Cavendish wins Tour de France stage 14, Froome keeps lead

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Team Dimension Data rider Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 14th stage  Manx Missile Mark Cavendish claimed his 30th Tour de France victory and fourth in this year's race when he left sprint rival Marcel Kittel trailing at the end of the 14th stage on Saturday. The Dimension Data rider, back in the limelight after three below-par Tours, is now four shy of the all-time stage win record of Belgian great Eddy Merckx. Cavendish, who had not won more than three stages on the Tour since 2011, was just too fast for the rest of the bunch, comfortably beating Norway's Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) in a bunch sprint after 208.5-km of riding from Montelimar. World champion and green jersey holder Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) finished strongly to take third place while German Kittel finished fifth, protesting as he felt Cavendish had veered towards him during the sprint for the line. Frenchman Jeremy Roy (FDJ), Cesare Benedetti (Bora Argon 18), Swiss Martin Elmiger (IAM) and American Alex Howes (Cannondale-Drapac) broke away early on and built a maximum advantage of 4:45. Howes was dropped by his breakaway companions with 14km left and Benedetti fell off the pace 9.5km from the line. Roy and Elmiger were caught with 3.4km left, shaking hands as the peloton reeled them in. Yellow jersey holder Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished safely to consolidate his advantage. The riders observed a minute's silence at the start with Sagan, yellow jersey holder Chris Froome and French champion Arthur Vichot in the front of the peloton in memory of the 84 victims of the Nice attack just eight months after gunmen killed 130 people in Paris.

Bayern Munich rule Brazil winger Costa out of Rio Games

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Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa

 Bayern Munich's pacey Brazilian winger Douglas Costa has withdrawn from the Rio Olympics due to injury, the German champions said on Monday.

Costa had been chosen along with Barcelona's Neymar among the over-age players in Brazil's squad for the first summer Games in South America.

Bayern said on their website (www.fcbayern.de) that an injury to Costa's left thigh had not healed and they had told the Brazilian football federation that the player could not be released.

"I greatly regret this," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "We all wanted Douglas to contest the Olympic Games in his home country, but the player's health and fitness takes priority."

Bayern said Costa, who joined them a year ago from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, would continue his sports rehabilitation programme in Munich.

The Olympic gold medal is the only major soccer title the five times world champions have never won.

Kobe Bryant slimed after winning Kids Choice prize

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Retired NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant  Retired Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was given the traditional golden sliming at the Kids Choice Sport awards on Thursday after picking up the "Legend" prize. The 37-year-old was presented with the award, an orange blimp with a bushy mohawk, by American actress and singer Zendaya in Los Angeles before four jets emerged from the stage to douse the 18-time All Star in slime. Bryant brought down the curtain on his standout 20-year career with a 60-point showing in his final game against the Utah Jazz in April. He won five NBA Championships with the Lakers, two NBA Finals MVP awards and two Olympic gold medals for the United States. Former England soccer captain David Beckham and ex New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter are previous winners of the Kids Choice 'Legend' prize that comes with a gold sliming.

I'll be back for my 20th Wimbledon, says Venus

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USA's Venus Williams in action against Germany's Angelique Kerber

 Venus Williams is planning to return to Wimbledon next year to make her 20th appearance confident in the belief that there is no such thing in life as impossible.

The oldest woman in the draw at 36, Williams lost 6-4 6-4 to Germany's Angelique Kerber on Thursday but has enjoyed something of a renaissance in reaching her first grand slam semi-final since 2010.

She returned to the world's top 10 last year following a frustrating run of results since she revealed in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease that leaves her short of energy.

Asked whether she would return to Wimbledon next year, Williams told reporters: "I would love to, it's all in the plans. If it's different, I'll be sure to let you know."

The American - who is still in the Wimbledon doubles competition with her sister Serena - said she felt she could continue to play for a long time.

"In life there is no such thing as impossible, it's always possible," she added.

"That's what you feel as an athlete. Pretty much our job is to make the impossible happen every day. It's like magic, you know. I like that."

The eighth seed felt she had given the semi-final against Kerber her best shot.

"I ran into a better player, so next time," she said.

Fourth seed Kerber will face Serena in Saturday's final and Venus plans to give her sister "a few pointers" about the German left-hander.

"For the most part, she's got to go out there and play the match she wants to play, not that I want her to play."

There was some consolation for Venus when she and Serena beat Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(1) 4-6 6-2 to book their place in the women's doubles semi-finals.

Venus said the tournament had been hugely important for the partnership with the Rio Olympics looming next month.

"We've played so sporadically the last few years," she said.

"It's not easy to come out and play one match, then not play for a year.

"We've had a chance to build a little bit, starting in Rome, then the French, coming along here. As a team, our goal is to represent the States the best we can in Rio. It's a big job, but we're going to try to do it."

Frankfurt's Russ could return this year following cancer

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Eintracht Frankfurt's Marco Russ

 Eintracht Frankfurt defender Marco Russ could play
again this year following treatment for cancer, it was reported
Saturday.
Russ, 30, underwent surgery in May on a tumour detected during a
doping test and has since had chemotherapy treatment.
Bild newspaper quoted Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac as saying: "Marco
feels okay so far. We hope that he can slowly begin again with sport
in three to four months."
Frankfurt stayed in the top flight Bundesliga following a
relegation/promotion play-off tie with Nuremberg. Russ played in the
first leg shortly after being diagnosed with a tumour.
Frankfurt sporting director Fredi Bobic recently said the club
intended to extend Russ's contract which expires next year.

Meier extends Frankfurt contract to 2018

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Frankfurt's Alexander Meier

 Former Bundesliga top scorer Alexander Meier has
extended his contract with Eintracht Frankfurt to 2018, the club said
Thursday.
The 33-year-old Meier's current deal was due to expire in 2017 but
the extension settles the future of the veteran, who has already been
offered an as yet undefined position with Eintracht when his playing
career ends.
"I have found my footballing home in Frankfurt. The city, the people,
the fans in the stadium - everything just fits and I'm pleased the
club has continued to show faith in me."
Meier has scored 131 goals in 353 competitive games for Eintracht
since moving from SV Hamburg in 2004. In 2015 he was the Bundesliga
top scorer with 19 goals but endured an injury-hit campaign last
season in which Frankfurt needed a play-off to avoid relegation.
"Alex Meier has given enormous service to Eintracht and has an
extremely important role here and with the fans," sport director
Bruno Huebner said. "It is something special when a player is with
one club for so long and is still so successful."

Kerber's best not good enough to topple Serena

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Angelique Kerber of Germany with the runner-up trophy following her defeat by Serena Williams

 Sometimes, your best simply isn't good enough.

It was a lesson Angelique Kerber learned the hard way on Saturday as no matter what the German did on court, she was powerless to prevent the unstoppable force that is Serena Williams from running away with the Venus Rosewater Dish.

The 7-5 6-3 final victory not only handed the American a seventh Wimbledon title, it also finally gave her the elusive 22nd grand slam title that drew her level with Steffi Graf's professional era record.

"I went out there today to win the match. I tried everything... but Serena was serving unbelievable today," said Australian Open champion Kerber, who had blocked the American's path to a 22nd slam title in January's Melbourne Park final.

"I played my best so what else could I do? She really played an unbelievable match. She's a great opponent, a great person, a great champion," said the fourth seed.

Kerber played great too and was even applauded by her rival in the fourth game of the second set when she finished off a 15-stroke end-to-end baseline rally by curling in a blazing backhand winner despite almost running off into the side stands.

At 3-3, Kerber earned a break point but that disappeared within the blink of an eye as Williams fired down a 117 mph ace.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Kerber.

"I had one break point and I couldn't do anything," said the 28-year-old, who was seeking to become the first German woman to win the title since her idol Graf 20 years ago.

"She was just going for it. She's a tough opponent when she's playing like today."
 KERBER PROUD

While Kerber fell one victory short of her target, reaching the Wimbledon final gave the German the belief that she has it in her to win more slams following her French Open nightmare.

Seven weeks ago Kerber was left distraught after she suffered a shock defeat by Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens in the opening round of Roland Garros in her first match at a major since joining the grand slam winners' club in Australia.

"I'm proud about what I did (at Wimbledon), especially after (what happened in) Paris," said Kerber who will rise to a career-high second in the world when the new rankings are released on Monday.

"I know I have the game, all the experience to win a few more grand slams. I know how to get here. I hope that I will reach a few more finals and maybe win a few more grand slams."

So having had the best seat in the house as Williams made history, did she think she could one day dominate the game like the American?

"It's tough to follow in her footsteps. I'm going my own way. It's one of my goals one day to be the number one... but it's still a long way (away). For now, it's just a great feeling to be in my second grand slam final."