Cycling
Contador crashes hard; Griepel takes stage
MONTECATINI TERME, Italy – Andre Greipel sprinted to victory on the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, while Alberto Contador remained in the overall lead despite being involved in a crash in the rush to the finish.
Greipel was perfectly led out by Lotto Souda teammate Greg Henderson, and he had enough power to beat Matteo Pelucchi by a bike length.
Sacha Modolo was third in the bunch sprint at the end of the 114-mile leg from Montecatini Terme to Castiglione Della Pescaia.
There was a crash in the final 300 meters, as one cyclist hit the camera lens of a spectator leaning over the barrier and went down, bringing half the peloton down with him.
Contador and the other riders involved did not lose any time as it happened in the final 3K.
Cavendish claims his 3rd California stage victory
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Britain’s Mark Cavendish raced his third Tour of California stage victory, and Latvia’s Tom Skujins retained the overall lead Thursday in the rainy fifth stage.
Cavendish, the Etixx-Quick Step rider who won the first two stages, powered to the front in the final 200 yards to win the 95.7-mile led from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita in 3 hours, 51 minutes, 37 seconds.
Sagan, who won the fourth stage and finished second in the first three stages, gained four bonus seconds to cut Skujins’ lead to 18 seconds with three stages left in the eight-day race.
Golf
Streb races to early lead at Wells Fargo Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Robert Streb opened with a 7-under 65 for the early lead at the Wells Fargo Championship. Phil Mickelson faded after a fast start.
Streb tied for 30th at The Players Championship last week. On Thursday, he played a bogey-free round on a cool morning. Top-ranked Rory McIlroy teed off as Streb was finishing his round.
Charlotte resident Webb Simpson shot a 67 while K.J. Choi rallied for a 68. Defending champion J.B. Holmes is among those at 69.
Mickelson birdied his first three holes but finished with a 71. He dunked his tee shot in the creek along the left side 18th fairway for a double bogey.
Maggert takes 1-stroke lead at Champions major
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Jeff Maggert birdied three of the final four holes Thursday for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Kevin Sutherland after the first round of the Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek.
Maggert held onto the lead at the first of the Champions Tour’s five majors despite a bogey on No. 18. Sutherland had six birdies and two bogeys before parring the final five holes.
Tom Watson, Colin Montgomerie and Wes Short Jr. were two strokes back at 69.
NFL
Brady files his appeal, as more info surfaces
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A Patriots lawyer says the “deflator” nickname used by a ballboy and cited in the NFL’s decision to suspend quarterback Tom Brady was about weight loss, not footballs.
Team attorney Daniel Goldberg said Thursday the two Patriots employees used the term jokingly to refer to locker room attendant Jim McNally, who was trying to lose weight.
In a 20,000-word rebuttal to the league’s findings, Goldberg disputed the investigator hired by the NFL on matters of science, logic and law.
The rebuttal was published before Brady officially filed his appeal of a four-game suspension. The team was also fined $1 million and had two draft picks taken away.
Associated Press
