| Coors Light lands exclusive Mexican soccer deal Coors Light, a brand of MillerCoors LLC, has become the exclusive beer sponsor in the United States of Mexico’s Primera Division, the elite level of the Mexican Football Federation, the governing body for soccer in the country. feeds.bizjournals.com |
England return from Ashes bonding trip • Ashes squad back from training camp in Germany • 'Every player has gained greater insight into themselves'England's Ashes squad returned from a team-building camp in Germany today, with the captain, Andrew Strauss, calling the five-day trip "tough but rewarding".The location of the camp in southern Germany had been a tightly controlled secret in an attempt to avoid long lenses scuppering the morale-boosting plans of Hugh Morris, England's managing director, and Andy Flower, the coach. The 16-man squad undertook a series of team-building exercises before visiting the memorial site at Dachau, the first of Nazi Germany's concentration camps, where more than 40,000 people died."Following our trip to Flanders last year, this was an opportunity for the players to spend time away from the cricketing environment, learn more about the wider world and develop ourselves both individually and collectively," Strauss said. "It was a tough but rewarding five days and I know every player has gained greater insight into themselves, their own team environment and environments outside cricket."The wisdom of the trip had been questioned by some, who believed the squad would have been better served by being allowed to rest with their families following a gruelling and chaotic series against Pakistan. England fly out to Australia next month, with the first Ashes Test at the Gabba beginning on 25 November.But the England and Wales Cricket Board hierarchy will breathe a sigh of relief that the trip passed off without the controversy of the last similar pre-Ashes excursion, when Andrew Flintoff was disciplined after missing the team bus for a trip to the first world war trenches in Flanders.As the England team came home, the Pakistan Cricket Board's chairman, Ijaz Butt, also returned to London for talks with the International Cricket Council's chief executive, Haroon Lorgat. Butt refused to say whether he would apologise to the ECB, after it dispatched a legal letter demanding he retract claims that England players had played to lose in the third one-day international at The Oval.Butt said: "There is a lot of confusion. Once I'm through, this confusion will be overcome." He promised a conclusion within two to three days. The ECB is reluctant to set a deadline but wants to see progress on the matter before the end of the week.Meanwhile Ravi Bopara will join his England team-mate Kevin Pietersen at the South African side KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins this winter. Bopara, who was overlooked for the Ashes squad, will play in two first-class matches as well as South Africa's domestic limited-overs series, which runs from 29 October to 10 December. The 25-year-old will use the matches to prove his credentials for the seven-match one-day international series against Australia, which follows the Ashes Test matches.England cricket teamAshesAndrew StraussCricketOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
AP source: Contador samples show plastic residues By SAMUEL PETREQUIN 2010-10-05T17:17:13ZA urine sample taken from three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador showed abnormally high levels of plastic residues that could indicate he received a transfusion of his own blood during this year's race, a person with knowledge of the test results told The Associated Press on Tuesday.... hosted.ap.org |
2011 Tour de France route unveiled • Route will favour Alberto Contador – if he competes • Reduction in time trial stages will not help Mark CavendishAfter celebrating the centenary of the Tour de France's first stage through the Pyrenees this year, next year the Alps get the anniversary treatment with a set of three massive stages including two ascents of the Col du Galibier, the epic, intimidating mountain pass which figured in the 1911 race, and a return to the legendary finish at l'Alpe d'Huez.The triptych of Alpine stages should build to a climax, with the stage on the Italian side of the Alps at Pinerolo looking relatively innocuous compared to what follows: the Col d'Agnel, Col d'Izoard and a stage finish on the Galibier – this year's gimmick, following the successful finishes at Mont Ventoux and the Tourmalet in 2009 and 2010. The critical element about the third Alpine leg is its length: 109km, which is short enough to ensure action from the start over the tougher side of the Galibier all the way to the top of l'Alpe d'Huez.Each Tour de France organiser stamps his personal mark on the race, and Christian Prudhomme has clearly found his template: a reduction in the time trial stages in favour of uphill finishes in the first week, more use of France's secondary mountain ranges such as the Vosges, Jura and in 2011 the Massif Central, and most importantly for a man who cut his teeth in television, a suspenseful finish. That means that as in the toughest mountains kept as late in the race as is logistically possible, with l'Alpe d'Huez 48 hours from Paris.The 2011 Tour follows what is now clearly the Prudhomme pattern: a hilltop finish on the first day in the Vendée to establish the pecking order, another one in Brittany three days later, and a brief respite before the race returns to the Massif Central with an uphill stage finish at Super-Besse and a multiplicity of climbs en route to Saint-Flour. One change this year is that the first taste of the high mountains is more severe than in 2009 or 2010, with two summit finishes in the Pyrenees at Luz-Ardiden – one of the toughest Pyrenean climbs – and Plateau de Beille.It is not a route that will make Mark Cavendish smile, including as it does only eight stages that will suit the sprinters. That in turn will make his goal of winning the green jersey harder, unless he begins to go against his inclinations by targeting the intermediate sprints. As for Bradley Wiggins, the team time trial should play to his and Sky's strengths but the volume of sustained climbing – three days in a row in the Pyrenees, three in the Alps – will not favour him.There is only one individual time trial in this year's Tour, the 41km on the penultimate day in Grenoble, which is less than half the amount that a typical Tour included in the 1990s. By then, in any case, the Alps should have settled most of the issues. The team time trial returns, but in a truncated form, at just 23km: it will be intense and will help set the pattern for the first week, but it is countered by a second hilltop finish two days later in Brittany.The 2010 Tour had "myriad repercussions and uncertainties," said the race's proprietor, Jean-Etienne Amaury. How right he was, not least being the lack of clarity over the race winner. The 2011 route looks well-suited to Alberto Contador, but who knows whether he will be there.Tour de FranceCyclingAlberto ContadorMark CavendishWilliam Fotheringhamguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Crosby helps Penguins win 7th straight NEW YORK (AP) -- Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 13 games and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their seventh straight by beating the New York Rangers 3-1 on Monday night.... hosted.ap.org |