In Sports News this Monday: last season’s winner of cross country skiing’s Tour de Ski, Lukáš Bauer, comes 11th this time out, his hopes of at least a top five finish ending with an asthma attack in the penultimate race; Šárka Záhrobská finishes third in a slalom event in Zagreb; the Czech Republic end up coming sixth at ice hockey’s junior World Championship in Canada; and truck driver Aleš Loprais receives help from a Czech rival on day two of the Dakar Rally.
Bauer finishes 11th in Tour de Ski
Lukáš Bauer, photo: CTK
Last season’s winner of cross country skiing’s Tour de Ski, Lukáš Bauer, finished 11th this time out. Bauer had had mixed results before the competition reached its final port of call, Italy’s Val de Fiemme, and needed to go all out if he was to at least record a top-5 finish. However, the Czech could only manage to come 26th in Saturday’s 20 km classic, after suffering an asthma attack. Sunday’s 10 km free went rather better, though, leaving Bauer 11th overall in the Tour de Ski, and 10th in the cross country skiing World Cup. The 31-year-old from Ostrov nad Ohří had this to say on Sunday evening:
“There are two things that I regret about the tour. The first thing is the sprints, which always go badly for me – I knew in advance I didn’t have the skills for sprinting. Where I think I really messed up was in yesterday’s 20 km classic – I tried to break into the top 10, but that didn’t happen because of my problems with asthma. I thought my chances were over, which was pretty much borne out by today’s race.”
Záhrobská third in slalom in Zagreb
Šárka Záhrobská, photo: CTK
A month ahead of the Alpine World Ski Championships, the Czech Republic’s Šárka Záhrobská is in fine form indeed. On Sunday the 23-year-old came third in a slalom event in Zagreb, the venue where she first reached the podium in the World Cup two years ago. That season ended with Záhrobská being crowned world champion, a real sensation for Czech skiing.
Czechs comes sixth at junior ice hockey World Championship
Czech Republic - USA, photo: CTK
The Czech Republic’s junior ice hockey players ended up coming sixth at the World Under 20 Championship in Ottawa. The Czechs were beaten 5:1 by Russia in the quarter-finals, and later lost 3:2 to the USA in a game to decide fifth place. It was the fourth junior World Championship in a row at which the Czech Republic failed to finish among the medals.
Truck driver Aleš Loprais helped by compatriot in Dakar Rally
Aleš Loprais during the first leg of Rallye Dakar 2009, photo: CTK
The Czech driver Aleš Loprais has seen his hopes of success in the truck category of the Dakar Rally kept alive thanks to the help of a rival. When Loprais’s Tatra truck broke down during the second stage on Sunday, another Czech driver, Robert Randýsek of Offroadsport.cz, towed it across the line, meaning Loprais’s vehicle was able to meet a time deadline and avoid being penalised. Aleš Loprais is the nephew of the legendary Karel Loprais, six-time winner of the Dakar Rally’s truck category.
