Cycling: Six African riders were included in Team Dimension Data’s provisional squad for the Tour de France yesterday, led by Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot who won a second successive king-of-the-mountains crown at this month’s Criterium du Dauphine. Teklehaimanot became the first black African rider to compete in the Tour de France last year when he had the honour of being the first man to roll down the ramp for the stage-one time trial in the Dutch city of Utrecht. African-based Dimension Data, formerly known as MTN Qhubeka, have established themselves as a leading team in major tours.
Olympics: A 1992 Olympic gold medal stolen from champion canoeist Joe Jacobi’s car earlier this month in Atlanta was found by a six-year-old girl and returned to him. The girl spotted the medal in a wooded area while on a walk with her family on Saturday. The family contacted Jacobi through a website he established after the medal he won in the two-man canoe slalom event in Barcelona, Spain, was stolen from a nearby restaurant parking lot. The medal was missing its base when found, Jacobi said in a phone interview, but appeared mostly intact.
Athletics: Jama Aden, the coach of Ethiopia’s 1,500 metres world record holder and 2015 world athlete of the year Genzebe Dibaba, was arrested in Spain on Monday on doping charges along with a Moroccan physiotherapist, the sport’s ruling IAAF said. The arrests come less than two months before the start of the Rio Olympics and follow months of investigations following a tip off from the Spanish Agency of Health and Sport. Catalan police said the two men were held on suspicion of administering illegal substances to athletes.
Cricket: Sri Lankan paceman Shaminda Eranga has been discharged from a Dublin hospital after doctors found nothing abnormal in tests conducted on the fast bowler, his team management said. The 29-year-old was admitted with an elevated heartbeat after feeling discomfort while batting during Sri Lanka’s one-day international win over Ireland on Saturday. He was placed under observation for more than 24 hours. Shortly after being admitted, Eranga was dealt a further blow when he was banned from bowling in international matches due to an illegal action.