PARIS — Top-ranked cyclist Alejandro Valverde‘s team said the Spanish rider will not compete in the Tour de France because of a doping ban in Italy.
The Caisse d’Epargne team said Tuesday that Valverde met with his lawyers and was told he would have no recourse against the ban before the three-week Tour starts in Monaco on July 4. The race dips into Italy on July 21.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has agreed to hear Valverde’s appeal to overturn the Italian ban. Any decision won’t come early enough for him to start the Tour, the team said in a statement.
Chinese gymnasts under review.
Two Chinese gymnasts suspected of being underage at the 2000 Olympics aren’t off the hook.
The International Gymnastics Federation announced it has turned the investigation into Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun‘s eligibility over to its disciplinary commission, which will give its decision to the FIG’s executive committee by the end of September.
The Chinese women were the bronze medalists in Sydney, and Yang also won a bronze medal on uneven bars. The U.S. women were fourth in 2000.
Weiser responds to audit
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser said an audit released by the Kansas State Board of Regents is mostly accurate, but he contended no improper payments were made to him.
The audit found numerous instances of questionable transactions, many involving Weiser, who is now deputy commissioner of the Big 12 Conference.
“I was never paid any money that I was not owed under my agreements with Kansas State University,” Weiser said. “All payments were made through the appropriate channels.”
The audit found several questionable financial decisions during the tenure of departing university president Jon Wefald, including a $500,000 loan to Weiser and 13 undocumented payments totaling $845,000 to him, football coach Bill Snyder and former vice president and athletic director Bob Krause.
• Northwestern University extended the contract of football coach Pat Fitzgerald through the 2015 season.
Footnotes.
David Toms and Nick Price shot a second-round 11-under-par 60 as they won the best- ball CVS Caremark Charity Classic in Barrington, R.I., with a combined 36-hole total of 16-under 126.
• Lorena Ochoa has a new caddie, switching to veteran Greg Johnston starting next week at the Jamie Farr Classic in Ohio.
• Belinda Snell came off the bench to score 21 points and Becky Hammon added 19 after shooting 1-for-7 in the first half of the San Antonio Silver Stars’ 91-87 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury.
• Candice Wiggins scored 18 of her season-high 25 points in the first half and the Minnesota Lynx snapped a two-game slide with a 69-57 victory over the New York Liberty in Minneapolis.
• Jia Perkins hit a jumper with 44.4 seconds left to lift the Chicago Sky to a 99-98 overtime victory over the Dream in Atlanta.
The Associated Press
