Chris Froome was "pretty heavily" affected by coronavirus and his preparations for the Vuelta a Espana have been disrupted as a result.
Froome competed at his 10th Tour de France in July but was forced to abandon the race after stage 17 when he tested positive for COVID-19.
The Israel-Premier Tech rider sat 26th overall, having achieved his best Tour stage result since 2018 when he finished third on stage 12 up the Alpe d'Huez.
Froome is a seven-time Grand Tour champion but has never been able to recover his peak performance since a crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine, which left him in intensive care.
The 37-year-old now heads to Spain, where he won his first Grand Tour general classification jersey in 2011 but has revealed it has taken longer than he expected to recover from coronavirus.
Froome said in a press conference: "I felt as if I was coming into really good shape, certainly in the second and third week [of the Tour de France].
"So it was unfortunate to leave before the end of the race and not make it to Paris. But I think I was one of many who unfortunately got COVID.
"Unfortunately, it did affect me pretty heavily. I was symptomatic, probably for about 10 days. Then even after starting training, again, I was still really, really struggling to get the hard training done.
"I also had to follow the advice of the medical team, which was to not try and push it. I think a lot of people with COVID had made the mistake to try and start too early again. So it really did disrupt I guess my preparations for the Vuelta.
"I was really hoping to finish the Tour and then build on that condition almost immediately afterwards to get into the Vuelta. But unfortunately, with COVID, I wasn't able to do a lot of that work.
"Having said that, I have had a good past 10 days of training now. I'm a little bit unsure of where I'm at. I'm hoping just to survive the first week the best I can and look to really build into the race."
Froome has won the Vuelta twice, following up his success in 2011 with a triumph in 2017.
"The Vuelta is a really special race for me," he said. "The Vuelta is a race where back in 2011 I really had my breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender.
"It's a race where I love what the Vuelta tests in people. If you look at the GC battle of the Vuelta, it's brutal. Normally many more uphill finishes, many more mountain stages than other Grand Tours. It's a race that I've always enjoyed."
Toto Wolff says it has been like "Groundhog Day" for Mercedes during a difficult 2022 Formula One season.
The Silver Arrows' run of eight consecutive constructors' titles appears to be coming to an end as they are third in the standings behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
Mercedes have not won a race this year, with George Russell fourth in the driver standings and Lewis Hamilton back in sixth.
Having dominated the sport so long, the Brackley-based team have struggled to adapt following the introduction of new technical regulations.
Mercedes team principal Wolff says it has been a rough ride this season.
"The truth is, it's just so painful and it's so difficult to live by your values and your doubt," Wolff told Autosport.
"You oscillate from depression to exuberance, and then the next day the other way around. And in a way that when you kind of think nothing that you do works, [it is] a bit of Groundhog Day.
"Then you make steps forward by looking at things and finding out they don't function at all, and then you know what doesn't go, and you go the other way and it functions.
"All the things I've preached, all the things that you read in books that it's so hard, that it is so important to lose in order to thrive. It's just lived in real life so far."
The F1 season resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix next week following a break.
Mark Robinson accepts New Zealand Rugby made mistakes with the way they handled uncertainty over All Blacks head coach Ian Foster's future.
The NZ Rugby board on Wednesday gave Foster their "full support" to stay on until the Rugby World Cup in France next year and appointed Joe Schmidt as his assistant.
That announcement came just a few days after NZ Rugby chief executive Robinson stated that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief following a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa on Saturday.
The win over the world champions at Ellis Park came after the All Blacks had suffered five defeats in six Tests and sunk to a new low of fifth in the world rankings.
Robinson had only guaranteed that Foster would remain head coach for the tour of South Africa and he admits NZ Rugby did not handle the situation as well as they could have done.
"We acknowledge we haven't got everything right, we're not hiding from that," he said during a press conference in Auckland.
"Aspects of the sequencing in how we interacted with media and the public is something we could have done differently."
Robinson added that "clearly some aspects of the interface between the media and the public wasn’t as good as it could be."
He also conceded: "There's a few things we've done in recent times that could have been done better."
Robinson felt NZ Rugby had a difficult balancing act.
He said: "People want to hear what's going on, they want engagement and access and openness. When you attempt to achieve that, but you're not in a position to really say a lot, then the flip side is you are criticised for doing that. We are always learning.’"
When asked if stating that NZ Rugby would "take stock" following the win in Johannesburg last weekend added "fuel to the fire", Robison replied: "Hindsight's wonderful, isn't it?
"We were attempting to respond to a general demand to be want to be more open and want to be more transparent and give as much as we can possibly can at a time when people are curious, and we don't always make the right decisions.
"It's difficult, isn't it, if you don't say things and think of the best interests of the team and wait till they're out of the country, you're criticised for going missing in action.
"But if you turn up and do have something to say when you're not in strong position to say a lot of things, you get criticised for having to be in a position where you're not saying anything."
Ian Foster is staying on as New Zealand head coach and Joe Schmidt has been appointed as his assistant.
Foster had been under huge pressure following a dismal run of five defeats in six Tests, before the All Blacks lifted the gloom with a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson had only guaranteed Foster would remain in the role for the two Tests against the Springboks.
Robinson stated after the victory over the world champions in Johannesburg that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief, with Foster saying he expected to retain his job.
NZ Rugby on Wednesday confirmed that the 57-year-old will be in charge through to the Rugby World Cup in France next year, with Schmidt taking on a full-time role supporting him.
Stewart Mitchell, the NZR chair, said during a press conference in Auckland: "[The board] have unanimously agreed they have absolute confidence that Ian and this coaching group are the right people to lead the All Blacks through until the World Cup.
"This has been privately and publicly validated by our players and various conversations with our high-performance team."
Former Ireland head coach Schmidt had already been working in the All Blacks' set-up and Foster welcomed his appointment.
"Joe Schmidt has been on my radar, probably for a couple of years," said Foster.
"We flagged at the start of this year that his role was to join us after the Irish series as an independent selector to replace Grant Fox and in addition he was going to do some opposition analysis work and work alongside myself in the strategy area.
"We started that after the Irish series [which Ireland won 2-1] and delighted with how that's going. I have a great relationship with Joe."
Holders New Zealand are back in Rugby Championship action against Argentina at Orangetheory Stadium a week on Saturday.
Jon Rahm joked he has been brushing up on how things work in the courtroom by watching the hit TV show Suits as golf's civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Series wages on.
The battle between the PGA Tour and the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Series took another twist last week when three defectors went to the courts in a bid to play in the lucrative FedExCup playoffs.
Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford had filed a restraining order to allow them to play this week's tournament, while 11 LIV Golf stars put together an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
However, a judge ruled ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship that LIV Golf players were not eligible to compete in the playoffs.
Former world number one Rahm conceded he had only fortuitously seen the verdict but was happy with the outcome.
"Well, I can tell you I had zero attention on it. I only found out that it was going on because I walked by a player dining and I saw about 10 really nervous people pacing all around the room," he said ahead of this weekend's BMW Championship.
"I asked and heard what was going on. I was in the room when the judge made a decision known, but only because I was walking by and they told me it was time. So, I was like, 'I'll stay'.
"I think it could have made things a little bit awkward. They chose to leave the PGA Tour. They chose to go join another tour, knowing the consequences, and then try to come back and get courts and justice in the way.
"It wouldn't have sat extremely well with me but, at the same time, they're adults. They're free to do as they please to an extent. And that's what they chose to do if they're allowed by a judge. I'm nobody to say otherwise. Would it have been awkward? Possibly. But, I guess we'll never know."
Rahm does not foresee this being the end of LIV players' attempts to play in PGA Tour events and offered a little insight into how he has been brushing up his knowledge on legal proceedings.
"I am confident that the LIV side of things are still going to push strong to keep trying to change some things," he added.
"But I also know that the lawyers and the PGA Tour side are going to keep fighting to keep things the way are going right now.
"It's not the last thing we're going to hear from them. But I just started watching the show Suits. So, I'm kind of learning now about how what happens in a courtroom."
U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick also weighed in on the discussion, saying the time has come to put the focus back purely on playing golf.
"I'll be honest, I've not been asked much about it myself personally. So, it's just been it's been fine," he said.
"For me, it's just seeing it in the media and stuff. You just get fed up with talking about it.
"In my personal opinion, let's just get on with it now. We just want to play golf and concentrate on what we do. That's purely my take on that."
The Atlanta Braves on Tuesday made a long-term commitment to a player with less than three months of major league experience, as they signed center-fielder Michael Harris II to an eight-year, $72million contract.
The deal runs through 2030 and includes club options for the 2031 and 2032 seasons as well.
Harris becomes the latest core player to be locked up to a long-term deal by the Braves. He will be the fifth Atlanta player signed through at least 2025, along with outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., second baseman Ozzie Albies, first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Austin Riley.
The 21-year-old Harris, the youngest player in the majors, was called up from Double-A on May 28 and has made a huge impact for the Braves. He is batting .287 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs, while adding 13 stolen bases and 46 runs in 71 games.
Harris was named National League Rookie of the Month for June after he hit .347 with 13 extra-base hits and four steals.
An outstanding defensive center fielder, Harris’ two-way play has made him a favourite to win NL Rookie of the Year, with teammate Spencer Strider perhaps his chief competitor.
Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the New York Mets improved the Braves to 50-21 since Harris made his debut against the Miami Marlins on May 28. Atlanta pulled to within three-and-a-half games of the NL East-leading Mets with their eighth consecutive victory.
In one of the most anticipated pitching duels of the season, the top-two American League Cy Young Award favourites went head-to-head as Dylan Cease's Chicago White Sox beat Justin Verlander's Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday.
The White Sox struck first in the second inning as they were able to rattle off four hits, with Josh Harrison's infield single driving in the first run of the game.
Houston were quick in their response, jumping ahead 2-1 an inning later after back-to-back doubles from Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and after a couple of scoreless innings, Astros star Jose Altuve made it 3-1 with the game's only home run to lead off the fifth frame.
Cease departed after the fifth inning, finishing with three earned runs from six hits and three walks, striking out four in what was not his best showing.
Verlander was the sharper of the two stars early, conceding just one run through six complete innings, but the Astros were punished for sending him back out for the seventh as he gave up a two-run double to pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets, tying the game at 3-3.
In the eighth frame, after a walk to Eloy Jimenez and a single to Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada came through with an RBI base hit to grab the decisive lead, with Australian closer Liam Hendriks shutting the door for his 27th save of the season.
Out of the entire league, Verlander owns the second-best ERA at 1.95, while Cease is third at 2.09. Both trail Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara (1.92).
Brewers beat the Dodgers in walk-off fashion
There were fireworks in the Milwaukee Brewers' 5-4 extra-innings win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with all six runs scored in regulation coming via home runs before a walk-off hit from Victor Caratini.
Brewers Willy Adames and Christian Yelich went deep, while Joey Gallo, Mookie Betts and Chris Taylor all hit solo shots for the Dodgers to have things tied at 3-3 after nine innings.
After a scoreless 10th frame, Justin Turner was able to drive in a run to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, but closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel was not able to finish things off on the mound, giving up a hit and a walk to load the bases, setting up Caratini for the game-winning knock.
Ray strikes out 10 in Mariners win
Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani and heavy favourite for AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez combined for six hits as the Seattle Mariners ran away late to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-2.
Mariners starting pitcher and reigning Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray looked back to his best after an inconsistent start to the season, striking out 10 batters while giving up two runs in six innings.
Rodriguez, who made waves as he approached record-breaking numbers in last month's Home Run Derby, finished three-for-five at the plate with a home run, while Ohtani was three-for-four, including a triple, after striking out eight batters on the mound yesterday.
The New York Mets will have to make do without a key piece of their rotation after right-hander Carlos Carrasco was diagnosed with a strained left oblique on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old Carrasco suffered the injury in Monday’s 13-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He returned following a 55-minute rain delay in the second inning and got the last out but winced on his final pitch and was pulled after allowing three runs in two innings.
"It just got tight a little bit and I don’t want to push more," Carrasco told reporters after the game.
An MRI Tuesday revealed a low-grade strain on the left side and the team said a typical timeline for this type of injury is three to four weeks.
Carrasco has been a big part of the Mets’ success this season, going 13-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 23 starts. He was 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA over his previous seven starts and his 126 1/3 innings pitched rank second on the team to Chris Bassitt, with both Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom limited by injuries.
David Peterson would seem a possible replacement for Carrasco in the rotation. Peterson is 6-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 18 appearances, including 14 starts, though he was optioned to Triple-A earlier this month.
The first-place Mets entered Tuesday with a four-and-a-half game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East as they try to secure their first postseason berth since 2016.
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson had successful arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to repair the meniscus in his right knee, according to multiple reports.
Surgeons found no further damage in Wilson’s knee, ESPN reported, keeping intact the initial timeline of a two to four-week recovery.
The second-year quarterback suffered the injury while scrambling in the Jets' preseason opener last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wilson made an awkward cut during the seven-yard rush and fell to the turf. Given the non-contact nature of the injury, Jets fans and pundits initially feared a more serious injury, but Wilson may have a chance to start New York's season-opening game against the Baltimore Ravens on September 11.
If Wilson needs additional time to recover, the Jets will turn to veteran Joe Flacco, who has been with the team since 2020.
Members of the Jets' offense have voiced their comfort with Flacco filling in when needed. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson, the 10th overall pick in April's draft, said that Flacco throws a "receiver-friendly" ball on Monday.
"There’s definitely a difference," the rookie receiver told reporters. "It's a lot of experience right there with Flacco. I feel like everything with him, he takes some pace off, puts some pace on the ball. He does a good job of making the passes receiver-friendly. That's the best way I can put it into words.
"They're pretty easy to catch. Takes some off the ball when you're running a slant route versus an out route, put some zip on it because it's gotta be. Things like that."
Even if Flacco fills in admirably, the franchise knows that Wilson is the quarterback of the future. He will miss valuable repetitions in practice, with the Jets set to hold joint sessions with the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants this preseason.
“It's a setback in that he's missing an unbelievable opportunity to get these reps in and to play other defenses, especially the Giants who have such an elaborate pressure package system, a pressure system,” first-year coach Robert Saleh said. "But he's got to stay dialled in just like he was last year when he was hurt, learn from his team-mates and try to be involved as much mentally as he can possibly be.
"The timing of it all is terrible and it sucks, but I think Zach can still have an opportunity to grow from it if he attacks it mentally."
The FIA World Motorsport Council has approved power unit regulations set to come into effect from the 2026 season, as part of a number of announcements made on Tuesday.
Key points from the new regulations are an increase in electrical power and the use of 100 per cent sustainable fuels, a key step in F1's plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.
F1 also stated that the regulations will be 'attractive' to new power unit manufacturers, with the Volkswagen Group already having confirmed that Porsche and Audi will be coming to the grid in the coming years.
While Porsche is set to partner with an existing team, widely expected to be Red Bull, Audi will bring the brand to the field and could take over from a current team – though there have been some pushes for the number of teams on the grid to be increased from 10.
Elsewhere, the WMSC also approved technical regulation changes for 2022 and 2023 – including the controversial directive regarding a counter to the 'porpoising' that has plagued several teams this season.
Red Bull and Alpine had opposed such proposals but it has been announced that, from the resumption of the season in Belgium later this month,' there will be changes to redefine the stiffness requirements of the plank and skids around the thickness measurement holes on the cars'.
From 2023, the floor edges will be raised by 15mm, the diffuser will be raised and stiffness increased, while an additional sensor will be mandated to monitor the porpoising phenomenon more effectively.
After Zhou Guanyu's horror crash at the start of the 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, changes were made to the safety standards surrounding roll hoops on F1 cars, including a rounded top, with further regulations planned for 2024 to ensure future cars can resist more significant loads.
Sara Misir, the Caribbean’s first Formula Woman finalist, overcame a late car switch on Saturday to win all three races in the Modified Production 3 Class at the Dover Raceway in St. Ann on Sunday.
Misir’s car caught fire during testing on Saturday.
“I had a scare before race day on Saturday where my engine caught fire, so I had to switch cars at the last minute,” Misir explained.
Despite the setback, she qualified in pole position and then scored maximum points in all three races in her class. The victories which mirrored her performance at Dover in July represented fulfilment for the trailblazing driver.
“I always look forward to competing at Dover and, for me, it’s about testing my speed and seeing how much I have improved each time I race,” Misir said.
“I’m happy for the wins on Sunday despite the setback on Saturday.”
Winning her second hat-trick of races in consecutive meets at Dover is a testament to her continuing growth as a race car driver. Her coach and father, Rugie Misir, explained that the maturity from racing in the United Kingdom has been evident in her performances at Dover this year.
“For the first time, I see her driving to the capacity of the car and her confidence is high. She’s more focused and more mature and it shows in her performance over the last two meets,” said Misir who is also president of the Jamaica Go Karting Association.
He also explained what went wrong with his daughter’s car during testing on Saturday.
“Her car had a damaged rod in the master cylinder on Saturday which overheated the rotor and set the brake ducts on fire,” he said.
“It was minimally damaged but rendered unusable for this meet, so we reverted to the BMW which is slower by five seconds over each lap,” he added.
The NBA will schedule no matches on November 8, the date of the US midterm elections, in order to encourage voter turnout.
Ahead of Wednesday's full schedule reveal, the organisation confirmed all 30 teams will instead play on November 7, the day before polling booths open.
The move marks a significant break from tradition for the governing body, which typically avoids matches on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
It comes on the back of increased political involvement from within the league during the 2020 election cycle.
"The NBA today announced that no games will be played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022," the league said in a statement.
"The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family's focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections."
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives will be contested this November, while more than 30 Senate seats and gubernatorial races will also be in the mix.
It marks the first widespread elections since 2020, when Democrat Joe Biden defeated then-incumbent Republican Donald Trump for the US presidency.
Tiger Woods was expected to meet a small group of leading golfers on Tuesday amid the ongoing threat posed by LIV Golf to the long-established PGA Tour.
Woods is not competing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but Stats Perform understands the 15-time major champion elected to come to Delaware to meet fellow professionals involved in the BMW Championship.
The 46-year-old is reportedly trying to garner support among PGA Tour counterparts over the battle with the breakaway series for players' allegiances.
Woods has made his feelings over the Saudi-backed LIV Golf clear, and reportedly turned down a high nine-figure fortune to join, but Open champion Cameron Smith looks to be the next big name to defect.
"I disagree with it [the players' decision to join LIV Golf]," Woods said ahead of The Open. "I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position."
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was set to be available at the BMW Championship to talk informally to any players who have any questions to raise, as has been the case for several months.
It is understood up to two dozen players have sought out Monahan for chats at certain events, but there have been no emergency talks.
Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are among the high profile players who have joined LIV Golf.
As far as Justin Simmons is concerned it doesn't matter that the Denver Broncos lost 10 games in 2021 to finish in last place in the AFC West.
Or that the team hasn't made the playoffs since the 2015 season.
The way Simmons sees it, the Broncos are equipped to win this year's Super Bowl.
Simmons was drafted by Denver in 2016 just months after the team's last playoff appearance – a win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
The Broncos have four double-digit loss seasons in the six years since winning it all, but with the addition of Russell Wilson at quarterback and a new coaching staff, Simmons believes this season will end differently.
"In terms of the playoffs, I'm really excited," Simmons said Tuesday on Good Morning Football. "Like you said, I just missed the Super Bowl with Denver; got drafted the year after, and then since then, the best record that I've been a part of was 9-7, just missing that playoff berth.
"Guys are hungry, and obviously, Russ is hungry. We got a hungry group, we've got a talented group, and that's what I'm really looking forward to. I feel like if you have that - as long as we don't beat ourselves - I like our chances to host playoff games and eventually hoist the Lombardi trophy at the end of the year."
A Pro Bowl selection in 2020, the 28-year-old Simmons was tied for fourth in the NFL with five interceptions last season to help lead a defense that ranked third in the league in opponent scoring at 18.9 points per game.
With Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock lining up at quarterback, however, Denver's offense struggled to keep up in the high-powered AFC West, averaging 19.7 points per game to rank tied with Washington for 23rd.
Expectations on offense are much higher this year with Wilson taking over at signal-caller in perhaps the NFL's most talented quarterback division with the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herber and Las Vegas Raiders' Derek Carr.
"I think the confidence level is at an all-time high," Simmons said. "Playing in the best division in football, being in the AFC West, is going to be challenging but it's going to be fun, right?
"I think Russ kind of hit it on the head in his opening presser when he was officially announced as a Denver Bronco, and saying, 'I'm not scared of the competition and I want to go up against the best, and there's no better division to go up against in the AFC West.'
"Seeing Herbert, Carr and Mahomes twice a year and obviously how talented that offense is, but just as a team. The defensive additions that all those teams have gotten and things like that. I'm just really looking forward to the competitive nature that those games are going to hold. I'm excited for, you know, obviously us, but the fans to watch those games as well.
"It's going to be really cool. It's going to be a lot of fireworks for those games."
Oleksandr Usyk is determined to do his fellow Ukrainians proud when he faces Anthony Joshua on Saturday and vowed to help them in any way he can.
Usyk outclassed Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September to win the IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles.
The 35-year-old will defend his belts for the first time in a rematch with the Briton in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
Usyk has been involved in a battle that is much bigger than any boxing fight since he became world champion, returning to his homeland to defend his country following Russia's invasion.
He has set up the Usyk Foundation to support humanitarian aid for Ukrainians in need of medical care, shelter and food.
Usyk has also ensured his second bout with Joshua in Jeddah will be free to watch for the people of his war-torn country and he hopes to put on a show for his compatriots.
"I want to help my people and my country and Saturday night is going to be a small party for them, maybe a big party," he told Sky Sports.
"I will do my best to give the best performance that I can.
"It's important because the war is taking place and we have to help people. Whether they need food, we supply them with food. Whether they need anything else, we have to help them.
"Because this is something that is happening in our hearts and our assignment is to keep positive and keep other people positive.
"I have a group of people who work hard to find families in need. Maybe they need some kind of house to live, some food to support, maybe some money to spend for their families.
"They are looking for these people, they are analysing what are their needs and they help in satisfying their needs. This is something that they do every day and this is something that will be done in the future because this is actually the mission of the foundation."
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