ALPI DI SIUSI, Italy – Lance Armstrong is still a long way from regaining the form that won him a record seven consecutive Tour de France titles.
The Texan finished nearly three minutes behind the leaders in the grueling uphill finish in the fifth stage of his first Giro d’Italia on Wednesday. Armstrong dropped from sixth to 22nd overall, 3 minutes, 34 seconds behind new race leader Danilo Di Luca.
“I didn’t come in with any big illusions. I knew that I would be minutes behind the best guys,” Armstrong said.
Denis Menchov sprinted away from a select group of riders and held off Di Luca in a sprint for the stage victory. In the overall standings, Di Luca holds a five-second overall lead on Sweden’s Thomas Lovkvist. Armstrong teammates Levi Leipheimer is fourth (43 seconds back) and Chris Horner eighth (1:17 behind).
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Pitt senior middle linebacker Adam Gunn has been suspended indefinitely from the team after being charged with public drunkenness and several other offenses resulting from a dispute outside a Pittsburgh nightclub.
NFL: Baltimore Ravens right offensive tackle Willie Anderson, 33, is retiring. He played 11 years with the Bengals, named to the Pro Bowl four times.
SOCCER: Manchester United moved within one point of a record-tying 18th English league title, rallying to win 2-1 at Wigan on Wednesday night behind second-half goals from Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick.
TENNIS: Rafael Nadal powered into the third round of the Madrid Open with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jurgen Melzer. Novak Djokovic beat Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 6-3, Andy Roddick beat Tommy Haas 1-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4, and James Blake downed Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6(4) to set up a match with Roger Federer.