Freire wins 14th Tour de France stage

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Oscar Freire, Spain’s sprint specialist, won today’s 14th stage of the Tour de France, and Australia’s Cadel Evans kept the yellow jersey.

Associated Press reports that Freire won a sprint at the end of the 120.9-mile stage from Nimes to Digne-les-Bains. The stage featured some small climbs on the last day before three punishing stages in the Alps.

Evans kept his one-second lead over Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, and is 38 seconds ahead of U.S. rider Christian Vande Velde.

And on the doping front, Barloworld’s website says that the South African industrial conglomerate will drop its cycling sponsorship after this year’s Tour.

The decision was made after Barloworld rider Moises Duenas Nevado tested positive for EPO earlier this week. A company official was quoted as saying: ‘Team Barloworld has a zero tolerance policy towards doping which has been constantly communicated to the riders.... This incident has a negative impact on Barloworld and our brand principals, which our board has a duty to protect.’

-- Greg Johnson