Cycling-Cavendish pulls out of Tour de France to focus on Rio (Reuters) (Adds Cavendish quotes, details) By Julien Pretot July 19 (Reuters) - Britain's Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France to manage his workload ahead of the Rio Olympics, his Dimension Data team said in a statement on Tuesday. "After analysing his workload from the previous stages and his current levels of … [Read more...]

Bubba Watson explains his no-flinch decision to play in the Olympics Bubba Watson didn’t hesitate on representing the United States in next month’s Olympic golf tournament in Brazil. Appearing on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Watson told Patrick about his short decision-making process. “As soon as they said I was on the team, it was a go,” Watson said. He explained why the common reasons so many … [Read more...]

Cycling-Dominant Froome to peak for Tour de France final week (Reuters) By Julien Pretot BERN, July 19 (Reuters) - Nairo Quintana is expected to be at his best for the final week of the Tour de France, which feature four stages in the Alps, but Chris Froome says he has never been better going into a grand tour decider. "I feel more ready for the third week than I have been in previous … [Read more...]

Russia suspends senior state sports official: R-Sport (Reuters) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Tuesday he had suspended Irina Rodionova, deputy head of Russia's state-funded Sports Preparation Centre, R-Sport news agency reported. Mutko said he had not shirked his own duties but was ready to take responsibility for Russia's doping scandal. (Reporting by Jack … [Read more...]

IOC seeks legal advice on banning Russia from Rio Olympics (Yahoo Sports) International Olympic officials will ''explore the legal options''' for a potential total ban on Russia from the games in Rio de Janeiro, and are taking measures to punish athletes and officials involved in the state-run doping conspiracy. The IOC executive board announced steps on Tuesday following a scathing report … [Read more...]

Tiger Woods pulls out of PGA Championship, replaced by Varner III Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the 2016 PGA Championship, making official that the 14-time major champion will not compete in any of golf’s four majors this year as we near the one-year mark since Woods last played competitively. The PGA of America announced Woods’ withdrawal with the release of the final full field for next … [Read more...]

Olympics-Cummings called in to Britain's road team for Rio (Reuters) Veteran Steve Cummings has been called up to the British cycling team for the Olympic road races in Rio after Peter Kennaugh failed to recover in time from a broken collarbone. British Cycling confirmed the change on Tuesday, saying the 27-year-old Kennaugh had volunteered to step down after struggling to recover from the … [Read more...]

Russia suspends senior sports officials over doping scandal (Reuters) Russia suspended a raft of senior sports officials on Tuesday after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said they were heavily involved in a state-backed cheating scheme at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said on Monday that any government officials identified in the WADA report, which … [Read more...]

Kosovo sending 8 athletes to its first Olympics (Yahoo Sports) Kosovo is sending eight athletes to its first Olympics, and even hopes to win a couple of medals. ''For the first time, we are feeling what it means to be equal among all the other athletes,'' Kosovo Olympic Committee head Besim Hasani said at the presentation. ''We are going there to achieve winning a medal because (judoka) … [Read more...]

Scotland's Bennett picked for Britain 7s squad (Yahoo Sports) LONDON (AP) -- Scotland center Mark Bennett's bid to play in the Olympics paid off when he was picked in the Britain rugby sevens team on Tuesday. … [Read more...]