SPORTS DIGEST:ATHLETICS: Ciara Mageean of Assumption Ballynahinch was among the class acts at the Irish Schools Cross Country championships staged in Cork on Saturday, winning the senior girls race with relative ease from Maire Aine Ní Shuilleabhain of Gael Coláiste Ceatharlach.
John Travers of Inchicore VS won the senior boys race to add to the national junior title won last Sunday.
Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner of Coláiste Íoságain got back to winning ways in the junior girls race.
Roche finishes fourth on final stage of Paris-Nice
CYCLING: Showing strong form after eight hard days of racing, Nicolas Roche yesterday nabbed an excellent fourth place on the final stage of Paris-Nice, adding to previous placings of third, sixth and eighth, writes Shane Stokes.
The 25-year-old Irish road race champion moved from 14th to eleventh overall in the final standings, ending the prestigious event just six seconds off his goal of a top 10 place. He was also seventh in the points classification, this placing reflecting his consistency.
Roche finished as part of a 14 man chase group, three seconds behind the stage winner Amaël Moinard (Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne) and Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). He led out the sprint and looked set to take third place and important bonus seconds, but was passed in the final 50 metres by 2009 Vuelta a España winner Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne).
Final victory went to Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, who sent out a clear signal to his rivals. His two from two score came after he resisted repeated attacks from Valverde and his team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez on the climbs.
The Spaniard finished 11 seconds ahead of Valverde in the overall standings. Roche ended the race one minute and 23 seconds back, and has shown his best early-season form ever. “It is incomparable to other years,” he told The Irish Times. “The result was good and I was pretty steady on the climbs too, so I was happy.
Donovan backs Taylor's form
BOXING: Ulster flyweights Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon got Ireland off to a perfect start over Italy with two wins from the opening two bouts of last night's second leg meeting at the Donegal Celtic club in Belfast.
But 2010 Irish senior finalist Derek Thorpe lost out to Azzuri bantamweight Vittorio Parrinello as the Italians reduced the deficit to 2-1 with nine bouts remaining. Barnes hammered Alex Ferramosca 17-2 and Conlon beat Vincenzo Picardi 12-7. Ireland beat the Italians 7-5 over 12 bouts at the National Stadium in Dublin on Friday night when Eric Donovan, John Joe Nevin, Tyrone McCullagh, Ray Moylette, John Joe Joyce, Darren O’Neill and Con Sheehan were in the ring.
Irish senior champion Donovan has backed Katie Taylor to return to winning ways following her shock defeat to 2006 world champ Sofya Ochigava in the Czech Republic on Friday. “Losing will take the pressure of trying to maintain her unbeaten run off her and I have no doubt that she will be back twice as strong.”
Four internationals for Kinsale
SAILING: Kinsale Yacht Club has confirmed that it will host four international sailing events this summer when a series of fleets are expected to hold stop-overs at the West Cork venue from early-June, writes David Branigan.
The fully-crewed Round Britain and Ireland Race and the annual Figaro single-handed Race are both expected to have at least 50 boats in June and August respectively.
The start of the Triangle Race that leaves Devon for Ireland and then France, before completing its 620-mile course, will clash with the biennial Round Ireland Race that begins in Wicklow on June 20th.
The Clipper Round the World Race that originally started from Humber last September with 10 boats will also be hosted by Kinsale in the first week of July, shortly before completing its circumnavigation back in Humberside.
Victory for champion Nadal
TENNIS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Germany's Rainer Schuettler.
The Spaniard will now meet Mario Ancic, with the unseeded Croatian having struggled past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic survived a disastrous second set to defeat Mardy Fish 6-1 0-6 6-2.
The world number two had five double faults before winning.
Two out of two for Evans and Walsh
MOTOR SPORT:Welsh driver, Mel Evans (Subaru WRC) and his co-driver, Patrick Walsh continued their unblemished victory in this season's Dunlop National Rally Championship with a 20 second victory in the McWilliam Park Hotel Mayo Rally, the second round.
Replicating their performance of the first round in Nenagh, the Welsh pair led the Claremorris-based event from start to finish. Maynooth’s, Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally, also in a Subaru, finished second.
Reigning Billy Coleman award winner, Craig Breen (Ford Fiesta S2000) and co-driver, Dai Roberts, were 21 seconds further adrift in third. The expected challenge from Derek McGarrity never materialised as he slid off on a gravel surface that propelled his Subaru up a bank where it slipped on to its side and out of the rally.
At the completion of the opening loop, Evans led Barrett by six seconds with Breen seven seconds further behind. Although Evans stretched his advantage to 14 seconds by the fourth stage, he lost time on the other stages. That, coupled with a devastating display from Barrett, brought the margin down to a single second in favour Evans. Meanwhile, Breen was fortunate to survive a brush with the Mayo scenery and Aaron MacHale (Ford Focus WRC) retired.
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