■ CYCLING
Moreau wins Dauphine
Christophe Moreau of France won the Dauphine Libere on Sunday, beating out Cadel Evans of Australia by 14 seconds overall. Moreau, the 2001 champion riding for A2R, maintained his advantage over Evans from Saturday's penultimate stage. Andrey Kashechkin of Kazakhstan was third overall, 1 minute 27 seconds behind Moreau. Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the final stage, a 129km trek from Valloire to Annecy in the southern Alps. Oscar Sio Pereiro of Spain was second, 37 seconds back, followed by Evans in the same time.
■ SWIMMING
Ziegler smashes record time
The US' Kate Ziegler broke swimming's oldest world record, shattering the 1,500m freestyle mark by over 9 seconds on Sunday night. Ziegler won the race at the TYR Meet of Champions in 15 minutes, 42.54 seconds, easily erasing Janet Evans' 1988 mark of 15:52.10 set in Orlando, Florida. At the time, Evans was the first woman to break 16 minutes. "It was pretty spectacular," said Mark Schubert, national team coach and general manager of USA Swimming. "Kate was delighted when she looked at the scoreboard. She practically jumped out of the pool." It was Ziegler's fourth victory at the meet, having already won the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyles.
■ MOTORCYCLING
Aussie Bayliss wins twice
Defending champion Troy Bayliss of Australia won both races of the World Superbike championships on Sunday and moved into second place in the title race. James Toseland of Britain maintained the overall lead with 260 points. In the first race, Noriyuki Haga of Japan led from the ninth lap until Bayliss passed him on lap 20. Two laps later, Max Biaggi of Italy challenged Haga for second and the two collided and crashed out of the race. Bayliss led the second race from the start. Haga came in second and Biaggi was third. Yukio Kagayama of Japan was fourth. Toseland had held fourth place, but slipped back after Biaggi and Kagayama challenged him. He ended up in sixth, just after Troy Corser.
■ CYCLING
Zabel wins in Lucerne
Erik Zabel won a sprint to the finish on Sunday to win the second stage of the Tour de Suisse, and Fabian Cancellara kept the leader's yellow jersey by finishing third. Zabel completed the 157km stage from Olten to Lucerne in 4 hours, 4 minutes, 57 seconds. Daniele Bennati of Italy, who finished second in Saturday's time trial, was second again. "With two big climbs in the final kilometers, the stage was quite difficult," Zabel said. "And it could have ended differently. The final stretch was close." In the final kilometer, Greg Rast of Switzerland skidded out of control on a left-hand turn and brought down several other riders with him, though the front 10 racers escaped.
■ SOCCER
Chavez issues cup warning
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Sunday that government opponents were planning to interrupt the Copa America by staging street protests and possible transportation strikes. Chavez urged authorities -- including the armed forces and state intelligence services -- to neutralize any effort aimed at disrupting the tournament, which is being hosted in Venezuela for the first time from June 26 to July 15. "This plan continues developing. We are defeating it, but they are not going to give up," said Chavez, speaking during his weekly radio and television program.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
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Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after