■ Skiing
Bjorgen, Eigenmann win
Marit Bjorgen of Norway and Christoph Eigenmann of Switzerland won the first races on Sunday at the new Tour de Ski in Munich, Germany. The overall time winner at the six-race cross-country event will get 400 World Cup points. Eigenmann finished the 1.2km freestyle race in 2 minutes, 04.9 seconds to edge out Canada's Devon Kershaw by 1.4 seconds. Roddy Darragon of France was 2.6 back in third. Bjorgen won the women's 0.8km freestyle race in 1:35.1. Italy's Arianna Follis was second and Canada's Chandra Crawford third, both finishing 1.1 seconds behind. The event was held in Munich's 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium.
■ Biathlon
Ole Bjorndalen wins again
Ole Einar Bjorndalen won the biathlon World Team Challenge for the fourth straight year on Sunday in front of 52,000 spectators in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Bjorndalen teamed up with fellow Norwegian Linda Grubben to capture the mixed-pair event in Gelsenkirchen's domed soccer stadium. The event isn't on the World Cup schedule, but offers competitors the year's biggest crowds. "We look forward to this event the whole year -- there is nothing like biathlon in Gelsenkirchen," Bjorndalen said. Bjorndalen and Grubben, who split 24,000 euros (US$31,000) in prize money, finished 18 rounds of 1,264m in 31 minutes, 17.2 seconds with two missed targets. Florence Bavarel and Robert-Julien Robert of France were second, followed by Germany's Martina Glagow and Michael Greis.
■ Soccer
Andres Oper nets a brace
Roda JC forward Andres Oper scored twice on Sunday to hold third-place AZ Alkmaar to a 2-2 draw in the Dutch league. Oper scored in the 23rd and 67th minutes before being sent off in the 79th for a second yellow card. Five minutes later, Barry Opdam, who had scored for AZ in the 65th, set up Danny Koevermans for the equalizer. Vitesse Arnhem rallied on a second-half goal by substitute Fred Benson to draw 2-2 with Heracles Almelo. Arnhem was in ninth place on 26 points, 27 fewer than leader PSV Eindhoven, which beat ADO The Hague 2-1 on Saturday on goals from Patrick Kluivert and Jefferson Farfan. Second-place Ajax also played Saturday and was held to a 2-2 draw at NEC Nijmegen, with Kenneth Perez and Gabri scoring for the Amsterdam team. Also on Saturday, it was: SC Heerenveen 0, FC Utrecht 0; Sparta Rotterdam 3, FC Twente 0 and RKC Waalwijk 0, FC Groningen 2. PSV has 53 points, 11 more than Ajax and 12 more than AZ. Feyenoord climbed past FC Twente into fourth on Friday with 39 points after beating Excelsior 3-1. The Eredivisie now has a 20-day winter break.
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