International Capsules: Greipel wins opening stage of Tour Down Under

ADELAIDE, Australia — German sprinter Andre Greipel won the 88-mile first stage of the Tour Down Under, while Lance Armstrong finished among the bunch on what he called a "fairly uneventful day."

Greipel, the 2008 champion, led the field of 132 riders across the finish line at Tanunda in rural South Australia state on Tuesday with a time of 3 hours, 15 minutes, 30 seconds

Armstrong raced among the peleton throughout the stage and finished in 46th place, credited with the same time as Greipel.

"I feel pretty good, but it was not an easy day. It was very up and down," said Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner who made his competitive return to racing after three years in retirement in last year’s Adelaide race.

Greipel’s promising 2009 campaign ended after only three of the race’s six stages when he was seriously injured in a collision with a parked police motorbike. The worst of his various injuries was a broken collarbone which kept him out of competition for four months, severely damaging his season.

Greipel said he no longer thinks about the crash after he broke from a bunched sprint Tuesday.

He later praised the work of fellow riders in his U.S.-based Team Columbia for his win, which left him with the tour leader’s orange jersey and a four-second advantage overall.

"It was a good finish and a good warmup for the team," Greipel said. "We took responsibility for the whole stage. The team made the difference. We started as a team and finished as a team."

Gert Steegmans took second place for Armstrong’s new Radioshack Team — which made its official ProTour debut Tuesday — while Steegman’s Belgian compatriot Jurgen Roelandts was third.

Tens of thousands of spectators watched the stage, lining the streets of small townships or waiting patiently outside remote homesteads for riders to pass through some of Australia’s richest wine-growing country.

Armstrong dodged a crash only 300 yards after the start which brought down almost 60 of the 132 riders, among them two-time Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia who had to replace a broken shoe.

Much of the stage was dominated by a breakaway involving young Australian Timothy Roe, a member of Armstrong’s development squad, Switzerland’s Martin Kohler and France’s Biel Kadri.

The breakaway group led by as much as 9:45 seconds, but was caught by the peleton less than 12 miles from the finish.

Kohler won the two intermediate sprints Tuesday to lead the sprint classification while Roe was first over the top of steep Menglers Hill to win the King of the Mountain jersey.

The second stage of the six-day race will be held Wednesday.

Olympics

IOC still hopes for TV deal in 2010 but could wait

LONDON — The IOC still hopes to negotiate the U.S. television rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics this year but could delay the bidding if the advertising market remains weak.

Richard Carrion, the International Olympic Committee official who handles the U.S. rights, said Tuesday the IOC will assess the situation after next month’s Winter Games in Vancouver to determine the timeframe for bidding.

"Our preference is to do it in 2010," Carrion told The Associated Press. "Our preference is to do it as quickly as possible. But it really is going to depend on the market more than anything else."

The negotiations had already been postponed last year because of the global financial downturn, but the IOC was planning to open the bidding sometime in 2010 due to the improving U.S. economy.

Carrion, a banking executive from Puerto Rico who serves on the IOC executive board, said the Olympic body could delay the talks if necessary.

"We really have the ability to wait," he said in a telephone interview. "There’s no real deadline."

After next month’s Vancouver Games, Carrion said, the IOC will "take another reading of the market and if it’s time to go or not."

IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a recent AP interview that there was no rush to make a deal.

"The bottom line is we want a better economy," he said. "The economy is recovering. We are going to make an assessment of the U.S. economy especially in terms of broadcasting, advertising and these kinds of thing immediately after the (Vancouver) Games, and from then we will determine our time line.

"We’re not in a hurry. There is still plenty of time to negotiate."

U.S. broadcast rights represent the biggest single source of income for the Olympic movement. NBC secured the rights to the 2010 Games and 2012 London Olympics for $2 billion.

At stake in the next round of bidding will be the rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Along with NBC, potential contenders include ESPN-ABC, Fox and a joint bid from CBS and Turner.

"Obviously things in the market place are not the best right now," Carrion said. "That’s reflected in advertising rates. It’s tough to predict these things from six, seven years out. But we still think (the Olympics) is a premium, unique event unlike any other."

NBC Universal said recently it expects to lose money on the Vancouver Games. NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol said it will be the first time the network has lost money on the Olympics since he began producing the telecasts from Barcelona in 1992.

NBC’s comments have been viewed as a possible tactic for lowering the IOC’s expectations for the 2014-2016 bidding.

"Obviously I saw the comments, but let’s wait until the Vancouver Games are over," Carrion said. "I think the Vancouver Games are going to be great games and they are going to generate a lot of interest. We still think it is a unique event in the world and that’s why it commands the price that it does."

-- Stephen Wilson

IOC: Rio on track to deliver ‘very good’ games

RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro is on track to overcome infrastructure and security challenges and deliver a "very good" 2016 Olympics.

The chairwoman of the International Olympic Committee’s oversight panel said Tuesday she was impressed with Rio’s proposals on transportation, involving rapid transit bus lines and extending the city’s metro system.

"We need to work hand in hand ... as one team," Nawal El Moutawakel said. "If Rio wins, that means the IOC wins. We’re confident Rio is going to deliver a very good games by 2016."

The panel spent two days touring the city’s venues and visiting slums where police have been maintaining a constant presence to control drug-related violence.

El Moutawakel, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 400-meter hurdles for Morocco, was selected last week to head the panel. Rio defeated Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo in the IOC vote in October to become the first city in South America to host the Olympics.

Rio’s transportation plan centers around high-capacity, rapid transit bus systems that will include dedicated lanes for athletes, coaches and other official members of delegations, plus other lanes for spectators.

On security, El Moutawakel said she is confident the state and federal governments will do everything necessary to ensure the safety of athletes and fans.

El Moutawakel and IOC Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli visited slums where police in the past year have driven out violent drug traffickers. The police have maintained a constant presence, a new tactic used across the city.

El Moutawakel said the full oversight panel will return to Rio in May.

-- Bradley Brooks

Gymnastics

Nastia Liukin’s new meet to partner with Supergirl

As the Olympic gymnastics champion, Nastia Liukin has traveled the world, hobnobbed with celebrities, even walked the runway at New York’s Fashion Week.

But she can still remember going through that awkward phase that’s a part of life for pretty much every teenage girl. Gymnastics helped her cope with it, giving her something of her own and boosting her confidence, and Liukin is hoping to share that message. She and Warner Bros. announced Tuesday that Supergirl, the brand based on the DC Comics character who is Superman’s younger cousin, will sponsor the inaugural Nastia Liukin Cup in March.

"Hopefully it will bring a message of empowerment, that, ‘OK, I can do whatever I set my mind to,"’ Liukin told The Associated Press. "It’s a huge thing, especially for girls that age. They’re still trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. Between your friends and your parents and school and doing extra activities, you could be a little bit lost. The Supergirl brand kind of defines that attitude of do what you love to do.

"It’s making good decisions outside of school. Who you’re friends with, the decisions you make," she added. "But it’s also the empowerment of doing what you love to do and being confident in yourself."

The Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup is an event for up-and-coming gymnasts, not elite athletes. Qualifying meets began last weekend, and 36 girls will advance to the March 5 event at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. The girls will get a special leotard that’s been designed by Liukin and has the Supergirl "S" shield on the sleeve, and they will be introduced at the American Cup the following day.

The meet is also being shown on Universal Sports.

"Who knows if this will be their last experience with gymnastics. Or it could be a great first step to the rest of their careers," Liukin said. "For these 36 girls that are out there, I just hope they’re so excited and thankful for the things they’ve already accomplished. Even if they never make that leap (to elite gymnastics), to know they competed this one year and got that experience and got to be on that stage ... it’s a huge spotlight."

Getting involved with the Nastia Liukin Cup was a natural for Supergirl, said Barry Ziehl, senior vice president for Warner Bros. consumer products.

The brand is designed to encourage young girls to be strong, confident and healthy, and sports is an ideal way to do that. It already hosts the Supergirl Jam, the only action sports event just for girls.

"It’s incredible for girls of today that they can look at athletes like Nastia and these action-sports athletes and be empowered, be inspired, both on the field and off the field of play," Ziehl said.

Though Liukin is currently taking time off from gymnastics, don’t count her out of the London Olympics in 2012.

She hasn’t fully committed to a comeback yet, but she’s back in the gym whenever she’s home in Dallas and is also working with a trainer to increase her strength. She’s also let her sponsors know that, if she does return to competition, her priority come 2011 will be training and competition.

Liukin tried to juggle her commercial obligations with training last year and discovered it didn’t work. After a pair of subpar performances on balance beam at the national championships in Dallas, she withdrew from consideration for the world team because she didn’t feel she was in good enough shape.

"I needed the time off. There was no way I’d be able to compete through four years," Liukin said. "I need to get myself in the position to where I can be ready to compete. As of right now, it’s so hard to say, ‘OK, I’m 100 percent committed to 2011 and 2012."’

But as Liukin talks about the upcoming Vancouver Olympics, the more it sounds like a matter of when she’ll return, not if.

"I’m sure I’m going to be like ‘Ah! I want to be out there.’ It might make it a little bit easier that it’s winter," she said. "That’s why I think I have to be in London, I don’t want to be on the outside of things."

-- Nancy Armour

Winter Sports

Whistler’s weather prompts Olympic worries

Thick mid-mountain fog. Heavy snowfall. High winds. Fast-moving moisture.

Over the years, the combination of high mountains lying in close proximity to the Pacific Ocean has not been kind to Alpine skiing in Whistler, the resort that will host some of the most highly awaited events at next month’s Olympics.

February is generally considered a kind month for the area’s climate, but viewers still should be prepared for the possibility of delays and postponements.

"I personally am really worried," said Gian-Franco Kasper, the president of the International Ski Federation (FIS). "We have postponed or canceled so many World Cup races in Whistler. We will have some problems — there is no doubt — but don’t forget at the Olympics we have 16 days to postpone the downhill, and even in Whistler in 16 days we’ll have time for one good day."

The opening Alpine skiing event is the men’s downhill on Feb. 13; the final event scheduled is the men’s slalom on Feb. 27.

Kasper’s worries stem from a stretch of three consecutive years — 1996 to 1998 — when the World Cup circuit came to Whistler and failed to get a single race off each time. It wasn’t just canceling a particular downhill or super-G, it was a matter of scrapping entire weekends.

"The downhill track is on the creek side, and what happens is that quite often you get this mid-mountain fog that comes up from the valley and just sits," said Canadian downhiller and Whistler resident Robbie Dixon. "It’s something that can be really difficult to pull off a speed race."

Understandably, the British Columbia resort was removed from the World Cup circuit after that horrid stretch. But it must be noted that those canceled races were scheduled during the area’s toughest weather months of November and December.

Two years ago, the World Cup returned to Whistler in February for official Olympic test events, and all of the races got off without a hitch.

"Historically, February and March is the time of year in Whistler when we don’t face the same challenges with weather, so we’re extremely optimistic based on the statistical data that we have," said Peter Bosinger, the Vancouver organizing committee’s sport manager for Alpine skiing.

"There’s a whole list of challenges, but we’re ready for it," added Bosinger, who was a coach with the Canadian team during the 1990s.

He has a team ready with more than 100 snow professionals equipped to handle whatever Mother Nature throws at Whistler once the Olympic flame is lit. If necessary, he can boost his corps by several hundred.

"We’ve got more than enough work force to operate on a 24-hour basis, and if we have inclement weather we can put those services to work on the mountain at any time of the day or night," he said.

The Canadian government is providing $9 million in weather forecasting services during the Olympics, and Environment Canada already has installed instruments all over the Whistler mountain that can gather meteorological information at all elevations.

Still, if the weather whips up at the wrong time, there is only so much organizers can do.

Heavy snowfall before races requires organizers to clear as much of the freshly fallen white stuff off the course as possible so racers can be in contact with the specially prepared icy surface they are accustomed to racing on.

If fog rolls in, the best remedy is painting extra blue lines onto the snow to guide skiers down a blind course.

But if conditions are not safe, there will be delays and cancellations.

"There are reserve starts, so if it’s windy we can move down. But basically we’re going to have to deal with what we can get," said FIS men’s World Cup assistant race director Mike Kertesz, who lived in Vancouver and Whistler for eight years.

Of course, weather problems are not new to the Olympics, or skiing in general.

The men’s super-G at the 2006 Turin Games was delayed for hours due to heavy snowfall before Norwegian veteran Kjetil Andre Aamodt showed nerve by claiming gold.

Back at the 1984 Sarajevo Games, the men’s and women’s downhill races were postponed until after the giant slalom events, and there were a number of postponements at the 1998 Nagano Games, too.

This month, the annual giant slalom race in Adelboden, Switzerland — the most highly awaited GS race of the year — was called off after the first run due to enveloping fog.

"In all our world championships and Olympics since 1970 we always have postponements or cancellations of races, so this is absolutely nothing new," Kasper said. "We are used to that. We are an open-air sport, and we have to live and work with the weather."

The trickiest part for the skiers is maintaining their focus during delays. If downhill training sessions are canceled or shortened, experience on the course could come into play.

The Canadian team has had exclusive access to the Whistler course for several seasons.

"We train for that," Canadian Alpine chief Max Gartner said. "That’s another reason you got to go see the course, because you don’t know how many training runs you’re going to get in."

-- Andrew Dampf

Savchenko-Szolkowy, Domnina-Shabalin lead Euros

TALLINN, Estonia — World pairs champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy are at the top of a familiar looking list at the European championships.

But not by much. The three-time defending European champions were first in the short program Tuesday with 74.12 points, just .20 points ahead of Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, last year’s silver medalists. Fellow Russians Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov are also within a point of Savchenko and Szolkowy at 73.54, meaning the title will go to whoever wins Wednesday’s free skate.

"It pushes us to be better tomorrow and make it not half a point, but a point or two," Szolkowy said of the narrow lead. "The twist and the death spiral didn’t get the level we expected, and this can be the tenths of points that can make the difference."

The short program results mirror last year’s podium positions, and all three appear likely to win medals again this year. The nearest challengers, Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov of Ukraine, were six points behind Mukhortova and Trankov.

Kavaguti and Smirnov, the reigning world bronze medalists, had slightly higher technical marks than Savchenko and Szolkowy, but the Germans made up for it with their artistry. Their performance to a piano version of "Send in the Clowns" combined modesty, grace and a sweet humor.

Kavaguti and Smirnov might have a special trick for the free skate — the quad throw salchow. But they don’t always land it, and Smirnov was coy when asked if they’d use it.

"Come tomorrow and we’ll see," he said, smiling.

Mukhortova and Trankov opened with a big triple twist, followed by a big throw triple loop, and were disappointed not to finish higher than third.

"We skated really well and I don’t know why we got that kind of score," Mukhortova said.

Earlier Tuesday, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin looked strong in winning the compulsory dance with 42.78 points. That might be an even bigger deal than the five-point lead they opened on fellow Russians Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski going into Thursday’s original dance.

Domnina and Shabalin were forced to withdraw from last year’s Europeans after Shabalin fell in compulsories, aggravating his recurring knee injury. Though they returned to win the world title in March, Domnina and Shabalin missed the Grand Prix season because Shabalin was having more knee troubles. How they fare here is an important test for next month’s Vancouver Olympics.

Italy’s Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali were a close third in compulsories, finishing 0.4 points behind Khokhlova and Novitski.

The highest-profile part of the competition begins on Wednesday with the men’s short program, which will feature three former world champions coming back from retirement or injury: Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland and Brian Joubert of France. At their best, all three are strong contenders for medals in Vancouver, possibly even gold.

Joubert, the defending European champion, has been training for less than two months after slicing his foot open while doing a triple lutz. He needed surgery, and missed last month’s Grand Prix final.

But after practice on Tuesday, Joubert said his foot feels better on the ice than on dry land.

"When I am skating, I don’t feel pain because my foot is locked in the boot," he said.

As for the competition, he played down any nervousness about his formidable rivals. This will be the first meeting between Plushenko and Lambiel since the Turin Olympics, when Plushenko won gold and Lambiel the silver.

"My main competition is myself," Joubert said.

-- Jim Heintz

Randall, Newell headline U.S. cross country team

Fleming ‘heartbroken’ to see Olympic hopes end

Olympic women’s bobsledding silver medalist Valerie Fleming is "pretty heartbroken" that a pulled right hamstring kept her off the U.S. roster for next month’s Vancouver Games, but will continue rehabilitating in case a spot opens up on the team.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press from Igls, Austria, on Tuesday, Fleming said she was in position to make the team after winning a pair of brakeman race-offs in recent weeks against Emily Azevedo. But she reaggravated the hamstring — which was first hurt in the World Cup opener at Park City, Utah, in November — on the next-to-last step of that second race-off.

And that, she said, was the reason why the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation couldn’t put her on the Olympic team.

"I’m pretty heartbroken about it," Fleming said. "The selection committee said it was too much of a risk. It’s hard. I understand I got injured, but I also felt like there was enough time that there could be an evaluation process, but there would be no guarantees — they never are with even healthy athletes — and I know I am more of an inherent risk because I already have an issue."

Azevedo, Michelle Rzepka and Elana Meyers were chosen as push athletes for the Olympic team, all three of those women having learned plenty from Fleming over the past three seasons. There are no alternates, so barring injury, Fleming’s hope of rejoining pilot Shauna Rohbock in the sled that won silver at the Turin Games is over.

Fleming doesn’t know if she’ll race next year either, so at 33, the Vancouver Olympics likely were her last chance at gold.

"It really was a heartwrenching reality that we faced, not just myself but all the members of the committee," USBSF CEO Darrin Steele said. "We do know just how much she means to the sport and how she’s helped grow it and change it and raise the bar. It was one of the toughest conversations that I ever had when we brought Valerie in, sat her down and discussed the decision."

Fleming and Rohbock won at least 22 international medals together, including three World Cup golds, and had long established themselves as the best duo in the U.S. women’s program.

For Fleming, that’s one of the hardest parts of the injury, not getting the chance to experience another Olympics with one of her closest friends. Rzepka will push for Rohbock at the Whistler Sliding Center.

"I think after I got injured, I kind of thought that if I did make the team, chances were the coaches still wouldn’t put me with Shauna anyway," Fleming said. "Mickie, who’s been pushing with Shauna, has done a great job. She’s earned her spot and I respect her for that and can’t take anything away from her for how well she’s done. But it’s hard."

Either way, Fleming is going to the Olympics, possibly just as a fan. She’s even with the team for its World Cup season finale in Igls this week, essentially reduced to the role of cheerleader.

She will continue trying to get the hamstring stronger as well, just in case something happens to someone already on the Olympic roster.

"Look at the bright side," Fleming said. "Maybe now I can enjoy a few more events."

-- Tim Reynolds

Randall, Newell headline U.S. cross country team

The American cross country team is focusing on the few athletes who are going to the Vancouver Games while imploring the also-rans to keep their heads up — along with their training — in case they’re added to the Olympic roster next week.

Kikkan Randall, Andy Newell and Kris Freeman headline the 2010 U.S. cross country ski team that will compete at Whistler Olympic Park. The eight-member team is smaller than in the past, the result of a new Olympic quota system.

The Americans took 17 cross country skiers to Torino and 16 of them competed.

The new quota system allows nations that are dominant in the sport like Norway and Germany to still take large contingents to the Winter Games. The Americans, while vastly improved to the point they expect medals next month, are not among the heavyweights, so their team is much smaller.

Still, the U.S. team believes that the stronger nations won’t use all of their quota spots, resulting in a reallocation that would add some U.S. athletes to the Olympic roster.

"The team size has been a big issue among many," U.S. head coach Pete Vordenberg said. "For us, we’re really focused on the team that we did name and I’ve actually just spoken with the athletes who were just below the team that was named today and emphasized with them that they need to prepare themselves for the Olympic Games and leave it open in their minds that they could be going.

"So, they’re focused on preparation and they’re not just sitting around stewing about this."

Vordenberg said the smaller team won’t prevent the Americans from competing in the team sprint relays but on the distance relays, "it’s a question of where we’re going to put our priorities."

Either way, the Americans are prepared to compete in Vancouver with just the eight who are for sure going.

"I would say that we’ve really tried to avoid looking into a crystal ball and wondering what all they’re going to do in terms of this reallocation," U.S. Nordic director John Farra said. "Really, our focus, as Pete said, is just on the team today and if reallocation becomes a possibility for us, then we’ll deal with it at that point."

The top Americans don’t mind heading to Vancouver with fewer team members.

"I think the new system that was put in place is a good thing," said Randall, America’s best cross country skier. "It’s going to make the Olympics very competitive and as a nation we’ve been getting steadily more competitive over the last three years. So, I think the people that have been named so far have shown that they’re ready to compete at the Olympic level."

So does Kris Freeman, of Andover, N.H., who, like Randall, is a third-time Olympian.

"I think it will be good in some ways, bad in others," he said. "It stinks when you’re denied a chance to go to the Olympic Games, but at the same time it gives our limited coaching staff more of an ability to focus on the top athletes, on the few athletes that are there and figure our skis out that much better, just less chaos. We’re ready to do a great job and I think we have a really good team going."

The quota system, however, will be a topic of conversation with the International Ski Federation (FIS) after the Winter Games.

"When it’s all done and said and this Olympics is over, then countries like us need to look at that system and advise FIS what our feeling is on how that’s done," Farra said. "But right now it is what we have and I think they were trying to make an effort to have a fair way to express the balance or the strength of each country. In our case it dropped us quite a bit. In other countries’ cases, it didn’t."

The Americans may be taking fewer athletes to Vancouver but they boast their best team in decades.

Randall, of Anchorage, Alaska, is America’s best hope for a medal. Her silver medal at the world championships last year made her the first American woman to reach the podium at the world championships or Olympics.

Newell, of Shaftsbury, Vt., is making his second trip to the Olympics. Other past Olympians on the team are Torin Koos, of Leavenworth, Wash., who has a World Cup podium finish and is competing in his third Games, and James Southam, of Anchorage, who was on the 2006 team in Torino.

First-time Olympians are Morgan Arritola (Ketchum, Idaho), Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis) and Liz Stephen (Montpelier, Vt.).

-- Arnie Stapelton

Injured snowboarder has successful surgery on back

SALT LAKE CITY — Snowboarder Danny Davis is recovering after successful back surgery he needed due to a season-ending accident on a four-wheeler in the Utah mountains.

An update posted on his Facebook site Tuesday said doctors are, quote, "very pleased" with the outcome of Davis’ surgery on a vertebrae in his lower back. The update said an official statement from the doctors would be coming in the next 24 hours.

Davis was a strong favorite to make the U.S. Olympic halfpipe team, but his season ended after an accident early Sunday morning in which he crashed an all-terrain vehicle into a closed gate.

Davis is good friends with Kevin Pearce, another top snowboarder and one-time Olympic hopeful who is in a Utah hospital recovering from a head injury he suffered during training last month.

Marolt: Safety first, but no halfpipe changes

PARK CITY, Utah — The leader of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association says snowboarders are always looking to make their sport safer but didn’t point toward immediate changes in the aftermath of halfpipe rider Kevin Pearce’s injury.

Bill Marolt, speaking in a conference call Tuesday, says the 22-foot-high halfpipe, which will make its Olympic debut next month, is better cared for than its 18-foot predecessors. Pearce was training on a 22-foot pipe last month when he hit his head on the side. He’s hospitalized with a severe brain injury.

Marolt says the USSA works hard to make sure athletes aren’t taking unsafe chances. Another top snowboarder, Antti Autti of Finland, hopes to be ready for the Olympics after breaking ribs and injuring his spleen last month.

Gruber to miss Olympics with knee injury

VIENNA — Austrian skier Christoph Gruber will miss next month’s Vancouver Olympics after damaging his left knee during prerace warmups for a World Cup downhill in Wengen on Saturday.

Gruber tore ligaments and bruised a meniscus while crashing before the race on the Lauberhorn course.

The Austrian ski federation said Tuesday that Gruber has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

The 33-year-old Gruber has won five World Cup races, including a super-G on the Olympic course in Whistler Mountain two years ago.

Anti-Doping

WADA aims to catch dopers with drug makers’ help

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — World Anti-Doping Agency leaders believe their collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry will help catch more drug cheats.

"I think this year will provide further results in that area," WADA director general David Howman said Tuesday.

Howman said drug companies have been approaching WADA with offers of help after Swiss manufacturer Roche Holding played a key role in catching cheaters at the 2008 Tour de France.

Riders used the new blood-boosting hormone CERA, a third generation version of EPO, thinking that it could not be traced.

Roche had marketed CERA under the brand name Mircera, and intended it for use by patients with kidney disease to boost the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. But Roche had alerted WADA to the drug’s potential abuse by athletes four years earlier and several Tour de France riders were caught.

Stage winners Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli of Italy were forced out during the race. Third-place finisher Bernhard Kohl of Austria and Germany’s Stefan Schumacher, who won both time trials, also were caught two months later when the French anti-doping agency developed a new blood test for CERA.

"We are talking with the industry in other parts of the world so that we partner in projects similar to the CERA project," Howman said.

WADA has an agreement with the French government that ensures cooperation with manufacturers there, Howman said. The agency is also in talks with the European Union to develop partnerships across the 27-member bloc.

"Any new substance that is in the process of research and development might potentially be abused by athletes," Howman said. "Therefore, we have to be alert to that progress."

In other developments:

— WADA will hold an international summit in 2013 to review the anti-doping code before an updated version is introduced Jan. 1, 2015. A host city for the conference will by chosen this year, Howman said.

— WADA’s controversial "whereabouts rule" for out-of-competition testing is still being reviewed one year after taking effect.

Howman said the rule will be reassessed in May by WADA’s ruling board after consultation with sports federations and anti-doping agencies.

Some athletes claim their privacy has been invaded by the rule, which requires them to give advance notice of their whereabouts and be available for surprise visits for one hour each day.

Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse recently received one-year bans for whereabouts violations, despite never failing a drug test. But the International Tennis Federation lifted their suspensions last month.

— WADA president John Fahey said governments — who fund the agency’s work equally with the International Olympic Committee — should share intelligence between law-enforcement agencies to stop the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs.

Fahey said an athlete’s entourage should also be targeted for sanctions if they helped in doping. State funding could be taken from coaches, while doctors and lawyers could have their professional registration affected.

"I would like every country to examine that and improve these laws," Fahey said.

— WADA has not yet broken the code of silence among athletes who dope, Howman said.

Anti-doping rules allow athletes to receive a shorter suspension if they provide information about the supply of banned drugs, but the incentive has not been widely accepted. The WADA code calls for a standard two-year ban for a first offense, and four years in the most serious cases.

-- Graham Dunbar

Sailing

America’s Cup negotiations break down again

VALENCIA, Spain — America’s Cup Challenger BMW Oracle began test sailing its giant trimaran in Spanish waters for the first time on Tuesday.

But the chances of its match race against cup holder Alinghi starting on time seems remote as negotiations between the two teams broke down again.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club where BMW Oracle team is based says Alinghi turned down another offer Sunday to settle a dispute over the Swiss team’s sails. The dispute threatens to delay the Feb. 8 start date.

Alinghi already refused to sign an agreement following talks in Singapore witnessed by the International Sailing Federation.

Golden Gate Yacht Club spokesman Tom Ehman said Tuesday that Alinghi "again turned their backs on the agreement and the cup’s pre-eminent principle — mutual consent."

The American team has asked the New York Supreme Court to rule on Alinghi’s sails, which it says break match rules by being constructed outside the Swiss team’s home country.

Meanwhile, conditions were ideal for a first-test sail with a small chop on the otherwise flat water.

"Everyone was very excited to get out on the water," the team’s chief executive Russell Coutts said. "It’s been quite a process to get here, get set up and be ready to sail."

Italian takes lead in Key West regatta

KEY WEST, Fla. — Italian Giovanni Maspero skippered Joe Fly to a pair of fourths Tuesday to garner the lead in Farr 40 class at the Key West regatta off the Florida Keys.

Maspero began the day in third place and now has a slim one-point lead over Nerone, another Italian entry piloted by Massimo Mezzaroma.

Monday’s leader, Struntje Light, skippered by German Wolfgang Schaefer dropped to third place. Schaefer won race 3, but lost ground with an 11th in race 4.

Nanoq, owned by Danish Crown Prince Frederik, won race 3, but the prince wasn’t around to enjoy the victory. Frederik is not skippering the boat, as he has the past three years, because of schedule conflict to attend a green energy business summit.

John Kilroy of Malibu, Calif., and his team aboard Samba Pa Ti vaulted from third to first in Melges 32 class, largest of the regatta with 22 boats. Newport, R.I., skipper Hap Fauth has won all four races thus far, keeping Bella Mente way out in front in the big boat IRC 1 class.

Organizers anticipate getting in a total of 10 races by the time the regatta ends Friday.