Doping scandal rocks Tour de France
PARIS, June 30 (UPI) -- Cyclists Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich have been eliminated from this year's Tour de France because of doping allegations.
Ullrich of Germany, the 1997 champion, was suspended along with T-Mobile teammates Oscar Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage.
Basso was joined by fellow Spanish racers Francisco Mancebo and Joseba Beloki.
Team T-Mobile said information presented to the organization contradicted claims of innocence by Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage. It said facts point that the riders had contact with Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor who was arrested in the probe.
"Our stance was always unequivocal," said Christian Frommert, director of sports communication for T-Mobile International. "If we are presented with evidence, which leads us to doubt the credibility of one or other of our riders, then we act upon it immediately. That is the case now. At first we had no reason to doubt the riders' statements. Therefore, we couldn't make any decision merely based on speculations, rumors and guesses."
"I'm not very proud to be here today," said AGCP chief Patrick Lefevere.
Boris Said earns Pepsi 400 pole position
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 30 (UPI) -- Boris Said Friday captured the pole position for Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Said, who calls himself a part-time driver on the Nextel Cup circuit, took his No.60 Ford around the 2.5-mile super-speedway in 48.350 seconds (186.143 mph).
He finished ahead of Tony Stewart, whose second-best time was 48.478 seconds.
"I didn't really do a whole lot," Said admitted. "I just want to thank Jack Roush for giving us the opportunity to buy (his) cars and engines. Everyone at Roush -- thanks for helping our little No Fear Racing team out."
David Stremme (48.497) and Jeff Gordon (48.516) will start in row two.
Other notable drivers and their starting positions: Dale Jarrett (7th), Jimmy Johnson (9th), Matt Kenseth (10th), Greg Biffle (12th), Kurt Busch (16th), Ryan Newman (23rd), Jamie McMurray (26th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (35th).
Angels dump one Weaver, recall another
ANAHEIM, Calif., June 30 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Angels Friday recalled right-hander Jered Weaver from Triple-A Salt Lake and designated his brother, Jeff, for assignment.
Jered Weaver, 23, was 6-1 with two shutouts and a 1.99 ERA in 12 games at Salt Lake.
Jeff Weaver, 30, was having a woeful season after signing a one-year free agent contract with the Angels in February. Jeff Weaver, also a right-hander, was only 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA in 88 2/3 innings. He also has pitched for Detroit and the New York Yankees.
In his last three starts, Jeff Weaver had given up 16 runs and 25 hits in a combined 14 1/3 innings.
After a solid collegiate career at Long Beach State University, Jered Weaver was chosen by the Angels in first round (12th pick overall) of 2004 Free Agent Amateur Draft.
Federer increases streak at Wimbledon
LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Roger Federer led Friday's third round men's winners at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.
Federer's latest victim was Nicolas Mahut of France, who lost 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. With the win, Federer extended his grass-court winning streak to 44 matches.
"This was a tricky match, very difficult," Federer told the BBC. "I expected a big serve, but I didn't expect such a big second serve. I enjoyed the challenge."
Two of the big losers on the men's side on Friday were No. 3 David Nalbandian, who lost to 28th seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (11-9), 6-2; and eight-seeded James Blake, who was beaten by unseeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Other winners were Lleyton Hewitt, Mario Ancic; Olivier Rochus, Jonas Bjorkman and local favorite Andy Murray of England.
Clijsters leads winners at Wimbledon
LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne both won their third-round matches Friday at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.
Clijsters, the No. 2 seed, beat unseeded Jie Zheng of China, 6-3, 6-2, and the third-seeded Henin-Hardenne topped Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, 6-2, 6-3.
Elsewhere, No. 27 Na Li of China knocked off fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; 18th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat No. 12 and five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; 15th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat No. 21 seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); and Severine Bremond of France beat No. 31 Gisela Dulko of Argentina, 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 7-5.
Hingis, who came out of retirement at the start of the season, was playing at the All England Club for the first time since 2001.
Four players share the lead at Newport
NEWPORT, R.I., June 30 (UPI) -- Annika Sorenstam is among the four leaders after one round of the weather-plagued U.S. Women's Open Golf Tournament at Newport, R.I.
Sorenstam, reigning LPGA Championship winner Se Ri Pak, Pat Hurst and amateur Jane Park all shot 3-under 69 Friday.
"It was a great start, and hopefully I can continue this," said Sorenstam. "I feel like I've come a long ways the last few days, and today I really showed that, so it was good."
"There is so much water on the golf course still, but we can't do anything about it," said Pak.
Michelle Wie shot 1-under 70, and is tied for fifth place with amateur Amanda Blumenherst, Sung Ah Yim, Gloria Hee Jung Park and Becky Morgan.
"I felt like I had a very solid round today, lots of pars. That's what the U.S. Open is," said the 16-year-old Wie. "I know that it's going to get better and better."
Bickerton maintains his lead in Paris
PARIS, June 30 (UPI) -- England's John Bickerton is a one-shot leader after two rounds of the French Open Golf Tournament in Paris.
Bickerton, who also was the front-runner after the first round with an 8-under-par 63, shot 1-under 70 on Friday, and is 9-under 133 overall.
"(Thursday) they were rolling in nicely and today I was leaving a lot short on line," Bickerton said after Friday's round. "It is not a bad score at the end of the day and still up there."
He has a one-shot lead over Scotland's Gary Orr, who burned up the Albatross Golf Course with an 8-under 64 on Friday.
Orr is alone in second place at 8-under 134.
Jose Manuel Lara (68) of Spain; defending champion Joakim Backstrom (69) of Sweden; Michael Campbell (70) of New Zealand; and Bradley Dredge (66) of Wales are tied for third place at 7-under 135.
David Edwards leads the Champions event
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 30 (UPI) -- David Edwards has a two-shot lead after the first round of the Champions Tour's Greater Kansas City Golf Classic in Overland Park, Kan.
Edwards carded a course-record, 9-under 63.
"I was in the first group off and got off to a good start," said the 50-year-old Edwards, four-time winner on the PGA Tour. "The greens were perfect. I feel like I'm playing better lately. I got quite a bit out of my round."
Brad Bryant, Tom Jenkins, Des Smyth and Bob Gilder share second place at 7-under 65. Jenkins was the runner-up at the Commerce Bank Championship last week after losing a playoff against John Harris.
Bryant, a two-time winner and two-time runner-up this season, moved near the top of the leader-board with birdies on four of his first eight holes.
