TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 sports Praise but little fanfare for double champ Froome LONDON: Chris Froome was hailed in the British The Guardian emphasised the role played by British former cyclist David Millar, writing in selves to those with a romantic vision of cycling or press yesterday for completing a historic Tour de Team Sky and said Froome’s dominance of stage The Telegraph, said Froome “would probably doubts over the sport’s ethical issues”. France-Vuelta a Espana double but coverage of his races had “not been seen since Miguel Indurain’s admit deep down that he feels more African than After winning his third Tour de France last feat was relatively low-key. The 32-year-old joins purple patch between 1991 and 1995”. However, British”. In a piece entitled “So, why can’t we year, Froome was surprisingly left off the shortlist Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard The Guardian was the only paper in which warm to Froome?” The Mail’s chief sports writer for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Hinault (1978) as the only riders to win the Tour and Froome’s achievement was the leading sports sto- Matt Lawton said doubts about Sky’s practices The award, voted for by the general public, Vuelta in the same year. But Froome is the first man ry of the day, with football dominating elsewhere. and doping in cycling in general were also held rewards the outstanding performer in British to win both races since the Vuelta was moved to Despite his phenomenal success, the quietly spo- against the rider. Lawton said professional road sport in each calendar year. after the Tour in the racing calendar in 1995. ken Froome has never captured hearts in the same racing was still perceived to take place against a Millar said it would be “criminal” if Froome The Times called it a “monumental achievement” way as his charismatic former Sky team-mate “backdrop of suspicion”. were not shortlisted this year. Froome is current- and The Daily Mirror said he had pulled off “one of Bradley Wiggins. He also highlighted revelations about Wiggins’s ly the second favourite to win the award behind the most outstanding feats in British sporting histo- Explanations for his relative lack of popularity use of therapeutic use exemptions while racing for Britain’s world heavyweight boxing champion ry”. In the eyes of The Daily Telegraph, the four-time range from the fact he was born in Kenya to the dop- Sky and the team’s failure to satisfactorily explain a Anthony Joshua. Tour de France champion now deserves to be con- ing suspicions that continue to swirl around his team. mysterious package that was sent to him during a When asked about his chances of winning this sidered “one of the greats, not simply of cycling but “Raised in Africa, resident in Monaco” was how The 2011 race. The Guardian’s Will Fotheringham wrote: year’s award, Froome told British papers: “I am not of British sport”. Times summed up how Froome is viewed in Britain. “Team Sky have singularly failed to endear them- going to hold my breath.” — AFP NFL NFL results/standings Dallas 19, NY Giants 3; Green Bay 17, Seattle 9; Carolina Packers beat Seahawks 17-9 to 23, San Francisco 3; La Rams 46, Indianapolis 9; Buffalo 21, NY Jets 12; Philadelphia 30, Washington 17; Oakland 26, Tennessee 16; Jacksonville 29, Houston 7; Detroit 35, Arizona 23; Atlanta 23, Chicago 17; Baltimore 20, take NFC heavyweight match Cincinnati 0; Pittsburgh 21, Cleveland 18. American Football Conference GREEN BAY: Green Bay defensive lineman Mike Daniels’ strip Bowl collapse against New England, the Falcons survived as Browns, who gave their rivals all they could handle - a posi- AFC EAST sack of Russell Wilson deep in Seattle territory in the third the Bears had a first down at the Atlanta 5 in the closing tive sign for coach Hue Jackson and Cleveland fans after a W L T OTL PF PA PCT quarter set up Ty Montgomery’s 6-yard touchdown run on minute. Mike Glennon’s pass to a lunging Josh Bellamy on horrid 1-15 season. But the Browns couldn’t stop All-Pro Buffalo 1 0 0 0 21 12 1.000 the next play to spark the Packers’ 17-9 win on Sunday. first down hit off the receiver’s hands, and Jordan Howard wide receiver Antonio Brown, who made a leaping catch in Miami 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Aaron Rodgers was 28 of 42 for 311 yards and added a 32- then dropped a simple catch at the 1. After another incom- traffic for 38 yards with 2:26 left to seal Pittsburgh’s win. New England 0 1 0 0 27 42 0 yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson to make it an eight- pletion on third down, Glennon got sacked by Brooks Reed. Brown finished with 11 receptions for 182 yards. Browns NY Jets 0 1 0 0 12 21 0 point game late in the third quarter. Rodgers’ regular-season Atlanta was clinging to a 13-10 lead early in the fourth when rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer had pulled the Browns streak of passes without an interception ended at a career- a scrambling Ryan fired to a wide-open Hooper near mid- within three on a 3-yard TD pass to Corey Coleman followed AFC North high 251. The Seahawks’ defense reinforced by the return of field. The second-year tight end from Stanford raced up the by a 2-point conversion. The Browns have lost 13 straight Pittsburgh 1 0 0 0 21 18 1.000 safety Earl Thomas bottled up receivers from making many right side and stiff-armed Quintin Demps on the way to the openers. Cleveland’s defense played well despite not hav- Baltimore 1 0 0 0 20 0 1.000 big plays and put plenty of pressure on Rodgers. But the end zone. The Bears then went 75 yards, with Glennon hit- ing top overall pick Myles Garrett, who injured his ankle ear- Cleveland 0 1 0 0 18 21 0 Packers started denting Seattle with runs or quick passes to ting rookie Tarik Cohen for a 19-yard TD midway through the lier this week. Bell, who skipped training camp in a contract Cincinnati 0 1 0 0 0 20 0 Nelson, Randall Cobb and Montgomery in the second half, fourth to cut it to 20-17. Atlanta’s Matt Bryant answered with dispute, ran tentatively and gained just 32 yards on 10 car- chewing up clock in the process. A 12-play, 53-yard drive a 37-yard field goal, making it 23-17. Coming off an MVP sea- ries. He rejoined his teammates last week and signed his AFC South that took up more than five minutes ended with Mason son, Ryan was 21 of 30 for 321 yards and a touchdown. $12.1 million franchise tag, far less than he feels he Jacksonville 1 0 0 0 29 7 1.000 Crosby’s 40-yard field goal to make it a two-score game. Hooper had two catches for 128 yards. deserves. Tennessee 0 1 0 0 16 26 0 Green Bay’s defense had an even better debut. Seattle man- Indianapolis 0 1 0 0 9 46 0 aged just three field goals. Wilson was held to 14 of 27 for PANTHERS 23, 49ERS 3 RAIDERS 26, TITANS 16 Houston 0 1 0 0 7 29 0 158 yards. The Packers held decisive edges in total yardage Cam Newton threw a pair of touchdown passes following Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, (370-225) and first downs (26-12). Green Bay held the ball for San Francisco turnovers and the Carolina defense shut down and Carr won his third straight against Marcus Mariota and AFC West 39 minutes. Kyle Shanahan’s offense in his coaching debut. Newton the Titans in as many years. Amari Cooper caught a TD pass Oakland 1 0 0 0 26 16 1.000 threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Russell Shepard in the as the Raiders made the Titans pay for opening the season Kansas City 1 0 0 0 42 27 1.000 COWBOYS 19, GIANTS 3 first half following a fumble by Brian Hoyer, then a 9-yard with an onside kick they couldn’t recover. Marshawn Lynch LA Chargers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Witten scored the only touchdown while breaking touchdown to Jonathan Stewart in the third quarter after also looked very refreshed after his year away from football. Denver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 the franchise record for yards receiving and the Dallas Luke Kuechly intercepted Hoyer. That helped the Panthers Lynch finished with 18 carries for 76 yards. Giorgio defense shackled a New York offense missing Odell get off to a good start in the season opener following last Tavecchio kicked field goals of 20, 52, 52 and 43 yards in his National Football Conference Beckham Jr. Ezekiel Elliott had a rugged 104 yards rushing year’s disappointing 6-10 finish. Despite the touchdowns, NFL debut. He was signed Friday to fill in for the Raiders’ all- NFC East and another 36 receiving two days after a judge halted his Newton did not look particularly sharp after playing just one time leading scorer and 18-year veteran Sebastian Philadelphia 1 0 0 0 30 17 1.000 six-game suspension over a domestic violence case, series in the preseason as he recovered from surgery to Janikowski, who’s on injured reserve with a bad back.