Sports Digest

A round-up of the other sports news of the day in brief...

Armstrong places third in Tour of Luxembourg

CYCLING:Lance Armstrong avoided trouble, at least on the road, to finish third overall at the Tour of Luxembourg yesterday, a podium place the American was happy with given his low-key season so far.

The seven-times Tour de France champion was less happy with one fan who heckled him after he crossed the line behind the main pack. Organisers had stopped timing with some 10 kms remaining after torrential rain and storms disrupted the final stage. “Liar, cheat,” one fan yelled as Armstrong was talking to reporters.

The American looked over to the crowd and barked at the fan three times: “Come and do that to my face,” Armstrong, who has never tested positive in his career, was accused last month of doping by his former team-mate Floyd Landis.

The 38-year-old shook off the incident and said he was pleased with his efforts on the road. “It’s been a good four days. I felt strong. Four days beautiful, and then in one hour, boom,” he said.

The Texan was making up for lost time with his season hampered by illness and a crash at last month’s Tour of California. “Any time you can win a race, be on a podium, in preparation it’s important. I wouldn’t have thought I would ride so strong this week.”

The Tour of Luxembourg is a far cry from next month’s Tour de France, but Armstrong will step up his preparations with the more demanding Tour of Switzerland from June 12th-20th.

Impressive return for Roche

CYCLING: Nicolas Roche made an impressive return to racing yesterday, netting fourth in the GP Canton d'Argovie in Switzerland, writes Shane Stokes.

The Irish road race champion finished with five other riders, coming in just behind the winner Kristof Vandewalle (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator).

Emanuele Sella (CarmioOro-NGC) and Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo) were second and third in the gallop to the line.

“The race was very hard, but I had good legs,” Roche said afterwards.

“I was a bit short in the sprint. We were all one by one.”

Roche was sidelined from racing for a month due to a torn hamstring incurred in the Tour de Romandie. He will next compete in the Tour of Switzerland, which starts next weekend. A good performance there should secure his place on the AG2R La Mondiale team for the Tour de France.

Gillick suffers slight setback

ATHLETICS: David Gillick’s preparations for next month’s European Championships suffered a minor setback over the weekend when he withdrew from the Rabat International meeting in Morocco due to illness. Gillick was set for his first outdoor 400-metres of the season but decided to postpone that until Thursday where he still hopes to compete in the Rome Diamond League meeting.

There was better news for David McCarthy from Kildare when he secured the 800m qualifying for the Europeans when winning the Irish Milers Club race in Tullamore in 1:48.18, just inside the 1:48.20 standard for Barcelona.

In the 1,500 metres, Paul Robinson ran 3:46.83 and Darren McBrearty 3:47.15, both inside the standard for next month’s World Juniors in Canada.

But there was disappointment for Mark Kenneally in his quest to secure the 10,000-metres qualifying when he clocked 29:36.48 at the European Cup in Marseille, well outside the desired 28:30.0.

Contador opens well in Dauphine

CYCLING: Alberto Contador wasted no time in showing he was ready for his big event of the year, the Tour de France, when he won the 6-kms prologue of the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday.

Ahead of what is often considered a dress rehearsal for the world’s biggest race, the two-times Tour champion outclassed the rest of the field in eight minutes and 34 seconds.

It’s unbelievable to win here,” said the Spaniard.

Nagel edges out O'Connor

EQUESTRIAN: Meath-based Cian O’Connor made his weekend journey to St Gallen pay off when finishing second in yesterday’s Grand Prix on Michael Smurfit’s K Club Lady.

Members of the Irish team which finished fourth in Friday’s FEI Meydan Nations’ Cup at the five-star Swiss show, O’Connor and the 11-year-old Holstein mare were one of 12 combinations through to the second phase of the competition and were the first of just three on a zero score to take on the shortened track.

O’Connor went for a careful clear and left all the fences intact in 53.73. Last to go, the German rider Carsten-Otto Nagel made the most of his favourable draw on Corradina to go clear in 50.98 for first place. Cork-born Billy Twomey finished fourth.

Evans roars to victory in Adare

MOTOR SPORT: Welsh driver Mel Evans in his Suburu WRC claimed the Adare-based Circuit of Munster Rally, round six of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

He had 20 seconds to spare over series leader Niall Maguire, with Kevin Barrett, a further 30 seconds behind in third completing a Subaru top three.

A closely contested opening stage resulted in Evans and Kevin Barrett sharing the lead, while Daragh ORiordan (Subaru) was two seconds behind and a mere second ahead of Maguire, who then moved from fourth to first after the second stage.

Whikle Maguire retained his Dunlop championship lead, Evans has closed to within eight points.

The Group N category was won by Eamonn Daly (Mitsubishi), while Ed Synan (Escort) was first the Modified category.