[attach id=518253 size="medium"]Kevin Durant[/attach]
Basket, NBA: Kevin Durant has announced he is leaving Oklahoma City Thunder to join Golden State Warriors, runners-up in the 2016 NBA finals. Small forward Durant was leading player for the Thunder over the past eight years, having joined the then Seattle SuperSonics as second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Now, though, the 27-year-old free agent, named in seven NBA All-Star teams, has decided the time is right to move on. Durant is set to be part of the USA Olympic squad later this summer.
Motor Racing: Dutch teenager Max Verstappen has won Formula One’s Driver of the Day award for the third time in nine races after finishing second for Red Bull in Austria on Sunday. The 18-year-old, who triumphed in Spain in May to become the sport’s youngest race winner, started eighth at Red Bull’s home track. He also won the driver award, new for 2016 and voted for by fans after the race and announced the next day, in Spain and Canada. Force India’s Mexican Sergio Perez has won it twice for finishing third in Monaco and Azerbaijan, as has Haas’s Frenchman Romain Grosjean after strong results in Australia and Bahrain.
Rugby Union: Australia winger Joe Tomane confirmed that he will be leaving ACT Brumbies for French club Montpellier at the end of the season, robbing the Wallabies of one of their best finishers. Tomane has played 17 tests since making the switch from Rugby League in 2012 and will not be eligible for international rugby under Australia’s “Giteau Rule”, which demands overseas-based players have at least 60 caps. “It was a very difficult decision to make, but I feel the time is right to challenge myself and play rugby in a different environment,” he said in a message of thanks to the Brumbies fans.
Cycling: Double Olympic champion Anna Meares will lead Australia’s track cycling assault at the Rio de Janeiro Games where she will bid to defend her sprint gold and win the team title with Stephanie Morton. Morton edged out Kaarle McCulloch, who took bronze with Meares in the team sprint at London, in the 16-member track team announced in Adelaide yesterday. The 32-year-old cycling great Meares will also bid for a maiden Olympic gold in the keirin, an event she has won three times at world championships.
Tour de France: Marcel Kittel won stage four of the Tour de France in another photo finish, yesterday. A day after pictures were needed to separate Mark Cavendish from Andre Greipel in Angers, Etixx-QuickStep’s Kittel took it by the finest of margins from Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie. Peter Sagan crossed the line in third to retain the yellow jersey while Mark Cavendish, winner of two of the first three stages, came home in eighth. Yesterday’s stage was the longest stage of the 2016 Tour at 237.5kms from Saumur to Limoges.