Schumacher surprises in Tour de France
CHOLET, France, July 8 (UPI) -- Stefan Schumacher won Tuesday's 17.7-mile time trial with a time that put him in first place overall after four stages of the Tour de France bicycle race.
Schumacher had the fastest time at each checkpoint and averaged 29.7 mph in the time trial at Cholet, France.
"I was feeling motivated and I was also confident on the circuit because I knew that it was good for me on a time trial that's about (18 miles) long," Schumacher said. "The course was up and down with the wind blowing strongly; it's the sort of race that suits my strengths."
Schumacher was timed at 35 minutes, 44 seconds, solidly ahead of Kim Kirchen and David Millar, who both finished in 36:02. Cadel Evans was fourth at 36:11 while pre-race favorite Fabian Cancellara finished fifth 33 seconds behind Schumacher.
The order is the same in the overall Tour de France standings. Schumacher has a 12-second edge over Kirchen and Millar a 21-second advantage on Evans and is 33 seconds ahead of Cancellara.
Wednesday's fifth stage of the Tour de France is a 139-mile run from Cholet to Chateauroux. The 21-stage Tour de France wraps up July 27 in Paris.
IOC official: Beijing 'feels ready'
BEIJING, July 8 (UPI) -- An International Olympic Committee official Tuesday praised the "exceptional" achievements of Beijing Olympics organizers one month ahead of the Games' opening.
The 2008 Summer Games begin Aug. 8 and run through Aug. 24 in Beijing. IOC officials have been making periodic checks, as they do at all Olympics sites, on preparations by the Chinese.
"The quality of preparation, the readiness of the venues and the attention to operational detail for these Games have set a gold standard for the future," IOC Coordination Committee Chairman Hein Verbruggen said in a release. "What our hosts have achieved is exceptional."
Verbruggen said the IOC has "an underlying confidence" the 2008 Games will be an "overriding success."
Among issues to be addressed, however, Verbruggen cited a need to see how measures taken in Beijing affect air quality.
The general report, however, was positive.
Verbruggen said: "Here in the Chinese capital you can now really sense the excitement and anticipation. The city feels ready; it looks ready, with the stunning venues all completed."
Some Steeler owners trying to sell shares
PITTSBURGH, July 8 (UPI) -- Members of the Rooney family are reportedly trying to sell their shares in the Pittsburgh Steelers either to relatives or outsiders.
The team is technically in violation of National Football League rules that bar owners from having interests in gambling, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported. Three of the Rooneys are involved in the management of the Yonkers Raceway in New York, which recently added video slot machines.
The investment banker Goldman Sachs & Co. determined that the team is worth between $800 million and $1.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said it had seen confidential documents labeled "Project Newcastle" and that the Goldman Sachs evaluation was done because some of Dan Rooney's brothers thought that his assessment undervalued the team.
Dan Rooney is now the team's chairman, while his son, Art Rooney II, is president.
Art Rooney Sr. bought the team in 1937 with money he won at the track. His sons and grandchildren now own 80 percent of the team with the McGinley family owning the other 20 percent.
Sources told the Post-Gazette that three of the brothers would like to sell their shares to Dan Rooney or to an outside investor. Stanley Druckenmiller, chairman of Duquesne Capital Management is reported to be interested.
Racist letters among FBI sports files
BOSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- A racist death threat against Boston Celtics coaching legend Red Auerbach is among the recently released FBI files related to New England sports figures.
The anonymous letter addressed to Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight was hidden away for 26 years along with even older files on figures such as Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe and Arthur Ashe. Other FBI files released to and reported by The Boston Globe Tuesday included documents relating to New England Patriots founder Billy Sullivan and boxer Willie Pep.
FBI officials told the Globe they found no archived records on New England sports figures Ted Williams, Tony Conigliaro and Reggie Lewis, former Red Sox owners Thomas and Jean Yawkey, and Sam Jethroe, who in 1950 became the first African-American major leaguer to play for a Boston team when he joined the Braves.
Michael Vick files for bankruptcy
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., July 8 (UPI) -- Former NFL star Michael Vick, whose career was sacked last year by a federal dogfighting conviction, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Virginia court.
Vick, who is serving a 23-month prison sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., filed the papers seeking protection from his creditors on Monday, the Newport News Daily Press reported Tuesday.
In court documents, Vick listed assets between $10million and $50 million and liabilities in the same range, with 30 creditors listed. Included were $4.5 million to a Richmond sports agent in a disputed breach of contract lawsuit, $3.75 million sought by the NFL's Atlanta Falcons from Vick's signing bonus, and $2.5 million remaining on a loan from the Royal Bank of Canada.
