Today's other stories in brief
Varndell joins Wasps
RUGBY:England winger Tom Varndell has joined Wasps as one of three new signings arriving on two-year contracts for next season.
Varndell will link up with Australia centre Steve Kefu and England prospect Dan Ward-Smith at Adams Park as Wasps seek to strengthen a squad that will soon be hit by four high-profile departures.
Back row James Haskell and lock Tom Palmer are headed for Stade Français, centre Riki Flutey for Brive and winger Tom Voyce for Gloucester. Varndell started the season in England’s Elite Player Squad but was removed due to his lack of appearances at Leicester.
Armstrong expected to make Tour de France
CYCLING:A leading orthopaedic surgeon believes Lance Armstrong's collarbone injury should not prevent him from competing in this summer's Tour de France.
Armstrong crashed on stage one of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon on Monday and will have surgery on a broken collarbone later this week.
It was initially thought his participation in the Tour was in jeopardy, but Simon Moyes believes otherwise. “Most fractures take six weeks to unite so he should still be able to compete in the Tour de France,” said Moyes, who works out of the Wellington Hospital in London. “Lance Armstrong is a supreme athlete and will be able to continue with parts of his training programme while recovering from his injury.”
Deignan 18th in time-trial
CYCLING: Irish professional Philip Deignan finished a fine 18th in yesterday's 28.2 kilometre time-trial at the Vuelta a Castilla y León. The Cervélo Test Team rider covered the distance one minute 53 seconds off the winning time set by Levi Leipheimer (Astana), and one minute 37 seconds behind runner-up Alberto Contador.
Deignan’s time was the third-quickest of his Cervélo squad and saw them finish fifth on the team stage classification. His performance was 39 seconds faster than team-mate Carlos Sastre, the 2008 Tour de France winner, and is further confirmation that he is back to form after an under-par season last year.
Leipheimer took over the race lead from stage one winner Joaquin Sobrino Martinez. The race continues today with a 156.9km stage from Sahagún to the summit finish of Estación Inv. De San Isiro.
Clijsters set for comeback
TENNIS: Kim Clijsters is set to announce her comeback two years after retiring from the game to have a baby.
The 25-year-old former world number one is expected to announce a schedule later this week, including plans to play at the US Open in September.
Belgian Clijsters, who gave birth to her daughter last February, has recently been in training and will play World Team Tennis in the United States in July. She won 34 singles titles before retiring, including the US Open in 2005.
Clijsters will hold a press conference in the Belgian town of Bree tomorrow.
“For six or seven weeks Kim has trained here regularly, up to three hours per day,” revealed Robert Devries of Bree tennis club in Het Belang van Limburg.
Calzaghe rules out return
BOXING:Joe Calzaghe yesterday ruled out a return to the ring, saying it was "time to turn the page and move on". The undefeated world super-middleweight champion, who hung up his gloves last month, said he had nothing left to prove. "People think I'm coming back but I can tell you now that's not going to happen," the 37-year-old said.
Russian Open may be scrapped
GOLF: The Russian Open, part of the main European Tour since 2003, is in danger of being scrapped this year because of the global financial crisis, the event organiser said yesterday.
“It looks right now that this year we may have to skip (hosting the tournament, scheduled for August 6th-9th),” the tournament director Hans Koeleman said.
Dutchman Koeleman, who has been involved in hosting and promoting the event since 2001, said he has had difficulty finding a new title sponsor to keep the event afloat.
The Russian real estate company Inteco, which guaranteed last year’s prizemoney, was forced to pull out of the event this year because of the difficult economic situation.
Inteco head Yelena Baturina, the billionaire wife of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, has seen her vast wealth tumble this year amid a 70 per cent collapse of Russia’s stock market.
