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SPORTS Wednesday 9 May 2018
Top-ranked Halep Froome drops more time as

beats Mertens Wellens wins 4th stage of Giro

at Madrid Open CALTAGIRONE, Sicily (AP)

— Chris Froome fell further
behind the leaders as Bel-
By TALES AZZONI losing to eventual champi- gian rider Tim Wellens won
AP Sports Writer on Caroline Wozniacki. the hilly fourth stage of the
MADRID (AP) — Top-ranked Halep next faces Kristyna Giro d'Italia on Tuesday.
Simona Halep reached Pliskova, who defeated Froom finished 21 seconds
the third round of the Ma- Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-2. behind Wellens, push-
drid Open by beating Elise "She's serving pretty strong," ing the four-time Tour de
Mertens 6-0, 6-3 on Tues- said Halep, who beat Plis- France champion down
day. kova in Madrid in 2017. "I to 20th overall, 55 seconds
Halep converted her fifth have to just watch a little behind race leader Rohan
match point to win her bit how I played last year Dennis of Australia, who
14th straight match in Ma- and to do it again. I believe held on to the overall lead-
drid and stay on track for a I can win the match but I al- er's pink jersey.
third consecutive title in the ways expect a tough one." The 202-kilometer (126-mile)
Spanish capital. Petra Kvitova defeated leg from Catania to Calta-
"I knew she was coming Monica Puig 6-3, 7-6 (8) to girone in Sicily marked the
with a lot of confidence," record her seventh straight return of the race to home
Halep said. "I had to start win. soil following the opening Belgium's Tim Wellens sprints on his way to win the fourth stage
very strong and aggressive, In the first round of the three stages in Israel. of the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Catania to
which I did. After I played men's event, Robin Haase Froome, who is attempt- Caltagirone, Italy, Tuesday, May 8, 2018.
a few games I felt really ended a four-match losing ing to win his third straight Associated Press
good." streak by beating Hyeon Grand Tour, already strug-
The 16th-ranked Mertens Chung 6-2, 6-0. gled in the opening time tage in the final kilometer, Wellens also won a Giro
has played well this year Denis Shapovalov hit 38 trial after a training crash. which was entirely uphill — stage two years ago, and
but struggled from the start winners to defeat Benoit "I wasn't in great position with gradients up to 13 per- he topped the overall clas-
at the Magic Box and end- Paire 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 in the getting into the (finishing) cent. Once the main pack sification in the five-stage
ed up with 31 unforced er- second round while 11th climb," said Froome, who caught up, Wellens burst Vuelta Andalucia Ruta
rors and five double faults. seed Roberto Bautista Agut still has bruises on his right ahead again."I started with Ciclista Del Sol in February.
She was coming off an im- beat Jared Donaldson 6-7 leg. "But I'm getting better a bit of an advantage at "I'm very happy with win-
pressive 13-match winning (3), 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. and better each day after the beginning of the climb," ning as early as on stage
streak, with titles in Moroc- Borna Coric upset ninth the crash." Wellens, who Wellens said. "I didn't have 4, so the rest of the Giro
co, Switzerland and Tasma- seed Pablo Carreno Busta rides for the Lotto-Fix ALL to go full-on from the bot- will just be a bonus, what-
nia. She also reached the 6-4, 6-2 in another first- team, was one of five riders tom; I could wait for the last ever comes next," Wellens
Australian Open semifinals, round match.q to create a small advan- 200 meters. The 26-year-old said.q

NASCAR MEMO: Bill France Sr., and handed
Continued from Page 18 down to his sons, Bill France
Lowe's, the only sponsor Jr., and Jim. The current
seven-time champion Jim- structure has Bill France Jr.'s
mie Johnson has had in his son, Brian, running NAS-
18-year career, is leaving CAR, while his daughter,
at the end of the season. Lesa, controls International
Home Depot, Target, Sub- Speedway Corp., the sister
way, Dollar General and company that owns many
scores of other sponsors of the venues. Jim France
have already exited rac- runs the IMSA sports car se-
ing. ries.
Additionally, title spon- The exact ownership stake
sor Monster Energy signed has never been revealed.
just a one-year extension ESPN reported that the
through 2019 and NASCAR France family owns 74 per-
admitted it is re-evaluating cent of the stock, though
its sponsorship structure. the Wall Street Journal re-
There have been rumors ported last year that Brian
dating to last season that France had sold his stake in
NASCAR Chairman Bri- In this Nov. 20, 2016, file photo, NASCAR CEO and Chairman, Brian France, talks to reporters dur- the stock car series. How-
an France wanted out, ing a news conference before a NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race practice in Homestead, Fla. ever, Jim France sounded
but many team owners Associated Press committed to motorsports
seemed surprised by Mon- when he announced the
day's report from Reuters condition of anonymity, retirements of Jeff Gordon, fered and the three public purchase of ARCA.
citing unidentified sources said France firmly told own- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony companies that own tracks "Our business is racing,
that the family has en- ers in recent months the se- Stewart, Danica Patrick where NASCAR races are that's what we're investing
gaged investment bank ries was not for sale. and Carl Edwards may held have all reported at- in," Jim France said. "We've
Goldman Sachs to explore Television ratings have have contributed to fans tendance revenue de- done it all of our lives, and
a sale. One team owner, continued to decline over tuning out. But at-track clines. we're going to continue to
who spoke to AP only on the past decade and the attendance has also suf- NASCAR was founded by do it."q