ALPI DI SIUSI, Italy — Lance Armstrong finished nearly three minutes behind the leaders in the grueling uphill finish that concluded stage 5 of his first Giro d’Italia on Wednesday. He dropped from sixth to 22nd overall — 3 minutes, 34 seconds behind new race leader Danilo Di Luca.
“I knew that we would be behind so we just had to ride our tempo and limit the losses,” Armstrong said. “I thought maybe two minutes and it’s closer to three, but that’s OK.”
Armstrong returned this season after 3 1/2 years of retirement and broke his collarbone in March.
“As I said at the beginning, the first half of the Giro is not going to be my half. I’ve got to ride into the race and still get my condition back after the accident,” he said. “I can’t expect to be at the front.”
Denis Menchov sprinted away from a select group of riders and held off Di Luca for the stage victory, covering the 77.68-mile leg in 3 hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds. Armstrong finished 35th, 2:58 behind Menchov.
In the overall standings, Di Luca holds a five-second lead on Thomas Lovkvist.
Taylor rejoins Dolphins
MIAMI — Jason Taylor, the NFL’s active sacks leader with 120 1/2, signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal to rejoin the Miami Dolphins.
Taylor played his first 11 seasons with Miami before being traded a year ago to the Washington Redskins — fallout from his stint on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars.” He was released by Washington in March after one injury- plagued season.
• Baltimore Ravens right tackle Willie Anderson is retiring.
• Running back Fred Jackson signed a four-year contract extension with the Buffalo Bills.
British Masters canceled
BALTRAY, Ireland — The British Masters has been dropped from this year’s European Tour schedule after it was unable to find a new sponsor.
The tournament is one of the oldest events on the tour and has been staged every year since 1946. It was dropped from this year’s calendar after Quinn Insurance’s sponsorship came to an end and no replacement could be found. It had been planned for Sept. 17-20 at The Belfry, where it was staged the last three years.
Footnotes.
After missing the season’s first three races because of a lack of sponsorship money, 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal has completed a one-race deal to put veteran Spanish driver Oriol Servia in the cockpit of his No. 17 car for the 500 on May 24.
• Former NBA coach Eddie Jordan has expressed interest in the Philadelphia 76ers head coaching job and said he hopes to meet with team president Ed Stefanski by the end of the weekend.
• Arkansas’ Michael Washington, who led the Razorbacks with 15.5 points per game last season, has removed his name from the NBA draft.
• A woman accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino pleaded not guilty in Louisville, Ky. Karen Cunagin Sypher‘s trial was scheduled for June 29.
The Associated Press
