Froome’s title hopes take hit

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His tongue dangling from his mouth, his pedal stroke strained, Chris Froome’s hopes of a record-tying fifth Tour de France title slowly drifted away.

Up amid the thin and misty air of the Col du Portet rated the second toughest climb in Tour history Froome cracked on the feared 17th stage through the Pyrenees on Wednesday, solidifying Sky teammate Geraint Thomas’s hold on the yellow jersey.

Froome finished eighth, 1 minute, 35 seconds behind stage winner Nairo Quintana, and dropped from second to third overall, a distant 2:31 seconds adrift of Thomas.

The British rider’s day then went from bad to worse as he crashed when police mistook him for a fan on the way down the mountain, with his bodyguard also on a bike.

Froome had put a black raincoat over his racing uniform to keep warm and when police ordered him to stop, he lost control.

Team Sky said the rider was not injured in the incident.

MLB

CESPEDES TO HAVE SURGERY » New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will have surgery on both feet to relieve chronic pain in his heels and is likely to need at least eight to months to recover.

The Mets announced Wednesday that an MRI and tests on Cespedes showed bone calcifications in both the right and left heels. Cespedes was placed on the disabled list Tuesday.

The two-time All-Star had returned from the disabled list Friday after missing two months with a strained right hip flexor and homered at Yankee Stadium. But after the game, the 32-year-old Cespedes said both heels have bothered him for 15 years and caused the lower-body injuries that have limited him to 119 games in 1 seasons since he signed a $110 million, four-year contract.

NBA

CARTER SIGNS WITH HAWKS » The NBA’s oldest active player is not quite done yet.

According to sources, Vince Carter has agreed to a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum to play for the Atlanta Hawks next season.

The Hawks will be the eighth team in the 41-year-old’s career.

When Carter takes the court for the Hawks, he will be one of five players to play 21 seasons in the NBA, joining Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki.

Of that list, Nowitzki is the only other active player. Nowitzki is also the only one to spent the entirety of his career with one team, the Dallas Mavericks.