Cycling: BMC Racing sporting director John Lelangue has quit his post after more than six years at the helm in the wake of the team’s dismal showing at the Tour de France that concluded in Paris on Sunday. “John Lelangue is leaving the BMC Racing Team for personal reasons – effective immediately,” the team said in a statement. Australian Cadel Evans, the 2011 Tour champion, finished 39th behind British winner Chris Froome, while his American team-mate Tejay van Garderen was six places further back just a year after claiming the best young rider’s jersey.
Swimming: Greece’s Spyridon Gianniotis made up for missing a medal at the 2012 Olympics when sheer willpower carried him to the line to win the men’s 10-km open water event at the World Championships yesterday. The 33-year-old attacked on the fourth and final lap around the picturesque Moll de la Fusta port and dug deep in the final metres to hold off a late charge from Thomas Lurz of Germany who came in second. Oussama Mellouli, of Tunisia, who won Saturday’s 5-km race, faded in the late stages but just managed to pip France’s Damien Cattin-Vidal and Richard Weinberger, of Canada, to clinch third.
Basket, NBA: Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge told ESPN injured point guard Rajon Rondo could be ready to play by opening night of the 2013-14 season. Rondo, 26, played in just 38 games last season before having ACL surgery. He averaged 13.7 points before having his season cut short. Ainge said it is a reasonable goal for Rondo to return by the beginning of the season, but the general manager said the team may have to limit Rondo during training camp, which starts in late September.
Cricket: Former test spinner Shane Warne has quit Australia’s Big Bash League after two seasons with the Melbourne Stars in a blow for the struggling Twenty20 tournament. “I think the time is right for me to hang up my Big Bash boots – juggling business, family and commentary commitments across two continents is not easy,” Warne, who retired from international cricket in 2007, said on the Stars’ website yesterday. The 43-year-old legspinner, the second highest test wicket-taker of all-time with 708 scalps behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800), will retain a role with the Melbourne franchise to be worked out in coming months.
Golf: Phachara Khongwatmai has little time to celebrate his record-breaking triumph on the ASEAN PGA Tour as the 14-year-old Thai amateur needs to catch up on his homework after taking a week off from school to compete in the event. Phachara, born on May 3, 1999, stunned an experienced field that included a number of the country’s leading golfers, to win the $65,000 Singha Hua Hin Open by four shots on Sunday and etch his name in golf’s record books. With the victory, Phachara replaces New Zealand sensation Lydia Ko, who won the 2012 New South Wales Open three months prior to her 15th birthday, as the youngest winner of a professional golf event.