While you were sleeping…
It was a tour de force for Chris Froome in France, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell tested positive for drugs, Llleyton Hewitt made an ATP final and Phil Mickelson won the Scottish Open.
Cycling: Britain’s Chris Froome reinforced his grip on the Tour de France yellow jersey atop Mont Ventoux on Sunday after winning a dramatic 15th stage.
Team Sky leader Froome finished just ahead of Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar after attacking a small group of rivals 7.2km from the summit finish of the 20.8km climb to the ‘Giant of Provence’.
Spain’s two-time winner Alberto Contador (Saxo) was unable to respond when Froome spun away from a small group of riders having seen many of them drop off the pace following a strong relay from Australian teammate Richie Porte.
Having started the stage 2:48 down on Froome, Contador finished in sixth at 1:40 off the pace to drop to 4:25 behind the leader and 11secs adrift of second-placed Dutchman Bauke Mollema.
It is Froome’s fourth career stage win in the race and second of the 100th edition after his victory atop Ax-Trois-Domaines in the Pyrenees on last Sunday’s eighth stage.
Athletics: Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, two of the four fastest men in history, sent shockwaves through the blue riband 100m on Sunday when both men failed drug tests.
Gay, the 30-year-old American who was world champion in 2007 and the fastest man in the world this year, tested positive for a banned substance and immediately withdrew from next month’s world championships in Moscow.
Jamaican sprint star Powell, a former 100m world record holder, confirmed that he had tested positive for a banned stimulant at his country’s national trials for Moscow.
But the 30-year-old strenuously denied any wrong doing.
Only Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt (9.58sec) has gone faster than Gay, whose best of 9.69sec he shares with Yohan Blake of Jamaica. Powell is the fourth fastest man of all time with 9.72sec.
Gay was informed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Friday of his failed test and on Sunday the USA Track & Field (USATF) said he had pulled out of the world championships.
“He stated he is withdrawing,” said USATF spokesperson Jill Geer.
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USADA said Sunday that the 30-year-old’s B sample has yet to be tested so they would not confirm or deny the failed test.
“In response to Mr. Gay’s statements, USADA appreciates his approach to handling this situation and his choice to voluntarily remove himself from competition while the full facts surrounding his test are evaluated,” USADA media relations manager Annie Skinner told AFP.
“The B sample will be processed shortly, and as in all cases all athletes are innocent unless or until proven otherwise through the established legal process, and any attempt to sensationalise or speculate is a disservice to due process, fair play, and to those who love clean sport.”
Gay told US media he had made a mistake and been let down by someone else.
USATF said they would continue to look towards USADA to help them weed out drug cheats in the sport.
“USA Track & Field is strongly opposed to doping, and we respect the work that USADA has done as a leading agency globally in the fight against drugs in sport,” USATF chief executive Max Siegel said.
Gay had run the fastest time in the world this year at June’s US trials for the world championships in Iowa. His 9.75sec was the 10th fastest 100m of all time.
World record holder Bolt’s best time over 100m this season is 9.94sec set in Kingston in June.
Gay won the triple of 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Osaka at the 2007 world championships while also claiming a 4x100m silver medal at the London Olympics last year.
Powell, also 30, took to Twitter to confirm his dope test failure.
“I will confirm that a sample I gave at the National Trials in June has returned ‘adverse findings’,” he said.
“The substance oxilofrine was found, which is considered by the authorities to be a banned stimulant.
"“I want to be clear that I have never knowingly or wilfully taken any supplements or substances that break any rules. I am not now nor have I ever been a cheat.”"
Powell held the 100m world record between June 2005 and May 2008.
He won two bronze medals in the 100 metres at the 2007 and 2009 world championships. He also had one gold in the 4×100 metre relay in 2009.
But he has never managed an individual sprint medal at the Olympics, finishing fifth in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic 100 metre finals and limping home in eighth place in the final in London last summer.
According to media reports, Powell was one of five athletes who failed drug tests at the national trials last month in Kingston.
Later Sunday, Powell’s agent, Tara Playfair-Scott, revealed on Twitter that a man who allegedly supplied the supplements had been arrested in Italy.
“He has been detained by Italian Law Enforcement in conjunction with this matter. The investigations continue,” she wrote.
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Tennis: Lleyton Hewitt has missed out on capturing his first ATP title in over two years after going down 5-7 7-5 6-3 to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the final of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Mahut, a 2007 Newport finalist and a wild-card entrant this week, won his second career ATP title after also winning at ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month.
Mahut advanced to the final by beating American Michael Russell 6-2 6-2 in a morning semi-final that had been suspended on Saturday after only three points due to heavy rain.
Mahut needed just 63 minutes to beat Russell.
Australian veteran Hewitt had earlier on Sunday posted a morale-boosting win over two-time defending champion John Isner in a rematch of last year’s final to advance to the title match for a second consecutive year.
He beat the American 5-7 6-2 6-4 in their semi-final to end 13 straight match wins in Newport for the 28-year old Isner, the highest ranked American at No.19.
“It’s never disappointing losing to a guy like Lleyton Hewitt, especially on this surface,” said Isner, who called for the trainer after the first changeover.
“I was probably eventually going to lose this tournament. It just happened a little earlier than I thought or wanted.”
Golf: Phil Mickelson birdied the first playoff hole to beat Branden Grace and win the Scottish Open on Sunday, ending his 20-year wait for a victory in Europe.
After three-putting the 72nd hole to miss out on a win in regulation, Mickelson produced a superb pitch from 45 yards that landed within a foot of the 18th pin, leaving Grace a 25-footer to match him.
Grace’s putt rolled by the hole and the 43-year-old American was able to celebrate a 48th professional victory worldwide, with his wife and three children watching on.
“I almost let it slip away but to come out on top feels terrific,” Mickelson said.
Mickelson was using the tournament to hone his links game ahead of next week’s British Open at Muirfield and he looks in great shape to challenge for a first claret jug and a fifth major title.
He should tee off on Thursday as world No.5 and STG500,000 ($A832,570) richer.
Mickelson and Grace shot three-under-par 69s in the final round to finish on 17-under 271 and overhaul overnight leader Henrik Stenson, who bogeyed three of his last six holes for a tie for third with unheralded Dane JB Hansen on 15-under.
When Mickelson drove into the rough on the first hole, topped his second shot and then three-putted, he dropped four shots behind Stenson.
After three calm and sunny days, the wind picked up off the Moray Firth coastline and made the Castle Stuart course much more challenging. Only five players shot lower than 70.
Mickelson was in more trouble when his chip from just off the third green came up short and rolled back down the hill to his feet. He was five shots off the leader.
But he birdied the next three holes and picked up shots at 11, 12 and 14 to take the lead, after briefly sharing it with Stenson and Hansen.
With them dropping shots coming home, Grace became Mickelson’s closest challenger, but the American only needed to par the 72nd for victory.
He reached the green serenely in three but slid a putt five feet by the hole, and again back up.
“I was so mad at myself after mentally losing my focus,” said Mickelson who held his nerve in the playoff.
“The people here in Scotland have treated us so well,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”
He hopes to take his form into Muirfield.
“Although I did a lot of things well, I have certainly things to work on,” he added. “Today was great for us to have this type of weather.”
