CYCLING: French prosecutors called yesterday for suspended prison terms for most of the ex-members of the Cofidis cycling team on trial for doping but asked for charges against Scottish rider David Millar to be dropped.
They sought a one-year prison sentence for former team physiotherapist Bogdan Madejak, whose arrest in 2004 sparked one of the biggest judicial investigations into the use of banned drugs in the sport.
Prosecutors asked for suspended sentences of between three and six months for the other cyclists on trial, France's Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Mederic Clain, Italy's Massimiliano Lelli, and Poland's Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski. The judge is expected to indicate today when a final ruling is likely.
Harrison to be stripped of title
BOXING: Scott Harrison will be stripped of his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) featherweight title after a scheduled defence against fellow Briton Nicky Cook next month was cancelled because he is being held in a Spanish jail.
"He was on a last chance," the WBO's European vice president Istvan Kovacs said yesterday. "The fact that he cannot fight again this time means he will be stripped of his title."
The 29-year-old Scot also pulled out of a title defence against Gary St Clair in May due to alcohol problems and depression.
Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez, the interim champion, will most likely be elevated to full champion status and Kovacs said Cook could still get a crack at the title.
Henin-Hardenne stays on course
TENNIS: Justine Henin-Hardenne secured a place in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships in Madrid and remained on course to claim the year-end number one spot with a 6-4 6-4 win over Russia's Nadia Petrova yesterday.
The French Open champion's victory means that the in-form Maria Sharapova will now have to win the tournament and hope the Belgian does not make the final if she is to deprive her of ending the year as number one.
Later in the evening, tournament top seed Amelie Mauresmo took three sets to beat number eight seed Martina Hingis, the French woman dropped the first set 3-6, but came back strongly to claim the next set 6-1 and closed the match out in the third, 6-4.
