CYCLING
Ewan clinches fourth stage
Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan on Tuesday edged Danny Van Poppel and Peter Sagan in a frantic bunch finish after the 238km fourth stage of the Tour de Pologne. The result was enough for world road race champion Sagan to keep the overall leader’s yellow jersey as he seeks redemption after being thrown off the Tour de France last month. On the largely flat stage an escape group formed on a sizzling day, extending their lead to more than seven minutes before being reeled in late on. Ewan powered past Sagan with less than 100m to go, while Van Poppel beat the Slovak to second on the line with a bike throw. The charismatic Sagan extended his overall lead to 10 seconds over Dylan Teuns thanks to his time bonus.
CYCLING
Landa wins opening stage
In-form Team Sky rider Mikel Landa was on Tuesday first up the tough final slope to win the first stage of Spain’s five-day Vuelta a Burgos. Spanish rider Landa was key to Chris Froome’s fourth Tour de France win last month and crucial in the Clasica de San Sebastian win for Polish teammate Michal Kwiatkowski on Sunday. Claiming the overall lead, Landa made his bid in the final kilometer of the 152km stage, beating home Russia’s Sergei Chernetski of Astana Pro Team by 2 seconds, while France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Quick-Step Floors was third.
FOOTBALL
NFL eyes marijuana study
NFL officials have reached out to the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) in a bid to work with the union on its study of marijuana as a potential pain management drug, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The NFL currently bans any use of marijuana, but the league sent a letter to the NFLPA saying that it wants to join the union’s research on the subject, the newspaper reported. The union has not said whether it would work with the league on the research. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told newspaper in January that the union was working on a proposal to soften the harsh punishments for players who use the drug. “I do think that issues of addressing it more in a treatment and less punitive measure is appropriate,” Smith said. “I think it’s important to look at whether there are addiction issues. And I think it’s important to not simply assume recreation is the reason it’s being used.” NFL players who test positive for more than 35 nanograms per milliliter of tetrahydrocannabinol must enter an intervention program.
ICE HOCKEY
Wild, Granlund sign deal
The Minnesota Wild have agreed to terms with standout forward Mikael Granlund on a three-year, US$17.25 million contract. The Wild on Tuesday announced the deal with the restricted free agent, whose 69 points last season were tied for fourth in franchise history. Granlund, 25, led the Wild in points, assists and multipoint games. He set career highs in nine statistical categories. Granlund scored 17 points in a 12-game point streak from Jan. 12 through Feb. 4, the longest point streak in Wild history and tied for the second-longest point streak in the NHL last season. The 177.8cm, 83kg native of Finland has collected 201 points and 80 penalty minutes in 321 games with the Wild. He was selected by Minnesota in the first round of the 2010 draft.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was