Cycling
Froome blows a tire but not his Dauphine lead
GAP, France – Yury Trofimov won the fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine on Wednesday, while Chris Froome recovered from a punctured tire to keep the overall lead.
Trofimov, of Russia, completed the 104-mile leg from Montelimar to Gap in 3 hours, 59 minutes, 22 seconds. Sweden’s Gustav Larsson was 23 seconds back in second place, and Pim Ligthart of the Netherlands took third.
Froome suffered a punctured tire 20 miles from the finish, but the British rider changed his bike and got back into the race with help from teammate Geraint Thomas. The 2013 Tour de France winner remained 12 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador of Spain in the overall standings and 21 seconds clear of Wilco Kelderman of the Netherlands.
Thursday’s stage is a 118-mile trek from Sisteron to La Mure featuring six climbs. The race will end Sunday.
Tennis
Wimbledon hands out a few wild cards
LONDON – Martina Hingis is returning to play at Wimbledon for the first time in seven years. The former doubles and singles champion from Switzerland was granted a wild card by the All England Club on Wednesday for the women’s doubles tournament.
Hingis’ partner is Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, a former doubles winner and singles runner-up.
In addition to her singles title in 1997, the 33-year-old Hingis is a two-time doubles winner at Wimbledon, with Jana Novotna in 1998 and Helena Sukova in 1996.
After a second retirement in 2007, Hingis returned to the game in July 2013 but has restricted her outings to doubles.
She last played at Wimbledon in 2007, losing in the third round of the singles.
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2006, was granted a wild card for the men’s singles tournament. His ATP ranking has slipped to No. 118. Five British players also received wild cards.
Among the women, Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic and three British players were given wild card singles entries.
More wild cards will be announced before play begins June 23.
Associated Press
