Giro d’Italia: Mikel Landa’s Giro d’Italia hopes vanished when he abandoned with illness early on stage 10 yesterday before Italian first-year professional Giulio Ciccone powered to victory in Sestola. Team Sky leader Landa began the day one minute, 18 seconds behind GC leader Gianluca Brambilla and with high hopes of attacking on the forthcoming mountain stages, but the Spaniard fell off the back of the peloton on the first climb and quit. On an eventful day Italian Brambilla lost the leader’s pink jersey to Etixx-Quickstep team-mate Bob Jungels who leads overall by 26 seconds from Movi-star’s Andrey Amador.
Weightlifting: Russian world champion Alexei Lovchev has been banned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for four years after he failed a doping test. The 26-year-old, who is also the 105kg world record holder, was found to have traces of the growth hormone Ipamorelin in his ‘A’ sample and was provisionally suspended on December 24. Lovchev said: “I don’t agree with this decision. Together with my lawyers, I will fight this verdict at the CAS. We have all the grounds in order to do this,” he added.
Rugby League: Rugby League will have its own version of the Americas Cup this year. The United States, Canada and Jamaica will take part in a new round-robin competition in Philadelphia and Toronto in July and September. The USA, under Leeds coach Brian McDermott, emerged victorious from their meetings with their rivals in 2015 to clinch a place in the 2017 World Cup but Canada are expected to be stronger on the back of the launch of the new professional club Toronto Wolfpack.
Swimming: World champion Katinka Hosszu, of Hungary, cruised to the gold medal in the women’s 400m IM at the European Championships in the first of six events she may attempt at this year’s Rio Olympics. Hosszu won by a comfortable 4.37 seconds from Britain’s Hannah Miley, with Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Jakabos in third. Minutes later, Hosszu raced in the second semi-final of the 200m backstroke and qualified for the final with the third fastest time. She is also down to race in the 200m medley, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100 butterfly at the week-long European gathering in London.
Athletics: Sprint champion Usain Bolt received treatment for “slight discomfort” in his hamstring following his 100m victory in Saturday’s Cayman Invitational, his coach Glen Mills said. Bolt, who is scheduled to run the 100m at the IAAF World Challenge in Ostrava, on Friday, travelled to Germany after posting 10.05 seconds in his season opener and had treatment there. Bolt is targeting an unprecedented Olympic threepeat at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August where he will be defending his 100, 200 and 4x100 relay titles.