LES HERBIERS, FRANCE // Alberto Contador will seek to make light of the energy spent winning a gruelling Giro d'Italia in May to secure one of the most prestigious doubles in cycling history.
Although the Tour de France is considered the world's premier cycling event, the Giro d'Italia can at times be more difficult. Winning one after the other is a feat achieved only seven times.
Barely a month after securing his second pink jersey at the Italian race, Contador lines up today aiming for a fourth success on the Tour de France. If successful, the Spaniard would become the first rider since the deceased Italian climber Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both events.
Not many cyclists possess the physical, as well as mental, capacities to achieve the feat. But from the current generation, Contador is the best candidate.
"When you're at Contador's level it becomes possible," said Marc Madiot, the sporting director of the FDJ team. "Everything depends on whether he has really dipped into his reserves at the Giro."
In this year's Giro, regarded as one of the most gruelling of recent times, Contador finished over six minutes ahead of the second-placed Italian Michele Scarponi.
"Right now, I am tired and I would just like to enjoy my victory," Contador said after stepping off the Milan podium on May 29.
Lionel Marie, Garmin's sporting director, said he thinks that Contador left the Giro "with plenty still left in the tank".
Alain Gallopin, RadioShack's sporting director, said: "The Giro course was harder than last year's, but ultimately the race was easy [for Contador] because the harder you make the course, the easier it is to control."
Not all are convinced.
"Even though Contador looked as though he coasted through the Giro, it leaves its mark on you," said John Lelangue, the BMC manager. "I think he will feel those effects at some point."
But most agree that when it comes to stage races the Spaniard is untouchable.
"To me, it seems impossible to be competitive for two grand tours in succession, but we're talking about Contador here," said Stephane Heulot, Saur-Sojasun's manager.
Thor Hushovd and Matt Goss are among the favourites to take possession of the yellow jersey today when the first of 21 stages opens the Tour. Dispensing with the opening prologue which, in recent years, has opened the Tour and handed the lead to a time-trial specialist, organisers this year have opted to "shake up" the race in the first week.
Stage one, held over 191.5km from Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes, is flat for the first 120km before yielding to rolling hills. A series of five roundabouts in the last 5km is likely to split the field, which will be further reduced on the steady climb towards the finish. It is designed to reward a sprinter who can climb, or a climber who has a good finishing sprint, ruling out all but a select few.
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Lampedusa: Gateway to Europe
Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
Results
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.
6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.
6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m
Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m
Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.
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Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
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Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
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Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
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Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
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Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
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