A round-up of today's other sports news in brief ...
Di Luca sprints to Giro stage win
CYCLING: Snatching the stage victory at the top of a climb suited to his explosive style of racing, Danilo Di Luca outsprinted another former Giro d’Italia winner, Stefano Garzelli, on yesterday’s fourth leg of the race, writes Shane Stokes.
Overnight leader Alessandro Petacchi cracked on the first of two big climbs, the Croce d’Aune, and finished a long way back. Team Columbia - High Road rider Thomas Lovkvist placed seventh and took over the maglia rosa, ending the day two seconds ahead of Di Luca.
Lance Armstrong conceded 15 seconds to the front runners, showing some weakness in the high mountains.
Irish pro Philip Deignan lost more time, finishing almost 11 minutes back after being hurt in a crash.
“There were some people fighting to get to the front on the first climb and the guy in front of me clipped my front wheel,” he said. “There was nothing I could do about it and I went down. I had to stop as my derailleur was broken. I made a big effort to get back but I just had too much pain.”
He hopes to be fit for today’s 125km stage to Alpe di Siusi.
Ashes will not use "referrals"
CRICKET: This summer’s Ashes will not feature the controversial “referral” system, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided.
The system lets players request that umpire’s decisions be reviewed by a third official.
It was trialled in England’s series in the West Indies, but following criticism the ICC has decided to make changes. It wants to fine tune the technology before a planned launch in October.
Murray made to work in Madrid
TENNIS: Andy Murray enjoyed a successful start to the defence of his title at the Madrid Open yesterday with a straight-sets victory over Simone Bolelli. But it proved to be a testing start to the tournament for the reigning champion.
The new world number three needed two hours and eight minutes to see off his Italian opponent 7-6 (11/9) 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with Spaniard Tommy Robredo, the 16th seed.
World number two Roger Federer made a solid start to his latest bid for a first title of the year when he beat Robin Soderling 6-1 7-5 in the second round.
Boonen caught for cocaine again
CYCLING: Former world champion Tom Boonen faces a suspension of up to six months and is certain to miss the Tour de France after failing an out-of-competition test for cocaine, officials have said.
It is the Belgian’s second time in 12 months to be charged with the same offence.
When the Quick Step rider’s latest positive test was announced on Saturday the International Cycling Union (UCI) said Boonen would not be punished by the governing body “since the use of cocaine out of competition is not subject to sanctions”.
However, the UCI said yesterday: “The behaviour of Tom Boonen, even though it does not constitute a violation of the anti-doping rules, can be considered unacceptable and liable to harm the image, reputation or interests of cycling or the UCI. This infringement is punishable by a suspension of one to six months.”
Tour de France organisers reacted to the UCI announcement by saying Boonen would take no part in the July race.
Ferrari threaten F1 pull-out over budget cap plan
MOTOR SPORT: Ferrari will quit Formula One at the end of season if the sport adopts a budget cap for 2010, the champions have said.
“No F1 in 2010 if the rules do not change. Ferrari confirms its opposition to the new rules imposed by FIA and does not intend to register cars for the 2010 F1 world championship,” a statement said.
Toyota and Red Bull have already threatened not to enter next year’s championship unless the new rules published by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) are changed.
The FIA want to introduce an optional €45 million budget cap to encourage new teams to enter.
The plan would allow capped teams to operate with far greater technical freedom than those continuing with unlimited budgets.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, head of the Formula One Teams’ Association, has warned it would create a two-tier championship that could be “fundamentally unfair and perhaps even biased”.
