![]() ![]() To Kipchoge, a good race isn’t merely about the time or the victory. “I always say I don’t call a world record, but I aim to run a good race, be it a world record, be it a personal best, be it a good race,” he said. In press conferences last Saturday and again on Friday, the philosophical Kipchoge declined to issue a world record-or-bust objective. The last seven instances the men’s marathon world record has been broken, it has come in Berlin. New York City is too hilly for fast times. Kipchoge no doubt returned to Berlin - rather than enter November’s New York City Marathon for the first time, which he plans to do in the coming years - because he feels he can bring the record down even further. Over the last decade, he became the unquestioned greatest of all time: wins in 14 of his 16 marathons, the first person to break two hours over the distance (in a non-record-eligible event) and, at his last appearance on the pancake-flat course at the German capital in 2018, took the world record down from 2:02:57 to 2:01:39. A standout on the track (world 5000m champion at age 18), he transitioned to the roads after missing Kenya’s Olympic team in 2012. Kipchoge, a 37-year-old who ran a few miles to and from school as a kid, took a more conventional route to 26.2-mile stardom. Their paths converge somewhat as the top seeds at Sunday’s Berlin Marathon, where Kipchoge might break his world record while D’Amato could lower her American record. Favorite us! Follow 15 days apart in 1984, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and American Keira D’Amato have shown there are multiple routes to marathon success. In the end the race was super hard but we did really well. “I only had to follow, to control and believe in my power. I didn’t think about winning the stage, I just wanted to win the general classification,” Evenepoel said. ![]() Mas is set to finish second in the overall classification with Juan Ayuso, a 19-year-old rider of UAE Team Emirates, completing the podium. The Spaniard only shaved two seconds off Evenepoel’s advantage, which stands at 2 minutes, 5 seconds. But Evenepoel latched onto his wheel and that was the end of Mas’ hopes. Mas made his last attempt to break Evenepoel on the fourth climb up the category-one Puerta de la Morcuera after Movistar had set a hard pace and shed Evenepoel of his teammates. That left Mas as his only real threat over the final days, but the Spaniard was unable to close the gap. His most dangerous challenger was three-time defending champion Primoz Roglic, who was gaining ground until he crashed earlier this week and had to withdraw from the race. The Olympic gold medalist and the 2019 Giro winner also won the 12th and 14th stages.Įvenepoel has held the red jersey since taking the lead in the sixth stage. It was the third stage win of this Vuelta for Carapaz. Richard Carapaz won the 112-mile stage from Moralzarzal to Puerto de Navacerrada that included three category-one climbs in 4 hours, 41 minutes. His first race win as a professional came at age 19 when he won the single-day race in northern Spain. But Evenepoel has rebounded this year, also winning the San Sebastián Classic for a second time in June. “(This is) for Belgium, for my teammates, my family, my fiancee… I have been away so many weeks and months, it is for them.”Įvenepoel had a difficult 2021, abandoning the Giro d’Italia after a crash in the 17th stage, and facing criticism from Eddy Merckx over what the Belgian great said was his unwillingness to ride for the team. It’s actually the first Grand Tour I start healthy. “I’ve been working so hard to come here in the best shape possible. All the critics and the bad comments I received after last year, I think I finally delivered and answered with my pedals,” Evenepoel said. “I don’t know what’s going through my head and my body right now. ![]() While the team leaders will use it to enjoy the end of the grueling event, the sprinters will vie for the stage win.Įvenepoel said that he had finally “delivered” after previous disappointment. The final stage is a flat 60-mile ride from Las Rozas to a finish in Spain’s capital when custom dictates that no rider challenges the pacesetter. He is set to become the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour since 1978 when Johan De Muynck won the Giro d’Italia. Well-supported by his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team, Evenepoel had little trouble ensuring that E nric Mas and the Spaniard’s Movistar team were never able to challenge the two-minute lead he took into the 20th stage in mountains just north of Madrid, where the race ends on Sunday.Įvenepoel burst into tears on crossing the finish line, where he was embraced by his teammates. ![]() Remco Evenepoel all but clinched his first Grand Tour title on Saturday after the 22-year-old Belgian protected his lead in the Spanish Vuelta on the three-week race’s final competitive stage. ![]()
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