Tadej Pogacar wins Tour De France 2020

Tadej Pogacar became the first Slovenian to win the Tour de France as the famous three-week race ended on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Pogacar, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Monday, is the youngest winner since 1904, sealing his triumph with a sensational performance in the mountain time trial on the penultimate stage.

Until then it had looked as if his compatriot and long-time leader Primoz Roglic would claim the yellow jersey, but in a remarkable reversal it was Pogacar who won the stage and took the race lead by 59 seconds. Sunday's 21st stage is by tradition a processional affair, with no attempts at breakaways until the concluding eight circuits around the French capital commence.

Pogacar stayed safely on his bike to cross the line in triumph with his UAE Team Emirates teammates as the stage was brilliantly won by green jersey winner Sam Bennett of Ireland, his second stage win of the 2020 Tour. Bennett usurped Slovakia's Peter Sagan, a seven-time winner, to top the points classification and did so in some style, relegating world champion Mads Pedersen to second place on the stage, with Sagan in third. 

Roglic, who had led since the ninth stage with his powerful Jumbo-Visma team in support, had to settle for second overall, with Australian veteran Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) taking the final place on the podium. Pogacar has found his unexpected triumph hard to take in, recovering from losing over a minute in crosswinds on the seventh stage to claw his way back into contention and ultimately claim yellow. Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the 107th edition of the Tour de France cycling race.

Bayern Munich won UEFA Super Cup 2020

Bayern Munich won the UEFA Super Cup after beating a resilient Sevilla in extra time in Budapest. 15,180 fans witnessed the action between Champions League winners Bayern and Europa League winners Sevilla. Bayern, who won the treble last season, got the job done in a 2-1 victory. This was their fourth trophy in 2020.

In this hard-fought encounter, Sevilla took the lead from the penalty spot on 13 minutes when Lucas Ocampos scored an outrageous "no look" penalty. Bayern equalized before the break, with Leon Goretzka scoring from Robert Lewandowski's superb touch. Both teams had chances to seal the deal but things went into extra time. Substitute Javi Martinez scored a header in the 104th minute.

Bayern are now 32 games unbeaten in all competitions as they ended Sevilla's own 21-game unbeaten run. The Bavarians have extended their 100% win record to 23 games in all competitions. Since their last defeat in any competition on December 7, Bayern have recorded 31 wins and one draw so far. In this unbeaten phase, they have won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UCL trophies.

Hansi Flick had joined the club as an assistant manager in July 2019. In November, Flick was promoted to the interim manager position and then became permanent in December. In 38 games managed across competitions, Flick has won 35, besides losing only twice. He has win percentage of 92.11. Under him, Bayern have a goal difference of +99. Bayern talisman Robert Lewandowski has been involved in 11 goals in the last 6 games in all competitions, scoring five and assisting six.

 

Dominic Thiem won US Open 2020

 At a US Open unlike any other, Dominic Thiem constructed a comeback the likes of which hadn’t been in 71 years.

After dropping the opening two sets against Alexander Zverev at a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium — fans were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic — Thiem slowly but surely turned things around for a 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory across more than four hours to earn his first major championship.

The 27-year-old from Austria is the first man to win the American Grand Slam tournament after trailing 2-0 in sets in the final since Pancho Gonzales did it against Ted Schroeder in 1949 at an event then known as the US Championships. Not only that, but in a fitting finish to an unprecedented two weeks, this match was decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker, something that had never happened in the final. 

Dominic Thiem is the first player since 1949 to win the US Open men's singles title having dropped the first two sets. The last was Pancho Gonzales. Thiem is the fifth in Open Era to come from two sets down to win a Grand Slam final. Bjorn Borg (1974), Ivan Lendl (1984), Andre Agassi (1999) and Gaston Gaudio (2004) have done it earlier and all at Roland Garros.

MotoGP 2020: Maverick Vinales wins Emilia Romagna MotoGP

Spaniard Maverick Vinales on a Yamaha won the Emilia Romagna MotoGP to move up to within the one point of the Championship lead.

Joan Mir was second on a Suzuki and another Spaniard Pol Espargaro (KTM) promoted a place to third after Frenchman Fabio Quartararo of the Yamaha-SRT satellite team crossed the line behind Mir but was penalised for straying off the track.

Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth to cling to the championship lead, one point ahead of Quartararo and Vinales. Vinales started from pole but soon lost the lead to Francesco Bagnaia. The young Italian led by a second and a half at one stage and was still on course for a first victory for himself and Ducati-Pramac when he leant a bit too far unto a corner with seven laps to go and slid off.

Vinales grabbed his chance to become the sixth winner in seven MotoGP races this season. Vinales was able to defend the lead comfortably, finishing more than four seconds clear, because Espargaro and Quartararo had tyre troubles which allowed Mir to pass both. The big disappointment of the day at the Italian track was local hero Valentino Rossi who crashed at the beginning of the race and retired.

 

MotoGP 2020: Franco Morbidelli wins Maiden Race

 Franco Morbidelli charged to his first ever MotoGP win as Andrea Dovizioso capitalized on Fabio Quartararo crashing out of the San Marino race to take the championship lead. Italian Morbidelli dominated at Misano Adriatico and finished ahead of countryman Francesco Bagnaia, riding for Ducati-Pramac, and Suzuki's Spanish rider Joan Mir in his maiden victory in motorcycling's elite class.

Yamaha SRT's Morbidelli, 25, who started second on the grid, overtook pole sitter Maverick Vinales on the first lap and never relinquished his lead, finishing over two seconds ahead of Bagnaia on a great day for Italian riders in front of a limited crowd on home soil. Fellow Italian Dovizioso finished back in seventh but his nine points put him six ahead of Frenchman and pre-race leader Quartararo, who scored nothing after first coming off the track on lap eight and again later in the race when already well off the pace.

Dovizioso is also 12 points ahead of Australian Jack Miller, who finished a place behind the Ducati rider, after six Grands Prix. The 34-year-old will now be eyeing his first MotoGP championship after finishing behind six-time champ Marc Marquez, who is out for the rest of the 2020 campaign due to breaking his arm in the opening race, in each of the last three seasons.

The only negative for the home crowd, the first to be allowed to watching racing live this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, was Valentino Rossi failing to grab his 200th MotoGP podium after he was overtaken by Mir on the final lap to finish in fourth.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Tuscan Grand Prix

Mugello served up as an absolute thriller in its first ever Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton taking victory from Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in an action packed race that saw dramatic multi-car crashes within the first nine laps, two red flags stoppages and an exciting finale that culminated in Alex Albon scoring his first F1 Podium.

A late red flag, the second of the race – after Racing Point’s Lance Stroll went off at Arrabbiata 2 while holding fourth place – set up a dramatic finish to the first Grand Prix to be held at Mugello, with Hamilton holding on to take his 90th career win from Bottas, as behind, Albon pulled off a fantastic move on Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo to claim an important third with eight laps of the race to go.

Ricciardo was left to come home fourth, tantalisingly close to his first podium with Renault, as Sergio Perez finished fifth for Racing Point. With just 12 runners classified at the finish, Lando Norris was sixth for McLaren, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc classified eighth at the team’s 1,000th Grand Prix.

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen was ninth after receiving a five-second race penalty, with the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top 10. That left Williams’ George Russell 11th, agonisingly close to the team’s first points of the year, while Haas Romain Grosjean finished 12th of 12.

Caribbean Premier League 2020

Trinbago Knight Riders defeated St Lucia Zouks by 8 wickets to win the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League. This was a season to remember for the Keiron Pollard led side as they did not lose even a single match this season. 

Pollard led from the front as he picked up 4 wickets to restrict St Lucia Zouks to a score of 154. Andre Fletcher top-scored for the Zouks with 39 runs with Fawad Ahmed also picking up 2 wickets for TKR. The chase was made easy by Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo as they hit an unbeaten 138-run partnership to take the Knight Riders to an eight-wicket win in the final. Simmons top-scored with 84 runs with Bravo hitting 58.

TKR became the first team in the history of CPL to win all matches in the tournament. The final victory was achieved without one of their premier players Sunil Narine being dropped from the XI.

The turning point certainly was the 17th over bowled by inexperienced Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Zahir Khan, which went for 23 runs. From 41 required off 24 balls, it came down to run a ball as Simmons hit a six and Bravo hit a couple of biggies. Down to run-a-ball, Scott Kuggeleijn, Zouks’ most effective fast bowler lost his length against a rampaging Simmons, who hit a six and a four to effectively finish the contest as 16 came from the over.

F1 2020: Pierre Gasly wins Italian Grand Prix

An incredible 2020 Italian Grand Prix saw AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claim a maiden Formula 1 win from the McLaren of Carlos Sainz and the Racing point of Lance Stroll, as a transgression under the Safety Car saw polesitter Mercedes Lewis Hamilton forced to serve a 10-second stop/go penalty, leaving him seventh at the flag. 

The race was turned on its head by a Safety Car brought out as Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas had to be recovered. But with Hamilton diving into the pit lane when it was closed (as did Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi), he was handed his penalty – which he served after the race was restarted on Lap 28 of 53, following a 25-minute red flag period after Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the Parabolica.

That left Gasly at the head of the field, after he’d pitted before the Safety Car was brought out, with the Frenchman holding on brilliantly to take a sensational maiden win in Formula 1 at AlphaTauri’s home race, as McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished second, with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll completing the podium.

 

Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren, holding off the leading Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in P5, after the Finn had suffered a poor start that left him sixth at the end of Lap 1. Ricciardo took sixth ahead of Hamilton, who recovered well from his penalty to take P7, with the Renault of Esteban Ocon, the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez rounding out the top 10.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Belgium Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton swept to his fourth victory at the Belgium Grand Prix, leading home his teammate Valtteri Bottas as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third to maintain his record of finishing on the podium at every race he’s been classified in this year.

Following his dominant pole on Saturday, Hamilton resisted the first lap slipstreaming contest down to Les Combes to hold onto the lead, before retaining it for all 44 laps to close out his fifth victory out of seven races this year. Bottas came home around eight seconds behind his teammate, with Verstappen a further seven seconds down the road.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo led home the team’s best finish of the year in fourth, crossing the line under four seconds behind Verstappen after some rapid final laps, with Esteban Ocon overtaking the Red Bull of Alex Albon on the final tour to take fifth, Albon just holding onto sixth from the McLaren of Lando Norris.

An impressive drive from Pierre Gasly saw him take eighth for AlphaTauri, while the final points were taken by the Racing Point pair of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez in P9 and P10 – with the Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finishing out of the points in P13 and P14 respectively. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s fourth Belgian Grand Prix win sees him draw equal with Jim Clark and Kimi Raikkonen on third in the all-time list for Spa victories, behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.