Mads Pedersen collected his second stage win of this year's Vuelta a Espana but there was plenty of drama in a frantic finish in Tomares.
Three-time reigning champion Primoz Roglic looked set to gain huge ground on leader Remco Evenepoel when he attacked in the final kilometres.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team positioned themselves at the front with 10km remaining of Tuesday's 188km flat stage from Sanlucar de Barrameda in Andalucia.
Yet it was Roglic's Jumbo-Visma who ended up better placed to launch an attack in the final sprint and that proved to be the case when the Slovenian opened up a gab with just under 3km remaining.
Pedersen and Pascal Ackermann followed hot on Roglic's tail while Evenepoel's frustration was compounded by a puncture, but there was more drama to come.
Danny van Poppel and Fred Wright had joined the lead group, and it was the latter who played a pivotal role in an incident that might well ensure Evenepoel wins his maiden Grand Tour title.
With just 100 metres remaining, Roglic made way for the powerful Pedersen and, as he moved back in, clipped Wright at the rear of the group, landing hard onto the road.
He was able to finish the race with the help of his team but looked in huge distress, with a nasty gash to his right knee. Evenepoel finished over three minutes further back. However, though there was initial confusion as to whether the 3km rule was in place, he ultimately lost only eight seconds to his rival.
Evenepoel, who has now led the race for 11 days, headed straight for Roglic at the finish line, and told reporters: "I heard that Primoz crashed, so I really hope he's okay and that he can continue the race.
"We all know that Primoz is explosive so a final like this is really made for him. That makes it even more of a pity for him that he crashed. You never want somebody to crash – I hope he's okay."
Evenepoel and Roglic benefited from the 3km rule, which is in place to ensure that if a rider suffers a fall, puncture or mechanical incident in the last 3km, they are credited with the same finishing time of the rider or riders they were with at the time of the incident.
Two up for Pedersen but Roglic's history hopes could be over
You can take nothing away from Pedersen, who admitted he was caught off guard by Roglic's brilliantly timed attack – one that would almost certainly have seen the Jumbo-Visma leader take the red jersey had it not been for that crash, which might have well dashed the 32-year-old's hopes of an unprecedented fourth successive Vuelta crown.
"It was a really smart move [from Roglic]. Everyone was really on the limit," Pedersen said. "I didn't hear it. I wanted to go to him here and I saw he was with destroyed clothing. It's a pity that he crashed. He hasn't been lucky this year. I hope it isn't too bad so he can continue competing for the victory of the Vuelta."
Points leader Pedersen is the first Trek-Segafredo rider to win two stages in the same edition of La Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2017, and is the third competitor to win multiple stages at this year's race, after Sam Bennett and Richard Carapaz (both two).
STAGE RESULT
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 4:45:29
2. Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) same time
3. Danny van Poppel (BORA-Hansgrohe) same time
4. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) same time
5. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) +0:08
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 61:26:26
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:26
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:01
Points Classification
1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 349
2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 129
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 107
King of the Mountains
1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 59
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 30
3. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) 22
'The numbers don't lie' – Djokovic hailed as greatest of all time by Lopez
Novak Djokovic is just one grand slam away from becoming the most decorated player in history and Feliciano Lopez believes "the numbers don't lie" when it comes to debating tennis' greatest.
Serbia's Djokovic equalled Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam triumphs after defeating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open earlier in September.
That made the world number one, aged 36 years and 111 days at the time, the oldest winner of the men's singles title at the US Open.
It was also Djokovic's third major crown of 2023, winning a trio of grand slams in a calendar year for the fourth time in his career,
Davis Cup tournament director Lopez, who had previously hailed Djokovic for featuring at the "unique" competition, suggested no one in history compares with the 36-year-old.
Asked by Stats Perform if Djokovic was the GOAT – greatest of all time – Lopez said: "According to the numbers, yes. The numbers don't lie.
"If you look at the stats, Novak is the best. So, I mean, what can I say?
"I think the numbers are very clear, not only by the fact that he's won 24 slams, but also there are other numbers and other statistics that clearly show he's the best player who ever played the sport.
"According to the numbers, I cannot say anything different."
Djokovic triumphed at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, only missing out on a clean sweep of the majors after losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.
As for Djokovic's chances for more major success going forward, Lopez believes the sky is still the limit.
"It's very difficult to predict honestly, but as long as he's feeling physically strong I think it's clear that his will in the last three or four years is to keep winning grand slams," Lopez added.
"If he is able to sustain his physical condition for the next two years, I can fairly say that he can win, I don't know, two, three or four, but it's very difficult to say one number because this year, for example, he could have won all four.
"He won in Australia, he won in Paris, he was very close to winning Wimbledon because of that second-set tie-break, and he just won the US Open.
"You ask me how many grand slams you think he will win in the future when he just won three of them in the same year!
"I don't know, maybe three or four more is fair to say, but it's very difficult to predict."
Young cyclists excel at Junior Caribbean Cycling Champs in Dom Rep
Jamaica's young cyclists Cajur Chue, Khalil Francis and Melaika Russell all registered credible performances during the recently-concluded two-day Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.
The three were among 56 athletes across 13 countries that participated in the championships, where Jamaica finished second on the medal table with three medals behind host nation which had nine medals. Puerto Rico completed the top three with two medals.
Chue, National Juvenile Time Trial champion, competed in the Juvenile Men 10km Individual Time Trial on the first day of action and claimed silver in 13 minutes and 29 seconds. He just missed out on top spot by 10 seconds, as he finished behind Puerto Rico’s Amauri Santiago (13min 19 sec), while Dominican Republic’s Emir David Nina Garcia (13mins 25sec) was third.
Jamaica's National women's Time Trial champion Russell was also in action on day one, as she competed in the Juvenile Women 10km individual Time Trial, where she also placed second in 16 minutes and 47 seconds. The event was won by Bermuda’s Charlotte Millington, with Barbadian Arielle Greaves taking third in a time of 17 minutes and 40 seconds.
Russell returned on the second day and won gold in the 60km Road Race for Juvenile Women, becoming the first Caribbean Road champion from Jamaica since Marloe
Rodman in 2015.
In the juvenile male 70km road race, Chue took an early solo breakaway and opened a 150 metres gap with 15km to go, but was unable to maintain that tempo and got
caught. Both Chue and Francis missed out on the podium, as they placed sixth and 10th respectively.
Carvalhal 'saw football in a different way' after unsuccessful Premier League stint
Carlos Carvalhal says he and his coaching staff "changed almost everything" about their approach to football after suffering relegation from the Premier League with Swansea City in 2018.
Carvalhal made a name for himself in the English game by leading Sheffield Wednesday to the Championship play-off final in 2016, where they were beaten by Hull City.
Wednesday were then beaten in the semi-finals after finishing fourth under Carvalhal in 2016-17. That remains their highest second-tier finish since 1990-91, when they were promoted in third.
However, Carvalhal left the Owls for Swansea City in December 2017, only winning eight of 25 games in south Wales and overseeing their relegation from the Premier League the following May.
Carvalhal has since enjoyed something of a renaissance with the likes of Rio Ave and Braga, before moving to Spain to keep Celta Vigo up with a final-day victory over Barcelona last season.
The Portuguese coach is proud of his achievements since leaving English football, claiming his stint at Swansea provoked a change in his approach to the game.
"After England, we were at Sheffield Wednesday for two and half years and half a year at Swansea, then we stopped for one season," Carvalhal told Stats Perform at the Thinking Football Summit.
"We decided to stop and reflect on the things that we did and the things that we wanted to do in the future. We changed almost everything. In this moment, we saw football in a different way.
"We are not basing it on the system [anymore], we are basing it on spaces and creating spaces. It's the way that we look at football, completely differently, like a chess player looking at the table.
"The results were fantastic, I can tell you.
"We took a big risk to go to Rio Ave. Rio Ave is a medium club in Portugal. We were in the Premier League, and nobody from the Premier League goes to Rio Ave. But we decided to go there because it's a calm club, there were some good players, we could put our ideas on the pitch.
"The reality was that we achieved Europa League [qualification]. Braga the same, we continued improving, in Celta Vigo we improved and we have stopped now to refresh a little again.
"I know €14 million was raised in Rio Ave with the players that we developed, which is very good for the club. Almost €100 million at Braga, and now in Celta Vigo with Gabri Veiga and Javi Galan probably about €50 million. So we are improving players.
"It's something that of course we are very proud of and something that we want to do in the future in the next challenge."
Carvalhal oversaw Rio Ave's best points return in their Primeira Liga history in 2019-20 (55 points), before leading Braga to their third – and most recent – Taca de Portugal one year later.
The 57-year-old has been out of work since leaving Celta in June, but he is ready to get back into the game and believes taking regular breaks is crucial to stay fresh.
"The gaps, I need to rest for my mental health, which I care about. Usually, you never see me have problems with other coaches, with referees and so on, because of these kinds of things.
"I decided [to move] because we did very well [at Braga]. We did the best the club has done in its history. In two seasons, we won the cup and we reached three finals.
"We achieved the quarter-final of the Europa League, 17 players from the academy played in the first team. At Celta Vigo, we arrived at the club in a very difficult position. We finished in 13th.
"There's a lot of pressure. So I spoke with my staff, I said I need to stop for three or four months and after, we go back to the market. So at this moment, we are on the market again.
"We are not under pressure, it's not about money. We can't say that we don't ever go for the money because we never know what will happen tomorrow, but I would prefer to go because of passion and football. Let's see what happens."
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