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Merlier Beats Sprint Rivals for Third UAE Tour Stage Win

The peloton leaving Al Dhafra Walk on the 141km desert run to Liwa © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
The peloton leaving Al Dhafra Walk on the 141km desert run to Liwa © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
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Merlier Beats Sprint Rivals for Third UAE Tour Stage Win

The peloton leaving Al Dhafra Walk on the 141km desert run to Liwa © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
The peloton leaving Al Dhafra Walk on the 141km desert run to Liwa © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Tim Merlier burst past a clutch of top sprinters to secure his third win of the UAE Tour on Saturday, winning the sixth and penultimate stage by a convincing margin.

The 31-year-old Belgian cut through the field from around 150 metres out and opened a 20-metre gap before easing off with his left arm raised in triumph at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater finish line.

In the overall standings, Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates leads his Australian compatriot Ben O'Connor of Decathlon AG2R by 11 seconds, while American Brandon McNulty is third at 13sec.

Only 134 riders set off from the Louvre Abu Dhabi start line Saturday after British veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish pulled out sick.

"He doesn't feel good today, he has some fever," said Astana sports director Dmitry Fofonov. "So we took the decision not to start today because there is hot weather."

Cavendish will be back in action at the Tirreno Adriatico stage race in early March.

Sunday's UAE Tour finale features a 10km climb up Jebel Hafeet mountain which will decide the winner, with Spanish rider Pello Bilbao at 22sec in fifth one of the main men to watch out for.

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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)

South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organizers the mistake will not happen again.

As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" - the official name of North Korea - in French and English.

The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.

South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.

"We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering," it said.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games' organizers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

South Korea's delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.