The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame got under way today in Olympia, Greece, with the lighting of the flame at an official ceremony outside the famed Temple of Hera.
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In St Andrews, the march of time and golfers goes hand in hand. Throughout the year, the starter will call a fresh party of players to the tee every ten minutes – and send them on their way round a links course where the game has been played since the early 1400s. The first three stages through the Pyrenees haven’t yielded the clear leader most of us were hoping for. Instead, the 31 second lead held by Andy Schleck has been erased, and Alberto Contador now holds an 8 second lead. Since my last post, both Denis Menchov (2 minutes back) and Samuel Sanchez (2 minutes 13 seconds back) have been able to close the gap on the leaders. At the British Open, it pays to stick to the rules – as Ian Woosnam famously learned the hard way in 2001. Though not too many rounds of golf will ever have erupted into fisticuffs, this most gentlemanly of games needs its rules no less than the most rudely physical of sports. Golf’s first rules, the Thirteen Articles, were devised in 1745 by the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, now the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Some of the originals have scarcely changed, with particular reference to the 12th Article – “He whose Ball lyes farthest from the Hole is obliged to play first.” Can Tiger Woods return to golf glory by winning his third consecutive British Open title at St. Andrews? Is Ian Poulter poised to earn his first major title? What about Lee Westwood or Ernie Els earning the crown of the sport’s oldest major championship? Will Tom Watson or Nick Faldo come from yesterday for one more hurrah? These storylines and more begin playing out Thursday when the British Open tees off at the home of golf in Fife, Scotland. The sorting continues in the Alps with only 2 riders left within 2 3/4 minutes of the lead. Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador shattered the rest of the contenders on the final climb of the day. Though they did not sprint for the stage win, the two caught the breakaway within a kilometer of the finish, leaving all the other contenders spread across the mountain. Cadell Evan’s, who started the day in yellow, lost over 8 minutes, not only ending his hope for a victory, but probably ending all hope for a podium finish. Baseball’s Midsummer Classic returns to Anaheim Tuesday for the third time since the All-Star Game began in 1933, but the event has changed quite a bit since the city first hosted the exhibition (in 1967 when the NL won in dramatic fashion on a Tony Perez home run in the 15th inning). Today was a sad day in the history of the Tour de France. Bad luck and age caught up with Lance Armstrong today to leave him 13′26″ off the lead. Compounding his trouble on the cobbles in stage 3, Lance fell 3 times today and at age 38, he just didn’t have the gas to rejoin the leaders. Regardless of the falls, Lance really didn’t have what it took to keep pace on the climb as teams Sky and Astana held a fast tempo up the high mountains. The other contenders, Contador, Evans, Schleck and Menchov were able to stay together. Notably, Lance’s teammate Levi Leipheimer was able to stay with the leaders, and leave team Radio Shack with a shot at the podium. The 2010 Tour de France had a rough and tumble couple of stages. Stage 2 wasn’t expected to be much trouble, but the slick descents caused Andy Schleck and Christian Vandevelde to fall and lose ground on the other GC contenders. In response, Andy’s teammate Fabian Cancellera slowed down the entire peloton and prevented the bunch sprint as a kind of protest against the tour organizers, and allowing Andy to rejoin the group. Christian was out a a result of broken ribs suffered on the fall. |
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