Belgian Van Eetvelt Hits the Heights to Claim UAE Tour

UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
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Belgian Van Eetvelt Hits the Heights to Claim UAE Tour

UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Belgium's Lennert Van Eetvelt produced a dramatic summit finish on Jebel Hafeet to claim the final stage and overall victory in the UAE Tour on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Lotto rider powered clear around two kilometres from the line to take the 161km seventh stage by 22 seconds from Pello Bilbao and Ben O'Connor, AFP reported.

With a 10 sec time bonus Van Eetvelt shot to the top of the overall standings, two seconds ahead of Australia's O'Connor, with Bilbao completing the podium.

O'Connor's compatriot, UAE Team Emirates' Jay Vine began the day in the lead but his hopes bit the dust in the closing climb.

"I was expecting a difficult stage," Van Eetvelt said, adding that he had been able to stay on the wheels of the leaders.

"Then when we began the climb I told myself I had to give my all.

"I couldn't be happier," beamed the rider who was adding this to a race win in Mallorca last month.

Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year, making his Grand Tour debut in the Vuelta a Espana where he came in 32nd overall.



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.