Cycling
Bouhanni doesn’t slip up in Stage 4 win at the Giro
BARI, Italy – French rider Nacer Bouhanni won the slippery fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia in a sprint Tuesday as the race returned home after opening with three legs in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Australian rider Michael Matthews retained the overall leader’s pink jersey, with organizers deciding to clock the official times with one lap to go of a circuit in the southern city of Bari because of the rain-slicked road.
Still, there were several falls on the final turns.
Bouhanni didn’t have many established sprint rivals to contend with at the end and clocked nearly 2½ hours over the flat 70-mile route from Giovinazzo to Bari – the shortest stage of the three-week race. It was the sixth win this year and the 26th career victory for Bouhanni, who rides for the FDJ.fr team.
Giacomo Nizzolo of Italy crossed second and Tom Veelers of the Netherlands was third.
Matthews – whose Orica-GreenEdge team won Friday’s opening team time trial – leads Italian veteran Alessandro Petacchi by eight seconds.
Dennis a menace in Stage 3 but overall trails Wiggins
DANVILLE, Calif. – Rohan Dennis of Australia surged within the final 300 yards to claim the hot and mountainous third stage and reduced Bradley Wiggins’ race lead Tuesday in the Tour of California.
Dennis (Garmin-Sharp), who began the stage in second place overall with a 44-second deficit to Wiggins, completed the 108.5-mile road race to Mt. Diablo in 4 hours, 56 minutes and 2 seconds.
Tiago Machado (NetApp-Endura) of Portugal was second, trailing Dennis by 6 seconds.
Wiggins, who took the race lead with his dominating Stage 2 time trial win in Folsom, finished ninth in the stage, trailing the leader by 20 seconds. The 2012 Tour de France winner, Wiggins leads Dennis by 24 seconds with five stages left.
NBA
Pistons hire Stan Van Gundy as head coach/president
DETROIT – Stan Van Gundy agreed to a $35-million, five-year contract to be the Detroit Pistons’ head coach and president of basketball operations, a person with knowledge of the details said.
Detroit gave Van Gundy the powerful combination of jobs Tuesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The deal first was reported by ESPN.com.
The Pistons announced in April that they were not renewing Joe Dumars’ contract, ending his 14-year run as president of basketball operations. Maurice Cheeks lost his job 50 games into the regular season. Detroit finished the season with a 29-53 record and with John Loyer as coach.
Van Gundy has a 371-208 career record with the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.
NFL
Jaguars replace Blackmon’s locker with a rookie
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars took another step toward parting ways with suspended receiver Justin Blackmon: The Jaguars removed Blackmon’s name plate from atop his locker, the latest indication that the former first-round draft pick has no future with the franchise.
The team placed rookie quarterback Stephen Morris from Miami in the stall.
Blackmon is suspended without pay indefinitely for repeated violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy.
Browns see Seahawks’ deal and raise Haden for 5 more
CLEVELAND – The Browns aren’t letting lockdown cornerback Joe Haden get away.
Haden signed a five-year, $68-million extension with Cleveland on Monday, the total value of the contract surpassing cornerback Richard Sherman’s four-year, $57-million agreement last week with the Seattle Seahawks.
Haden’s contract will run through the 2019 season and includes $45 million guaranteed; the package also contains a $14-million signing bonus.
Associated Press
