Cycling: Chris Froome will once again skip the British Championships as he focuses on the Tour de France, but Mark Cavendish is among those slated to compete in Stockton-on-Tees later this month. Froome won the Tour for a second time in 2015 and is aiming for a third triumph in the race which begins on July 2, ahead of his bid for Olympic gold in the road race in Rio in August. Geraint Thomas, likely to be a key lieutenant for Froome in France, is also absent from the June 26 event in Britain.
Boxing: British boxing great Lennox Lewis and Hollywood star Will Smith will be pallbearers at Muhammad Ali’s funeral, it was announced. Ali died in Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of 74 last Friday. The funeral is to be held in his hometown of Louisville on Friday. Lewis, who reigned as undisputed world heavyweight champion after beating Evander Holyfield in 1999, has been named as a pallbearer along with Smith, who was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ali in the 2001 film of the same name.
Basketball, NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was cleared to fly home with the team but his availability for Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland remains in question. Love sustained a concussion in Game 2 on Monday night at Oracle Arena when forward Harrison Barnes’s elbow inadvertently flattened him as they fought for a rebound. Losing Love, a three-time NBA All-Star, would be a huge blow to the Cavaliers, who trail defending champions Warriors, 2-0, as the series moves to Cleveland for two games.
Doping: Olympic skating champion Claudia Pechstein’s damages claim against the International Skating Union over a doping ban was ruled as inadmissible by a German court, dealing her years-long efforts for compensation a blow. The Federal Court of Justice decided the domestic courts should not hear her case after the Court of Arbitration for Sport, considered the highest sports tribunal, had rejected her appeal over her ban. The five-time Olympic champion was seeking more than €4 million in damages from the ISU.