BERGAMO, Italy — Lance Armstrong and his teammates have not faded away. Only their jerseys have.
After losing time all week in climbs and steep descents, Armstrong stayed with the chasing pack on a short uphill stretch in the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday and teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner attacked.
For the second consecutive day, eight of the nine Astana riders protested not being paid for two months by wearing shirts with the names of sponsors faded.
“Legs finally felt a bit better today. Team Faded was amazing,” Armstrong wrote on his Twitter feed.
Kanstantsin Siutsou of Belarus won the stage with a late solo breakaway and Danilo Di Luca of Italy added eight seconds to his overall lead by finishing third.
Di Luca leads Thomas Lovkvist of Sweden by 13 seconds in the overall standings with Michael Rogers of Australia third, 44 seconds back. Leipheimer was fourth, 51 seconds behind. Armstrong, who finished in the main pack, remained 25th overall, 4:39 behind Di Luca.
Duo leading Sybase Classic
CLIFTON, N.J. — Suzann Pettersen and Ji Young Oh shot 3-under-par 69s, taking a one-stroke lead over Brittany Lincicome after three rounds of the LPGA Sybase Classic.
• Defending champion Zach Johnson matched the La Cantera course record with a 10-under-par 60 to take a three-stroke lead in the suspended third round of the rain- soaked Texas Open in San Antonio.
• Irish amateur Shane Lowry and England’s Robert Rock were tied for the lead after three rounds of the Irish Open in Baltray, Ireland.
• Gene Jones and Keith Fergus shared the lead at 10-under when play was suspended by rain in the second round of the Regions Charity Classic in Hoover, Ala.
Fire stays unbeaten in MLS
TORONTO — Second-half goals from Chris Rolfe and Brian McBride kept the Chicago Fire the only unbeaten team in Major League Soccer with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC.
Toronto FC had its first loss under interim coach Chris Cummins.
• In other MLS games, the Houston Dynamo tied the New York Red Bulls 1-1 in East Rutherford, N.J.
• Josh Wolff scored two goals to lift the visiting Kansas City Wizards over Real Salt Lake 2-0.
• Seattle FC battled FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw in Frisco, Texas.
Footnotes.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal saved three match points before beating Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) to reach the Madrid Open final.
Nadal will face chief rival Roger Federer, who beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4.
• Buffalo Bills fullback Corey McIntyre was arrested in Florida on accusations he fondled himself outside a Port St. Lucie woman’s home. The incident allegedly happened about two months ago.
• Manchester United won the Premier League for the third straight year after a 0-0 tie with Arsenal.
The Associated Press
