILVERSTONE: Britain’s Jenson Button, the be a good place to be, or somewhere else is a Contador and -were subse- young, you race like a sprinter. “It wasn’t really planned. I thought I’d give it most experienced driver on the Formula One good place to be, and I can challenge for quently banned for doping and stripped of “It’s hard to develop like a climber-if you a try in the downhill as the few tries on the starting grid, says he needs a competitive car podiums or victories and I will stay. their results. lose a lot of races, it’s also hard to follow climb didn’t work out,” said Sky leader Froome. if he is to stay in the sport for an 18th season. “I only want to be in F1 next year if I feel it In 2012, Van den Broeck finished more the peloton, to stay motivated or to “They (his rivals) were sticking to us so I decid- The 2009 world champion’s future at is going to be competitive and enjoyable. It is than 10 minutes behind , become a professional. “We train technical- ed to give it a go in the descent. It was cool. Honda-powered McLaren, who have not won my decision whether I want to stay in F1 or whose nearest challenger was his own ly on cobbles but we’re not training “Bike racing is just fun, but maybe I spent a a race since his last victory in 2012, is up in do something else. I won’t walk away if I’m team-mate Chris Froome, while Vincenzo enough on climbing. little bit too much energy-tomorrow is a hard the air beyond this year but he has been competitive.” Button said any decision would Nibali briefly looked capable of threaten- “Also we’re not supported from our stage but I take every second I can.” Froome’s linked with a possible return to Williams. not be about money and he would not drive ing, until Wiggins crushed him in the time- country.” The two biggest Belgian stars of main rival finished the stage in “If I am racing next year, I will only be rac- half-heartedly. He finished sixth in last week- trials. As pulled on the recent years were , a cobbled 13th place on the same time as Martin and is ing if I am in a car that is competitive,” the 36- end’s Austrian Grand Prix after starting in coveted yellow jersey at the end of classics specialist, and , who now sixth overall at 23-seconds. Team manager year-old told British reporters at his home third place following grid penalties to Wednesday’s fifth stage, he did so knowing excelled in the Ardennes Classics. praised Froome’s ingenuity and grand prix. Button, whose place at McLaren Mercedes’ championship leader Nico Rosberg he had no chance of holding it all the way But Van Avermaet believes things will said this proved Sky aren’t the boring team looks likely to be taken by Belgian Stoffel and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. to Paris. He battled against the odds to change in Belgium, bit by bit. “We’re trying they’re often made out to be. “Sometimes Vandoorne, has never finished on the podium Williams, who have Mercedes engines, keep it for three days but said it would be now a little bit more to support climbers we’re too predictable so we decided to at Silverstone in 16 attempts and does not have had a podium finish this season with “impossible” to do so after yesterday’s and light guys to be a bit better, to have change things a bit,” he said. expect to be a contender today. Finland’s Valtteri Bottas in Canada but have eighth stage with four categorised climbs. confidence and to come to the Tour and “We mixed the tactics and did something McLaren are on a long road back after a slipped down the championship standings And asked why no Belgian has won the win the Tour,” he added. Who that might be unexpected. Well done Chris! “It’s true that on difficult switch from Mercedes to Honda pow- from third to fourth. race for 40 years, he said it was due to the remains to be seen, but there is no-one on the descent, as an Englishman, I had my heart er units. “I have enjoyed the journey the last Brazilian Felipe Massa is their other driver prefered fare in his country-one-day clas- the horizon for the moment, meaning Van in my mouth, but it worked. year and a half, but there is a point where you and the one whose future at the team is sics. “The most important thing is that Avermaet need simply enjoy his time in yel- “Great credit to Chris, he’s a fighter, he takes feel you have done enough and you can’t uncertain. The top three teams-Mercedes, we’re focused on classics,” said the 31-year- low while it lasts. —AFP chances, he’s a real racer.” It was a bad day for give any more to the project to help it move Ferrari and Red Bull- look certain to retain Spanish two-time former winner Alberto forward,” said Button. their current lineups for 2017 with the latter Contador, who’s still struggling with injuries he “Hopefully, a little further into this season, two already confirming their drivers and only suffered in a crash on the opening stage. He we will see where we are and hopefully it will Rosberg yet to agree an extension. — Reuters finished 1:41 behind Froome and is now more than 3min behind in the overall standings.

BREAKAWAY IMPOSSIBLE With an incredible 51km covered in the first hour of racing it was impossible for a break- away to form. But once the climb of the mon- strous Tourmalet began-the first of four cate- gorised climbs-Frenchman and Rafal Majka of Poland finally got away before German time-trialler breached up to the two climbers. Froome’s Sky were setting the pace at the front of the peloton and Van Avermaet quickly found himself in a group of stragglers going rapidly backwards and seeing the yellow jersey slipping off his shoulders. The Tourmalet took its toll with 2014 champion also dropped and Dane Michael Morkov, who’d been struggling ever since crashing on the opening stage, being forced to abandon, the first rider to quit the Tour this year at an unprecedentedly late stage. The leading trio were brought back 43km from the end, on the penultimate climb as Quintana’s Movistar and Sky took turns setting BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON: (From left) Belgium’s , wearing the best a fierce tempo at the front of the peloton. SILVERSTONE: McLaren Honda’s British driver Jenson Button sits in his car as he waits to climber’s polka dot jersey, Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet, wearing the overall leader’s When the Sky-led peloton reached the final leave the pits during the third practice session during at Silverstone motor racing circuit yellow jersey and Great Britain’s , wearing the best sprinter’s green climb, there were only 30 riders left in the lead in Silverstone, central , yesterday, ahead of tomorrow’s British Formula One jersey wait prior to the start of the 184 km eighth stage of the 103rd edition of the group. Finally, with 17km left, less than 2km Grand Prix. — AFP Tour de France cycling race yesterday between Pau and Bagneres-de-Luchon. — AFP from the climb’s summit, Froome put in a dig,