Bennett out of Tour

George Bennett has been forced to withdraw from the Tour de France after testing positive for Covid-19, leaving two-time defending champion and current race leader Tadej Pogacar without one of his key helpers for the second half of the tour. The Kiwi climber is the second UAE Team Emirates rider that has been forced to abandon the Tour after contracting Covid-19, with Norwegian rider Vegard Stake Laengen pulling out last week. UAE Team Emirates said Bennett’s positive test had been picked up after displaying symptoms during Monday’s rest day. The peloton tackled a 148km route yesterday from Morzine to Megeve in the Alps. Pogacar kept the yellow jersey with an 11-second overall lead over Lennard Kamna. Jonas Vingegaard was in third place, 39 seconds off the pace.

The Black Sticks women were knocked out of the World Cup yesterday, losing 1-0 to Germany in the quarterfinal in Amsterdam. Goalkeeper Brooke Roberts was able to keep the favourites out initially, but early in the second quarter, following a green card which saw New Zealand’s Alia Jaques off the field for two minutes, German attacker Lena Micheel scored. In the third quarter the Black Sticks had a chance to draw level, with Olivia Merry, playing her 250th test, coming within an inch of scoring but for a slight deflection off a German stick. The fourth quarter presented more chances for New Zealand, when Germany received two green cards in quick succession, allowing the Kiwis to take goalkeeper Roberts from the field in exchange for an extra outfield player, but it wasn’t enough to level the scores.