Sports Digest: Tour de France champion's yellow jersey sold for charity for $54000 - Press Herald

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CYCLING

TOUR DE FRANCE: Champion Tadej Pogacar’s yellow jersey was sold for $54,000 Friday in a charity auction organized by Slovenia’s national public radio.

Pogacar’s jersey was bought by a Slovenian businessman. Organizers said the money will be used to support talented young sportsmen in Slovenia from underprivileged families.

The 22-year-old Pogacar became the youngest winner in the 116-year history of the tour on Sunday. He finished ahead of another Slovenian, Primoz Roglic. Slovenia, an Alpine nation of 2 million people, is known as nature-loving and sports oriented.

ROAD WORLDS: American cyclist Chloé Dygert is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery on her left leg following a crash at the road cycling world championships Thursday in Bologna, Italy.

“I’ll be back,” Dygert said in a tweet Friday.

Dygert was the favorite to defend her title in the time trial and led by nearly half a minute at the intermediate checkpoint before losing control on a descent and crashing over a roadside barrier. The 23-year-old Dygert described her reaction and posted a picture of her injuries, including a severe laceration to her left leg, on Twitter.

She wrote: “I remember thinking what if I can get my bike can I still win? The first thing I remember was asking @JimMiller_time (USA Cycling chief of sports performance Jim Miller) if I was done.. Then I looked down and saw my leg.

“Thank you for all the well wishes. I’ll be back.”

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Valtteri Bottas was fastest in both practice sessions for the Russian Grand Prix on Friday as Mercedes once again looked to have untouchable pace.

Bottas set the fastest time of the day with 1 minute, 33.519 seconds in the second session at Sochi, Russia, .267 ahead of his teammate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The next fastest was Daniel Ricciardo for Renault, more than a second off the pace.

Hamilton will chase his 91st Formula One win in Sunday’s race, which would equal the record held by Michael Schumacher. Hamilton had a difficult start to his Russian race weekend, though, when damaged tires and interruptions to the session left him only 19th fastest in the first session.

Mercedes drivers have won all six of the races to date in Sochi, with Hamilton taking four of those victories including the last two.

FIGURE SKATING

SKATE AMERICA: Skate America next month in Las Vegas will be held without fans due to Nevada Gaming Control Board guidelines.

The event is the first of six on the ISU Grand Prix schedule, and is set for Oct. 23-25 at the Orleans Arena. For now, the ISU plans to conduct all of the competitions, though it already has canceled the Junior Grand Prix series because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also part of the series are Skate Canada in Ottawa; Cup of China in Chongqing; Internationaux de France in Grenoble; Rostelecom Cup in Moscow; and NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan. The Grand Prix Final is set for Beijing in December.

No major ISU figure skating event has been held since the world championships in Montreal were canceled in March.

SOCCER

CYPRUS: Cyprus is ramping up coronavirus testing for soccer players and shutting down smaller stadium locker rooms following the emergence of large clusters of COVID-19 infections at two first division teams.

Officials from the health ministry and the Cypriot soccer federation have decided to carry out random coronavirus tests on five people from each of 20 teams from all divisions every week. Another 7,000 tests will be carried out on players from all divisions except the first division.

All stadium locker rooms smaller than a certain size will be closed and health officials will start inspections of all soccer stadiums and team installations to ensure health protocols are followed. Any player who tests positive for COVID-19 is immediately placed in isolation under the existing protocols. Players who test negative within 24 hours of a confirmed case will be allowed to return to practice and take part in scheduled matches.

Cypriot clubs Nea Salamina and Ethnikos Achnas recently saw a spike in coronavirus infections.

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