Cycling: Alberto Contador will take part in this month’s Tour of Spain after recovering faster than expected from a shinbone fracture, the Spaniard said yesterday. Double Tour de France champion Contador broke his shinbone during the 10th stage of the Tour last month and was expected to sit out the Vuelta. He will, however, start the race on August 23 without any general classification ambitions, only targeting stage wins.

Tennis: Bernard Tomic has been awarded a wild card for the US Open by Tennis Australia after his drop down the world rankings had threatened to send him back to qualifying for the last grand slam tournament of the year. The 21-year-old, who was US Open junior champion in 2009 and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2011, slumped out of the top 100 after surgery on both hips triggered a miserable six months on and off court.

Golf: The PGA Tour confirmed the addition of two more tournaments as it announced its schedule for the 2014-15 season. The tour starts in early October and will now host 47 tournaments, up from 45. The Sanderson Farms Championship returns to the schedule with a new venue after a one-season absence, now to be contested from Nov. 6-9 in Mississippi. It was last held during the same week as the British Open in 2013, a slot that will now be occupied by the new Barbasol Championship (July 16-19) in Alabama.

Rugby Union: Two missed conversions by Sandrine Agricole cost hosts France a place in the women’s World Cup final as Canada beat Les Bleues 18-16 in a thrilling match and will contest their first final against England on Sunday. Agricole’s pre-kick preparations are reminiscent of former England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson’s, but she missed two in the space of 10 minutes as the match drew to a dramatic close. England crushed Ireland 40-7 to reach their sixth final.

Basket, NBA: Tim Duncan and NBA cham-pions San Antonio Spurs will host Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 28 as part of a triple-header to launch the 2014-15 season. The Spurs will be presented with their champion-ship rings before tip-off, with Kobe Bryant and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers set to host Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic visiting the New Orleans Pelicans in the night’s other games. On Oct. 29, Derrick Rose and Chicago Bulls will visit Carmelo Anthony and New York Knicks.

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