ROME — Lance Armstrong, 37, agreed Monday to ride in next year’s Giro d’Italia and suggested the Italian race — not the Tour de France — will be the main target in his comeback season.
The American has never competed in the three-week Giro, considered the sport’s most prestigious stage race after the Tour.
“Everyone is saying that the Giro will serve to prepare for the Tour,” Armstrong said in a written statement. “Actually, it could be that I come to Italy to win and the Giro will actually be my real three-week stage race of the year.”
The 100th anniversary edition of the Giro is scheduled for May 9-31. The Tour de France starts July 4.
• Third-place Tour de France finisher Bernhard Kohl tested positive for a banned blood booster when his race samples were checked for the new drug.
Rangers prospect dies
NEW YORK — Alexei Cherepanov, a 19-year-old first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, died during a Continental Hockey League game in Russia. Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr played a shift with Cherepanov and was talking to his Avangard Omsk teammate on the bench shortly after they left the ice, when Cherepanov collapsed.
“I don’t know the specifics, but I’ve heard that there wasn’t an ambulance there (at the arena), that it had left, and that there were problems with the defibrillator that they had there,” said Jay Grossman, the player’s agent.
Big Brown injures foot, retires
NEW YORK — Big Brown’s racing career ended when the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner injured his right front foot during a workout at Aqueduct Race Course.
Michael Iavarone of IEAH Stables said the 3-year-old colt tore a 3-inch piece of flesh off the foot after it collided with his right rear foot while working over Aqueduct’s turf course with stablemate Kip Deville.
Pujols has surgery
ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols had right elbow surgery to relieve nerve irritation that had led to numbness in his had. The St. Louis Cardinals star is expected to be ready for spring training.
• Cleveland designated hitter Travis Hafner will undergo arthroscopic surgery today on the strained right shoulder that kept him on the disabled list for more than three months.
• The Kansas City Royals hired former Toronto manager John Gibbons to be their bench coach and former Royals star Kevin Seitzer as the hitting coach.
Footnotes.
Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was dropped from the U.S. roster for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier at Trinidad and Tobago after injuring a knee during Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Galaxy.
• Two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo was upset by Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Zurich Open in Switzerland. Azarenka, 19, broke Mauresmo’s serve twice in the first set and three times in the second.
• The New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League plans to cease operations despite being near the top of the league in attendance the past two seasons.
The Associated Press
