Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Monday 25 SepteMber 2017

Sagan becomes 1st man to win 3 straight world road titles

BERGEN, Norway (AP) — Italy but the pair was ulti- will be suited to climbers.
Peter Sagan ended a year mately reined in. “I want to dedicate this to
of mixed fortunes on a high Sagan said he thought Michele Scarponi,” said Sa-
note by becoming the first until the final kilometers gan, referring to the former
man to win three straight that the breakaway riders Giro d’Italia winner who
world road race titles. would not be caught by died in a training accident
The colorful rider from Slo- the bunch. earlier this year. “Because
vakia defended his crown “In the end, it came to a he would have had a birth-
on Sunday after holding off sprint and it was unbeliev- day tomorrow. It was a very
Norwegian Alexander Krist- able,” Sagan said. “Kristoff sad story this year.”
off in a sprint finish at the is racing at home, and I’m Sagan, who was excluded
road world championships sorry for that, but I’m happy from the Tour de France in
in Norway. to win again.”Sagan be- July for elbowing British rival
Sagan was unnoticed dur- came the fifth rider in his- Mark Cavendish during a
ing most of the 267.5-kilo- Peter Sagan of Slovakia displays his gold medal after winning tory to win three road world sprint, also dedicated his
meter (166-mile) race. He the Men’s Elite Road Race at the UCI 2017 Road World Champi- titles, joining Alfredo Binda, win to his wife. The crash
perfectly timed his final ef- onship, in Bergen, Norway, Sunday Sept. 24, 2017. Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy forced Cavendish to aban-
Associated Press
fort, powering to the front Merckx and Oscar Freire. don the race with a broken
in the final straight. Aus- It’s unlikely that he will com- shoulder.“We are expect-
tralia’s Michael Matthews philippe tried to go for a acceleration on the final pete for a fourth consecu- ing a baby,” Sagan said.
was third. solo win in the final 10 ki- climb of Salmon Hill. He was tive title next year in Austria “It’s a very nice end of the
Frenchman Julian Ala- lometers after a sudden joined by Gianni Moscon of as the course in Innsbruck season.”q
WNBA basketball final

Continued from page 18 great comeback it was, started.
but that’s not the world we They led 12-0 when Gray
live in,” Lynx coach Cheryl knocked down a 3-pointer
Parker added 15 points Reeve said. and pushed the lead to
and 12 rebounds for the “That means absolutely 28-2 later in the first quarter.
Sparks, who joined their nothing to us.” The Lynx started chipping
NFL brethren by sitting out The Sparks beat the Lynx away, trimming the deficit
the national anthem. The in a five-game thriller last to 10 points at halftime and
Sparks led 28-2 in the first season, and Game 1 had getting Parker, Nneka Og-
quarter and 78-66 with five plenty of fireworks even wumike and Alana Beard
minutes to play, but gave before the opening tip. into foul trouble.
it all back after a charge With the Lynx locking arms Moore’s defense in the
from the Lynx. in solidarity, the Sparks fourth jumpstarted a 12-0
Maya Moore scored 27 quickly left the Williams burst that she capped with
points and Sylvia Fowles Arena court just before a steal and layup to tie the
had 22 points and 13 re- “The Star Spangled Ban- game at 78 and Seimone
bounds for the Lynx, who ner” began to play, joining Augustus hit a 3 for an 82-
roared back from that hundreds of NFL players 81 lead with 50 seconds to
26-point hole to take an in opposition to President go.
84-83 lead with 6.5 sec- Donald Trump’s call for NFL Moore’s dash to the buck-
onds to play. owners to fire players who et put the Lynx in front with
A victory would have been do not stand for the na- 6.5 seconds to play, but
the largest playoff come- tional anthem. that was plenty of time for
back in WNBA history, but As soon as the song was Gray. Los Angeles Sparks center Candace Parker (3) protects the ball
Minnesota could not get over, they returned to a She used an escape drib- against Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore (23) in the first half
one last stop. chorus of boos and then ble to create a little day- of Game 1 in the WNBA basketball final, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017,
“I know everyone is go- made another emphatic light, and her high-arching in Minneapolis.
ing to talk about what a statement once the game jumper splashed through.q Associated Press