BRIEFLY : RUSSIAN WINS STAGE; INDURAIN DROPS TO 14TH.Russian Yevgeny Berzin took the overall lead after the seventh stage of the Tour de France Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and on Saturday at Les Arcs Les Arcs is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, above the Tarentaise town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice and was created by Robert Blanc and Roger Godino. Since the opening of the new Vanoise Express cable car in December 2003, it has become part of the Paradiski group of ski-lift , France. The stage was won by Luc LeBlanc Luc Leblanc (born on August 4, 1966 in Limoges, France) was a professional male cyclist from France. In 1994 he became World Road Champion. Major achievements Indurain dropped more than four minutes back, the first mountain leg of the race. A stream of cyclists passed Indurain in the final ascent of the three-climb, 123-mile run from Chambery to Les Arcs high in the French Alps The French Alps are those parts of the Alps mountain range which lie in France. They are within the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes. The specific subranges of the Alps that are at least partly in France include (from south to north): Indurain goes into today's 18.9-mile individual time trial sitting 14th overall, 3:52 back of the lead. Since winning his first tour in 1991, the Spaniard has dominated the time trials and stayed with the leaders in the mountain stages to win five straight tours. ``Indurain is still in the race,'' said Swiss rider Tony Rominger, who moved to third overall, seven seconds back. ``This is only the first stage in the mountains.'' LeBlanc pulled into the lead in the final three miles to win the stage. Stephane Heulot, who led for the past three days, became the latest victim of the mountain roads. He complained of knee pains after Friday's stage and retired from the race in tears during the second climb on Saturday. There was a rash of spills throughout the day. Rominger went down in the flats between the second and third climbs, and had trouble breathing. ``My handlebars went into my stomach and I couldn't breathe for almost a minute,'' Rominger said. He wasn't seriously injured and got back into the chase. Swiss rider Alex Zulle survived two crashes and remained in the hunt for the overall lead. The 1995 runner-up went down twice on the second descent after rain slickened the steep, mountain roads. THE NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga Quarterback Jim Harbaugh, designated as the franchise player of the Indianapolis Colts, got a huge raise over his 1995 salary. The Colts and Harbaugh agreed on a one-year deal worth more than $4 million, a sharp increase from the $850,000 he earned last year when he went to the Pro Bowl for the first time after starting the season as a backup to Craig Erickson. The Colts also announced they have waived former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and Rams wide receiver Flipper Anderson, who played in only two games last season after suffering a knee injury. Anderson said he anticipated playing for some team in the NFL this season. THE NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there Defenseman Jeff Beukeboom re-signed with the New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York, U.S.A. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). after turning down an offer from the St. Louis Blues. Beukeboom, 31, began his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1986-87 season and won two Stanley Cups there, in 1988 and 1990, earning his third with the Rangers in 1994. Trent Yawney, an unrestricted free-agent defenseman who spent the past five seasons with the Calgary Flames, signed a multiyear deal with the St. Louis Blues. BOXING Luisto Espinosa of the Philippines successfully defended his WBC WBC white blood cell; see leukocyte. WBC abbr. white blood cell WBC, n stands for white blood cell. featherweight title by winning a unanimous decision over No. 1 challenger Cesar Soto of Mexico at Manila, Philippines. The victory improved Espinosa's record to 39-7. Soto's dropped to 43-6-3. Espinosa won the title in December, winning a 12-round unanimous decision over Mexico's Manuel Medina in Tokyo. Italy's Vincenzo Nardiello beat Thulane Malinga in his first defense as WBC super-middleweight champion, frustrating the South African for 12 rounds to gain a split decision at Manchester, England. |
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