Same result at Tour: Sky domination
LA ROSIERE, FRANCE » If the idea behind a short but almost entirely mountainous stage in the Tour de France was to create constant action, Stage 11 on Wednesday went according to plan.
The end result, however, was the same as most recent Tours — domination from Team Sky.
British rider Geraint Thomas won the first summit finish of the race and claimed the yellow jersey on Wednesday while four-time champion Chris Froome moved up to second overall as Sky controlled numerous attacks.
“Amazing position for us,” said Froome, who trails Thomas, his teammate, by 1 minute, 25 seconds.
Thomas attacked on the last of four grueling climbs, powered past longtime breakaway leader Mikel Nieve in the final kilometer, and finished 20 seconds ahead of Tom Dumoulin.
Froome crossed third, just behind Dumoulin, who moved up to third overall, 1:44 behind.
Greg Van Avermaet, who had worn the yellow jersey since his BMC squad won the team time trial in Stage 3, lost contact midway through the stage and finished far behind.
Azarenka misses direct entry for Open
NEW YORK » Two-time U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka is ranked just below the cutoff for direct entry into the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.
Azarenka, a former No. 1 and twice the champion at the Australian Open, is No. 108 this week, seven spots outside of an automatic spot in the main draw.
The U.S. Tennis Association announced Wednesday that defending champion and top-ranked Rafael Nadal is one of six past male singles champions in the U.S. Open field, along with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic.
IOC adds 7 events to Beijing Games
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND » Planning for its next three Olympic Games on Wednesday, the IOC added seven medal events to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, published a 2020 Tokyo Olympics schedule with no agreement on when to race swimming finals, and set a timetable to add new sports to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The next Winter Olympics will now include: women’s monobob, Big Air freestyle skiing for men and women, plus mixed team events in short track speed skating, ski jumping, ski aerials and snowboardcross.
The addition of gold medals to a 109-event program was combined with a reduction in how many athletes will compete.
Truex seeking new sponsor for 2019
DENVER » Furniture Row Racing and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. are looking for a new sponsor.
The team said Wednesday that 5-hour ENERGY will end its activity in NASCAR after this season, leaving the No. 78 Toyota seeking a primary backer for 2019. This season, 5-hour ENERGY was the co-primary sponsor on the No. 78 along with Bass Pro Shops/ Tracker Boats for 30 Cup races.