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SPORTSFriday 11 September 2015
Roche wins 18th Vuelta stage, Dumoulin keeps lead over Aru
RIAZA, Spain (AP) — Nico- Astana’s Team Fabio Aru, of Italy, speeds to cross the finish line Well, I am exaggerating, turn Aru and company into
las Roche of Ireland won at the end of the 145th stage between Comillas and Sotres Ca- but I touched it and it stung chasers.
the hilly 18th stage of the brales, 175,8 kilometers (109 miles), of the Spanish Vuelta cy- me,” Roche said. “I thought
Spanish Vuelta on Thurs- cling race that finish in Sotres Cabrales, northern Spain, Sunday, it would be bad luck!” “It was a difficult day, but
day, while Dutchman Tom Sept. 6, 2015. Joaquin Rodriguez won the stage. Dumoulin took the lead of I am still in red,” Dumoulin
Dumoulin protected his slim the general classification said. “(Aru) was strong, but
lead over Fabio Aru. Associated Press by erasing a deficit of al- I knew how to keep the red
Dumoulin responded to most two minutes by win- jersey. He spent some en-
Aru’s repeated attacks on have lost many sprints to Roche, son of former cyclist ning Wednesday’s individu- ergy in those attacks, and
the final ascent to keep his him,” Roche said in Span- Stephen Roche, had to be al time trial. when (Davi) Moreno went I
three-second advantage ish. “I tried to go first and to attended by medics for a Back in the peloton on followed his wheel, so I did
over the Itailan with three control the speed, and it wasp sting after the stage. Thursday, Aru’s Astana set the little counterattack.”
days to go until the finish of worked.” “I was afraid of the bug! a hard pace and succeed- The race appears to be
the Grand Tour. ed in shedding Dumoulin down to a two-man con-
“A second for every day,” of his Giant-Alpecin team- test with third-place Joa-
Dumoulin said. “It’s very lit- mates. But Dumoulin stayed quim Rodriguez still 1 min-
tle time and a lot can hap- pegged to Aru’s wheel on ute, 15 seconds behind,
pen in the coming days.” three separate attacks go- and fourth-place Rafal Ma-
Roche beat fellow es- ing up the final category- jka 2 minutes, 22 seconds
capee Haimar Zubeldia in one ascent, while the rest back.
a sprint to the finish line to of the top 10 riders in the Friday’s stage is another
complete the 204-kilometer general classification took rolling 185.5-kilometer (115-
(127-mile) ride from Roa to turns trying their luck only to mile) route from Medina
Riaza in just over five hours. be reeled in. del Campo to Avila.
“Zubeldia is a very strong Feeling fit, Dumoulin even The race ends in Madrid on
and experienced rider, I saved a little spurt to then Sunday.q
U.S.OPEN Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns a shot to Feliciano Lopez, of lems because of weather, Now Halep-Pennetta will
Spain, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis tourna- including five consecutive begin at 11 a.m. Friday,
Continued from page 17 ment, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in New York. men’s finals postponed when the forecast is much
from Sunday to Monday more promising. After that,
Williams is trying to be- Associated Press from 2008-12. Williams will play Vinci,
come the first tennis player As part of a broader, $500 against whom she is 4-0.
since Steffi Graf in 1988 to It created a high-profile pion Marin Cilic, and No. million-plus renovation plan Williams also has enjoyed
earn all four Grand Slam and packed schedule for 2 Roger Federer plays his for the tournament site, plenty of success against
titles in a single season. She Friday, when the men’s Swiss Olympic and Davis the U.S. Tennis Association the women she could meet
won the Australian Open in semifinals already were Cup teammate, No. 5 Stan has been constructing a in the final, should she beat
January, the French Open slotted. In those match- Wawrinka. retractable roof over the Vinci: 6-1 against Halep,
in June and Wimbledon in es, No. 1 Novak Djokovic The U.S. Open has a long main court, Arthur Ashe 7-0 against Pennetta.
July. meets defending cham- history of scheduling prob- Stadium, that is planned for The men’s semifinals will
next year’s U.S. Open. be played afterward, be-
Now the 33-year-old Amer- For now, a framework of ginning no sooner than 5
ican has won her first five more than 6,500 tons of p.m., instead of the origi-
matches at the U.S. Open, steel sits atop that stadium, nally scheduled 3 p.m. First
and needs two more victo- but the work to install the will be Djokovic-Cilic, then
ries to add that champion- retractable panels will re- Federer-Wawrinka.
ship to her 2015 collection. sume after this year’s tour- It all makes for a lineup simi-
The other women’s semifi- nament ends. lar to the U.S. Open’s old
nal moved to Friday from Williams vs. Vinci was sup- Super Saturday schedule,
Thursday is No. 2 Simona posed to be the first wom- when the men’s semifinals
Halep of Romania against en’s semifinal Thursday and women’s final were all
No. 26 Flavia Pennetta of night, followed by the oth- played on the next-to-last
Italy. er. day of the tournament.q
