Groenewegen wins 2nd straight stage at Tour

AMIENS, FRANCE » Dylan Groenewegen has turned the sprinting battle at the Tour de France into a three-man race.

The 25-year-old Dutch rider won his second consecutive stage on Saturday, joining world champion Peter Sagan and Tour newcomer Fernando Gaviria as twostage winners at this edition of the world’s leading cycling race.

Groenewegen entered the final meters of Stage 8 behind Andre Greipel, Gaviria and Sagan, but the Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider timed his last surge perfectly, swinging around his hard-charging opponents to cross first.

“It was a hectic (finish), but that’s every day in the Tour,” Groenewegen said. “I am very happy with my team. The last two days have been very good with two wins.”

Greipel and Gaviria crossed next, but their results were disqualified after they dangerously jockeyed for position in the final meters, though they both keep their times.

Greipel boxed Gaviria in next to the barrier on the left-hand side of the street, appearing to nudge him with his side. Gaviria responded by pushing back, even knocking Greipel with his helmet.

That meant that Sagan officially finished second, with John Degenkolb in third.

“The legs have been better every day,” Groenewegen said, adding that “the team did an amazing job and put me in a great position. I saw Gaviria and Greipel were fighting for position but I saw the finish line and thought, ‘This is the moment.”’

Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet, who is riding in support of BMC leader Richie Porte, kept the overall lead for a fifth consecutive day.

Van Avermaet picked up a onesecond bonus overall during an intermediate bonus sprint at 20K from the finish. That increased his lead over Froome’s teammate Geraint Thomas in second to 7 seconds and his own BMC teammate Tejay Van Garderen to 9 seconds.

Four-time winner Chris Froome is in 12th place at 1 minute, 6 seconds behind Van Avermaet.

The mostly flat 181-kilometer (112-mile) ride from Dreux to Amiens was won by Groenewegen in 4 hours, 23 minutes. It comes before the three-week race faces one of its most difficult legs when it hits the tricky and occasionally treacherous cobblestones.

Sunday’s Stage 9 will take riders over 15 cobbled paths scattered along 21.7 kilometers of the 156.5-kilometer course from Arras to Roubaix, near the Belgian border.

Van Avermaet won the singleday cobblestone Paris-Roubaix race in 2017. He says he will try to keep the yellow jersey while his teammates work for Porte.

“We will try to do both,” the Belgian said. “We will try to keep Richie with me, but if I have to follow another rider or attack, the other six guys will take care of Richie.”

That cobblestone challenge will be followed by a rest day on Monday before the race shifts to its first mountain stages in the Alps.

Fans helped celebrate Bastille Day by waving French flags along the side of road as the riders moved north of Paris through wheat fields to Amiens, the birthplace of French President Emmanuel Macron.

This was the second consecutive “transition” stage that shifts the race across flatter areas to reach more difficult terrain. The result was another mostly calm ride.

The only incident to interrupt the leg was a pile-up with just under 20K to go. UAE Emirates leader Daniel Martin, the winner of Stage 6, bloodied his left elbow and tore the back of his shirt.

Martin and 11 other riders couldn’t reconnect and Martin lost more than a minute, falling from 21st to 31st place at 2:47 behind.

Matthysse will have ‘no respect’ as he aims to beat Pacquiao

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA » Argentinian Lucas Matthysse will have “no respect” as he seeks to knock out Manny Pacquiao and defend his World Boxing Association welterweight title in Sunday’s showdown that could cap an illustrious career for the Filipino sports icon.

Both fighters were comfortably below the 147-pound limit when they stepped on a scale Saturday ahead of their match, dubbed the “Fight of Champions.”

An 11-time champion across eight divisions, Pacquiao weighed in at a trim 146 pounds while Matthysse tipped the scales at 146.7 pounds.

“I know Manny Pacquiao brings an intense energy in a fight, so we are ready for that. All we need to do is just to keep composed, make sure that he is ready to catch Manny at the right time and have no respect for Manny,” Matthysse’s trainer, Joel Diaz, told The Associated Press after the weigh-in.

The main advantage for Matthysse, known by his nickname “The Machine” for winning 36 out of his 39 matches by knockout, is his strength and ability to deliver power punches from both hands, Diaz said.

“All I can say is this...it’s not going to be an easy fight for Manny Pacquiao. If Lucas lands any punches on Pacquiao, he will hurt him because he hits real hard,” Diaz added.

“Lucas Matthysse is stepping up to the level of opposition. He’s fighting against a legend and he’s in the best shape of his life. Everything is at stake for him. He is defending his title and secondly, he knows by beating Manny Pacquiao, it will be in the history books.”

“Pacman” Pacquiao, who turns 40 in December, returns to the ring a year after his shock decision loss to Australia’s Jeff Horn in Brisbane.

Pacquiao, 39, has won 59 times, including 38 by knockout, and lost seven times (three by knockout) along with two draws.

Pacquiao was greeted by hundreds of excited Filipino fans as he flexed on stage Saturday after the weigh-in. He smiled and appeared relaxed in contrast to a grim-looking Matthysse as they posed for the cameras.

Pacquiao didn’t speak after the weigh-in but the words on his long sleeve t-shirt reflected his determination to seek a 60th victory: “Fight On.”

It will be the first time since 2001 that Pacquiao is fighting without longtime trainer Freddie Roach, who was dropped in the run-up to the Malaysian fight and replaced with former assistant coach and friend Buboy Fernandez.

A once impoverished rural boy who turned into one of the world’s wealthiest sportsman and now a Filipino senator, Pacquiao’s ragsto-riches story has inspired many in his country. His biggest supporter on Sunday will be Filipino President Filipino Duterte, who will arrive in Malaysia to watch the match ahead of an official visit.

Pacquiao is “110 percent fit” physically and mentally, his conditioning coach Justin Fortune told the AP after the weigh-in. The Australian said age isn’t a barrier for Pacquiao and that he has been able to juggle the sport along his political duties and other multiple interests.

“He’s in great condition. For 16 years, Pacquiao has been at the top, No. 1 of world champion. His longevity at this level in this sport is unprecedented,” Fortune said.

“Every fight for Pacquiao is the same way: very, very important fight. We take every fight seriously. Matthysse is a dangerous guy as was with every other fighter that Manny fought.”

Source: Michigan State set to hire Bill Beekman as AD

Michigan State is set to hire Bill Beekman as athletic director, a person with knowledge of the decision said Saturday. Beekman has been the interim head of the troubled athletic department since early February.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

Beekman took over on an interim basis shortly after athletic director Mark Hollis retired following the sex abuse scandal involving former sports doctor Larry Nassar and just before ESPN reported allegations of sexual assault and violence against women involving Michigan State football and basketball players. The report questioned how the athletic department handled those cases.

Beekman has also been a vice president of the school and secretary of its board.

Interim school president John Engler appointed Beekman as interim AD on Feb. 5. Engler said no internal candidates would be considered for the AD job, but Beekman is now on the verge of having his interim tag removed.

Beekman, who has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State, joined the school as an administrator in 1995. He was the assistant dean for finance and planning in the College of Human Medicine. He’s also served as a senior consultant to the provost and to the vice president for finance and operations — and as executive director of the MSU Alumni Association.

The NCAA sent a letter to Michigan State in January asking for any potential rules violations related to Nassar, who is serving decades in prison for assault and child pornography crimes. Hundreds of women, including gold medal-winning Olympic gymnasts, said they were abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment while he was working for both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State. An attorney for the university told the governing body of college sports in March that nothing Nassar did at the university violated NCAA rules.

Chelsea hires Sarri as manager

Chelsea hired Maurizio Sarri as its manager on a three-year contract on Saturday, bringing in a headstrong coach known for his expansive, attacking approach to football and for revitalizing Napoli in his only stint with a big European club.

The 59-year-old Italian replaced Antonio Conte, who was fired on Friday after two years in charge in which he won the Premier League and FA Cup but failed to gain the power he wanted at Stamford Bridge.

Sarri earned praise from the likes of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for the way he turned around the fortunes of Napoli from 2015-18, returning the team to the Champions League and almost snatching the Italian league title from Juventus with his innovative way of thinking and attention to detail.