QUINTANA WINS, THOMAS CLOSER TO YELLOW
SAINT-LARY-SOULAN, FRANCE: Britain’s Geraint Thomas moved a step closer to winning the Tour de France after pushing Sky teammate Chris Froome down the standings on a 17th stage won by Colombia’s Nairo Quintana on Wednesday.
Thomas held an overnight lead of 1min 39sec on compatriot Froome, but took it to 2:31 after the four-time champion crossed the finish 1:36 behind Quintana and nearly a minute off Thomas.
Ireland’s Dan Martin (UAE) finished second on the stage at 28secs behind Quintana, with Thomas third at 47 and Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Lottojumbo) in fourth at 52.
GILBERT WITHDRAWS AFTER STAGE 16 CRASH
CARCASSONNE, FRANCE: Belgian cyclist Philippe Gilbert was on Wednesday forced to pull out from the Tour de France after he sustained a kneecap injury during the race’s 16th stage.
The Quick Step rider crashed into a stone wall on Tuesday on the 218 kilometre-long stage from Carcassonne to Bagneresde-luchon.
HARTING TO RETIRE AFTER BERLIN MEET
BERLIN: Germany’s former Olympic and world discus champion Robert Harting has been granted the chance to say farewell in top international competition at next month’s European Athletics Championships on home turf in Berlin.
The 33-year-old, who won Olympic gold in London and was the reigning world champion from 2011-2015, only managed third at the German championships last weekend.
30 RUSSIANS NAMED FOR EUROPEAN ATHLETICS
MOSCOW : The Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) on Wednesday announced that a total of 30 competitors will take part in the European Athletics Championships scheduled to be held in Berlin in August.
It noted that the number of Russian athletes represented at the tournament could grow, if their bid to compete as neutral athletes is approved by IAAF. RESULTS - Round of 32:
BG ‘Phantoms’ bt JVPG ‘White Lions’ 3-0 (Laxman Rawat bt +45 Veer Singh Nagi 90(54)-63, +17 Mazdi Kalyaniwala/kaizad Fitter bt +27 Rishi Sangani/dev Dongre 87-53, +15 Nitesh Madan bt +55 Dhruv Pagaria 115-61). KG ‘B’ bt CG ‘Unpredictable’ 3-0 (+26 Harish Pahuja/sagar Kanjani () bt +30 Mohan Shetty/ralph Fernandes () 8445, +30 Krieshh Gurbaxani () bt +45 Karl Vaz () 100(46)-73, +35 Arjun Tejwani bt +60 James Moon 117-105). KG ‘C’ bt Santacruz ‘Sunrisers’ 3-0 (+30 Sahil Kakad/karan Rao bt +24 Kalpesh Mevada/nitesh Bhatia 72-31, 35 Sumehr Mago bt +40 Vipul Shah 10261, +30 Harmehr Mago bt +50 Amit Makhija 111-72). ECC ‘Elfies Stars’ bt CCI ‘X-men’ 3-0 (+25 Rajwardhan Joshi bt +10 Hasan Badami 84-47, +14 Mahesh Jagdale/ Sunil Jain bt +24 Sundeep Gulrajani/dhruv Sitwala 60-58, +30 Anurag Bagri bt +20 Cherag Ramakrishnan 87-75).
Borivali Premier Football League RESULTS
Group-a (Round-5): Fleet Footers SC 1 (K. Pereira) drew with Ruthless SC 1(Shubham Mane).
Myrmidon SC 1 (Nihar Jadhav) drew with Maryland United 1 (Brendon D’mello). Friends FC 0 drew with Gorai FC 0.
Group-b (Round-4): Milan Club 3 (Amey Bhatkal 3) bt ND2 Soccer Starz 2 Dhuval Waghela, Prathamesh Nalavade). Vibrants FC 3 (Nidhim Joseph, Kunal Mane, Daivik Rao) beat Kajupada FC 1 (Srirang Gole).
GREGORY NAMED ISL COACH OF THE YEAR
CHENNAI: Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC head coach John Gregory has bagged the ISL