MADRID // Carlos Sastre's victory in the Tour de France was the best possible consolation for being barred from competing in the race, according to last year's winner Alberto Contador.
The Spaniard said: "As I was unable to defend my yellow jersey, the best thing that could happen is for a compatriot to win the race."
Contador, who finished ahead of Cadel Evans to win the 2007 Tour, was unable to defend his crown after his Astana team were not invited to compete in the race because of their previous involvement in doping scandals.
Contador, who joined the revamped Astana outfit at the start of the season, won this year's Giro d'Italia after having to make a sudden change in his planning after receiving a late invitation to ride in the race.
Contador said he was delighted that Sastre had made it three wins in a row for Spain on the Tour, a run begun by Oscar Pereiro in 2006.
"I'm especially pleased that Carlos Sastre is going to win it because he has spent his whole career improving one step at a time," he said.
The foundation for Sastre's triumph came with his thrilling attack on the Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday which resulted in a stage win.
Contador added: "In Alpe d'Huez, Sastre was valiant enough to attack from the bottom of the climb and now he has produced the time trial performance of his life."
* Reuters
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
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Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
