Degenkolb set in stone

Richie Porte sat on the pavement grasping his right shoulder and grimacing in pain. A fan helped Chris Froome get going after he tumbled onto grass lining the road. Romain Bardet recovered from three punctured tires. And they were only the highestprofile riders to face mishaps in the action-packed cobblestoned Stage 9 of the Tour de France yesterday in Roubaix, France.

Every cyclist who reached the finish was covered in dust — many with their jerseys torn to shreds from crashes.

Spanish rider Gorka Izaguirre had the unusual experience of his rear wheel buckling to the point that it looked like something out of a scrap heap.

John Degenkolb won a three-man sprint to take victory in a memorable stage, while overall contender Porte crashed out of the race.

Yellow-jersey holder Greg Van Avermaet crossed second and increased his overall lead to 43 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas, a teammate of Froome’s at Sky. Yves Lampaert of Quick-Step finished third.

“It was a pretty hectic day,” Van Avermaet said after the dust settled.

Froome, the four-time champion, crossed in the main pack, 27 seconds behind, overcoming a crash with 45 kilometers (28 miles) to go that saw him go over the top of teammate Gianni Moscon.

Froome moved up to eighth overall, 1:42 behind Van Avermaet, who is not a threat in the mountains. Porte, the BMC team leader, crashed out of the Tour 10 kilometers into the 156.5-kilometer (97-mile) leg — before any of the 15 cobblestone sections. He was later diagnosed with a fractured right clavicle.

Pacquiao wins by KO

Manny Pacquiao clinched his 60th victory with a seventh-round knockout of Argentinian Lucas Matthysse, his first stoppage in nine years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Pacquiao said he worked hard but was surprised by the swift win in the World Boxing Association welterweight title fight.

Pacquiao rebounded from his disappointing loss last year to Australian Jeff Horn and his victory could extend his boxing career that had taken a backseat to his political life as a Filipino senator.

Sin City win by Cynn

Indianapolis resident John Cynn is the champion of the World Series of Poker no-limit Texas Hold ’em main event in Las Vegas.