The port of Marseilles knows all about the perils of making the wrong choice of leader.
Go back a couple of millennia and the fledgling trading post lost out on future prosperity by throwing its support behind Pompey the Great instead of the ultimately triumphant Julius Caesar.
As the Tour de France prepares to leave what is now France’s third largest city on Monday and head into the gutsy marshlands of the Camargue, cycling’s premier event shows that some ancient dilemmas still resonate.
The uneasy truce that exists within the Astana team, where seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong has given his tacit agreement to play second fiddle to chosen leader Alberto Contador, has held through the first two days of this exhausting slog toward Paris…Â Details
Kelly Slater (USA), 37, reigning nine-time ASP World Champion, has claimed the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro over an in-form Adriano de Souza (BRA), 22, in clean three-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at the main site of Praia Vila.
Event No. 4 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Hang Loose culminated in a dramatic finale with perennial ASP World Title threats all pushing one other towards the finish line.
Despite the Brazilian smashing his way out to an early lead, Slater found his form mid-heat with a 9.27 out of a possible 10 for a series of high-risk maneuvers, exhibiting a near-perfect variety of repertoire. Not satisfied with only one high score, Slater nailed the coffin shut with an 8.67 in a dying minutes to secure his 41st ASP World Tour victory…Â Details
England’s Justin Wilson won the IndyCar Grand Prix of Watkins Glen on Sunday, bringing car owner Dale Coyne his first victory in the series after a quarter-century of frustration.
Coyne, a former IndyCar racer who often struggled to sustain a low-budget operation, finally saw one of his drivers take a checkered flag after 557 prior races that ended in frustration.
“It took too long,” Coyne said with a smile.
Wilson, whose only other IndyCar win came last year at Detroit, moved past …Â Details
SNAV OSG recovered from a freak first-lap spin-out to score a sensational victory in Saturday’s Evolution Class Sprint Race at the Italian Grand Prix of the Sea.
The Italians capitalised on their rivals, Cigarette Smash Poker’s, sixth-lap spin-out – notably at the very same southern buoy as the eventual winners – to power to their second win of the 2009 Powerboat P1 World Championship.
Managing the perfect Central Adriatic racing conditions better than the pacy Lucas Oil Outerlimits and Metamarine Pignolo hulls, there was little to separate between Italy’s two premier Evolution Class teams, who were neck-and-neck throughout.
Triumphant SNAV OSG Pilot Giancarlo Cangiano said: ‘It was the most exciting race for me so far this year, particularly as all the boats were …Â Details