CYCLING
Thomas wins summit finish
British rider Geraint Thomas won the first summit finish of the Tour de France and claimed the yellow jersey on Wednesday with Team Sky asserting its dominance. Four-time champion Chris Froome moved up to second overall, 1 minute, 25 seconds behind Thomas, his teammate. Thomas attacked on the last of four climbs over the short but grueling 11th stage and finished 20 seconds ahead of Tom Dumoulin, who moved up to third overall, 1:44 behind. Froome crossed third, just behind Dumoulin. Greg Van Avermaet, who had worn the yellow jersey since his BMC squad won the team time trial in Stage 3, lost contact midway through the stage and finished far behind. It was Thomas' second career stage victory at the Tour, having claimed the individual time trial that opened last year's race. Froome is attempting to match the record of five Tour victories shared by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
FOOTBALL
RB Vereen joins Saints
A person familiar with the situation said veteran running back Shane Vereen has agreed to join the New Orleans Saints in a move that could help the club respond to Mark Ingram's early season suspension. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because the roster move has not been announced. Vereen has served as a runner and receiver with New England and the New York Giants during his seven NFL seasons. He gained 838 yards from scrimmage and scored five touchdowns for the Patriots' 2014 squad that won the Super Bowl. Last season with the Giants, he rushed for 164 yards and caught 44 passes for 253 yards. Ingram, who was New Orleans' leading rusher last season, has been suspended four games for use of a banned substance. The Saints also signed veteran running back Terrance West this summer.
Revis announces retirement
Darrelle Revis, a star cornerback with the New York Jets and a Super Bowl winner with their archrivals, the Patriots, has retired. Revis announced Wednesday on social media that he was ending an 11-season career that included four All-Pro selections. The proprietor of Revis Island, he was a first-round draft pick (14th overall) by the Jets in 2007 who made an instant impact as a shutdown cover cornerback. Usually charged with handling an opponent's top receiver, Revis often forced offenses to change their game plan to avoid him. He had 29 career interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, including a 100-yarder against Miami. In 2009, Revis was beaten out by Charles Woodson for Defensive Player of the Year honors. Revis, who just turned 33, said he is "closing a chapter on my life that I once dreamed of as a kid."
Request denied
A federal judge has denied a request from the NFL to appoint a special investigator to look into what the league says is extensive fraudulent claims on the $1 billion concussion settlement. Judge Anita Brody wrote in her ruling Wednesday that the league's attorneys have demonstrated that there is "sufficient evidence of probable fraud to warrant serious concern." Brody said the already-in-place special master and claims administrator have effectively ferreted out those claims. The league cited an independent study it said found more than 400 claims had been recommended for denial based on evidence of fraud by attorneys, doctors and former players attempting to cheat the program. Plaintiffs' lawyers said they support Brody's decision, noting more than $485 million has already been approved for valid claims.
BASEBALL
Hader to take training
Major League Baseball said Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader will be required to go through sensitivity training after years-old racist and homophobic tweets of his resurfaced during the All-Star Game. MLB announced Wednesday that the commissioner's office would require Hader to participate in diversity and inclusion initiatives in addition to the sensitivity training. In a statement, Brewers General Manager David Stearns said the team will continue to work through the issue with Hader. Several of Hader's tweets from 2011 and 2012 came to light Tuesday night while Hader was pitching in the All-Star Game. Hader learned of the situation when he left the game, apologized and took responsibility for the tweets, saying they did not reflect his values or the person he is today.
TENNIS
Azarenka misses direct entry
Two-time U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka is ranked just below the cutoff for direct entry into the Open, the year's last Grand Slam tournament. Azarenka, a former No. 1 and twice the champion at the Australian Open, is No. 108 this week, seven spots outside of an automatic spot in the main draw. The U.S. Tennis Association announced Wednesday that defending champion and top-ranked Rafael Nadal is one of six past male singles champions in the U.S. Open field, along with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic. Another past title winner at Flushing Meadows, Stan Wawrinka, is ranked 199th this week. The women's winners with direct entry based on this week's rankings are six-time champion Serena Williams, two-time champ Venus Williams, defending champ Sloane Stephens, Maria Sharapova and Samantha Stosur.
MOTOR SPORTS
Briscoe wins Eldora shootout
Chase Briscoe held off Grant Enfinger on the dirt at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, in a door-banging overtime shootout Wednesday night in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Briscoe won NASCAR’s only national series race on dirt in his first Truck start since taking the season finale last year at Homestead. He drove the No. 27 Ford for Sandusky, Ohio-based ThorSport Racing, finishing 0.38 seconds ahead of teammate Enfinger. Stewart Friesen was third in the half-mile oval, followed by 2017 race winner Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Logan Seavey, Justin Haley and Nick Hoffman. Briscoe took the lead from Seavey on a restart with five laps left, with a wreck in the backstretch then bringing out the final caution. Briscoe started the twolap shootout in the bottom lane and managed to fend off Enfinger. Series points leader Johnny Sauter finished 16th. Cup driver Ryan Newman was 30th.
Truex seeks another sponsor
Furniture Row Racing and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. are looking for a new sponsor. The team said Wednesday that 5-hour ENERGY will end its activity in NASCAR after this season, leaving the No. 78 Toyota seeking a primary backer for 2019. This season, 5-hour ENERGY was the co-primary sponsor on the No. 78 along with Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats for 30 Cup races. The energy shot company has been a primary NASCAR sponsor for nearly a decade, including the last seven at the Cup level. Rise' Meguiar, sales president for parent company Living Essentials, praised Furniture Row and said it was simply a business decision. In March, Lowe's said it would not sponsor seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson after this season and other major backers have scaled back on auto racing spending, including Target, Home Depot, Sprint, UPS, Subway, GoDaddy and Best Buy. Joe Garone, president of Furniture Row Racing, said a new sponsor will become one of the highest-profile brands in NASCAR and a partner with the namesake Furniture Row, Bass Pro Shops, Auto-Owners Insurance, Toyota and Denver Mattress.
OLYMPICS
Events added to '22 Games
Planning for its next three Olympic Games on Wednesday, the IOC added seven medal events to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, published a 2020 Tokyo Olympics schedule with no agreement on when to race swimming finals, and set a timetable to add new sports to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The next Winter Olympics will now include women's monobob, Big Air freestyle skiing for men and women, plus mixed team events in short track speed skating, ski jumping, ski aerials and snowboardcross. The addition of gold medals to a 109-event program was combined with a reduction in how many athletes will compete. In an attempt to cut organizing costs, amid recent failures of potential bidders in Europe for the 2026 Winter Games, there should be no additional venues required and 41 fewer athletes in Beijing than the 2,933 competitors at the Pyeongchang Olympics last February. Paris organizers have an uncertain wait to discover if new sports they propose next year for inclusion on the 2024 program will be approved. The IOC plans to make interim decisions on the Paris preferences at an October 2019 meeting in Milan, then review again after seeing how other sports perform at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sports on 07/19/2018