British cycling star Chris Froome is in intensive care after fracturing his right femur, elbow and several ribs in a serious crash while training yesterday.
The 34-year-old hit a wall outside the French town of Roanne when he took his hands off the handlebars to blow his nose and high winds caught his front wheel.
He has been ruled out of the Tour de France, which starts next month, and Eurosport says that the high-speed crash could be “career-ending” for the Team Ineos rider.
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Froome’s wife Michelle posted on his Twitter page last night that the four-time Tour de France winner had gone into surgery.
Team Ineos principal Dave Brailsford told BBC Sport: “Time is of the essence in these situations. He’s been operated on to make sure that first phase of medical care is as optimal as possible and we will manage it from there.
“It’s an evolving situation. It is concerning, there is no doubt about that. He’s not in great shape. There are crashes and bad crashes and this was a bad crash.”
2. Koepka seeking dream win at Pebble
Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka is aiming to win his fourth major in less than two years at the US Open, which starts today at Pebble Beach in California. The world No.1 said: “It would be the coolest thing ever to win three US Opens in a row with the third one at Pebble. As a kid you always wanted to win a US Open at Pebble. It’s kind of a dream come true, in a sense. And to even be thought of or to think of winning a major championship here would be incredible.”
Ferrari have decided not to appeal against Sebastian Vettel’s five-second penalty from last weekend’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix. The Daily Mail reports that team principal Mattia Binotto has “written to the FIA to inform them that Ferrari will not be lodging a challenge ahead of the deadline on Thursday evening”.
4. Buttler fit to face Windies
England head coach Trevor Bayliss says wicketkeeper Jos Buttler will be fit for tomorrow’s Cricket World Cup clash against the West Indies. The 28-year-old sustained a hip injury while batting in Saturday’s win against Bangladesh and wasn’t able to take his place behind the stumps in the afternoon session. “It was all a bit precautionary the other day,” Bayliss explained. “He could have kept, but it wasn’t sure whether he would have been able to sprint after a high catch. But he’ll be fine.”
5. Premier League fixtures announced
The fixture list for the 2019-20 Premier League season was revealed this morning. On the opening weekend Champions League winners Liverpool kick off the campaign with a home clash against newly-promoted Norwich City on Friday 9 August. EPL champions Manchester City travel to West Ham in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday 10 August. See here for the season’s full fixture list.
6. No more Blues for St Louis
The St Louis Blues ice hockey team have ended their 52-year wait to win a first Stanley Cup. In the NHL Finals the Blues sealed a 4-3 series win after beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in the deciding game. St Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington said: “I can’t believe where I am. It’s an incredible feeling.”
7. Morgan defends celebrations
United States star Alex Morgan has defended the team’s celebrations during the 13-0 thrashing of Thailand in the Fifa Women’s World Cup. Morgan scored five goals for the defending champions in the World Cup record victory on Tuesday. She told ESPN: “I think it’s disrespectful if we don’t show up and give our best and play our game for 90 minutes. It’s disrespectful to the Thai team. And I believe they wanted us to play them straight up. And for the celebrations, these are goals we have dreamt of our entire life. It’s incredible for us all and I’m happy just ignoring those comments.”
South Africa vs. China (8pm, BBC red button and online)
8. Murray targets singles return
British tennis star Andy Murray is targeting a return to singles action this year but will need to take “baby steps” as he continues to recover from hip surgery. The 32-year-old will play doubles at Queen’s Club next week when he partners Feliciano Lopez at the Fever-Tree Championships in London. He said: “It’s baby steps just now. I’m feeling good, pretty much pain free and enjoying just training, practising, improving all the time just now. I don’t think when Wimbledon finishes that I will just step on to the singles court the following week and everything’s good. At this moment I’ve been progressing all of the time. At some stage it’s probably going to plateau for a while before I’m able to kick on.”
9. Pep denies break rumours
It was reported this week that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was considering taking a break from football after next season. However, the Independent reports that the Spaniard has dismissed the claims and said: “No. I do not take sabbatical years. I am young and I have desire. The news comes out and many things are not true. If they do not kick me out, I’ll stay there.”
10. Pogba will cost £150m
Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Daniel James from Swansea City, but it’s a potential departure from Old Trafford that is making the headlines.
Paul Pogba has been linked with Real Madrid and according to the Daily Mirror United have told the Spanish giants that the French midfielder will cost them £150m.
Meanwhile, in The Sun there’s an “Old Trafford shock” with reports that Man Utd could make a last-gasp bid to hijack Antoine Griezmann’s £95m move to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid.
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