Cycling
LONDON – Bradley Wiggins has announced his retirement from cycling, ending a career in which he won a British-record eight Olympic medals and the Tour de France.
Wiggins said “2016 is the end of the road for this chapter, onwards and upwards,” adding that he fulfilled a “childhood aspiration of making a living and a career out of the sport I fell in love with at the age of 12.”
Wiggins is Britain’s most decorated Olympian with five golds in a haul of eight medals. He became the first Briton to win the Tour de France when he triumphed in cycling’s most grueling race in 2012.
NBA
DENVER – Wilson Chandler scored 17 points and delivered a key block in the final seconds, helping the Denver Nuggets hang on to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-103 on Wednesday night.
The Nuggets overcame a triple-double by Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.
Danilo Gallinari scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 27 seconds left, and Nikola Jokic was two rebounds shy of a triple-double for the Nuggets. He finished with 16 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins had 25 points for the Timberwolves.
NBA
TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances and said Wednesday he’s entering a treatment facility rather than appeal the ban.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection who was the league’s second-leading rusher in 2015 will miss Sunday’s regular-season finale against Carolina.
He also sat out last week’s 31-24 loss at New Orleans after being declared inactive.
Martin said in a statement that he learned of the suspension last week and that his “initial instinct” was to “appeal the suspension and finish the season with my teammates.”
Skiing
SEMMERING, Austria – Mikaela Shiffrin earned her second women’s World Cup giant slalom win in two days for her 25th career victory.
In tough conditions because of dense snowfall, the American built on her narrow first-run lead to beat Tessa Worley of France by 0.15 seconds, while Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was 0.18 back in third.
Shiffrin and Worley also finished 1-2 in Tuesday’s GS on the same course.
Shiffrin extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings to 115 points over defending champion Lara Gut of Switzerland, who finished sixth in Wednesday’s race.
The three-day event in Austria ends with a floodlit slalom race on Thursday. Olympic champion Shiffrin has won all slaloms she competed in since February 2015.
SANTA CATERINA VALFURVA, Italy – Strong winds prompted organizers to cancel a men’s World Cup downhill race on Wednesday.
The upper part of the Deborah Compagnoni course was considered too dangerous.
The International Ski Federation said that because of an already congested schedule the race will not be made up, leaving only six more downhills this season after the two already contested.
The cancellation was good news for Aksel Lund Svindal, the Norwegian leading the downhill standings who is taking this week off to rest a sore knee.
Associated Press
