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WORLD
CYCLING
Greipel wins stage of rainy Vuelta
LIEGE, Belgium — Andre Greipel of Germany won a rainy, crash-marred fourth stage of the Vuelta, edging Wouter Weylandt of Belgium in a sprint finish on Tuesday.
Vuelta leader Fabian Cancellara was among the top riders involved in a high-speed crash less than 3 miles from the finish. They crashed on the slippery road as they were approaching top speed for the sprint.
But because the crash occurred close to the finish, it did not affect the overall standings.
Earlier, several riders went down on wet cobblestones near Liege during the 140-mile stage. None appeared seriously injured.
Wednesday is a rest day for the riders as the Vuelta moves to its traditional territory of Spain. The three-week race ends in Madrid on Sept. 20.
Hincapie signs with BMC Racing Team
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — American cyclist George Hincapie has signed a two-year contract with the BMC Racing Team.
The American-Swiss BMC team also announced Tuesday that it had signed world champion Alessandro Ballan of Italy and five other European cyclists.
The 36-year-old Hincapie is a three-time U.S. national professional road champion who rode the past two seasons with the Columbia-HTC team. He was part of Lance Armstrong’s team during his seven Tour victories from 1999-2005.
Leipheimer signs with Armstrong’s team
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Cyclist Levi Leipheimer has signed a two-year contract and will join Lance Armstrong on his newly formed Team RadioShack.
He confirmed the switch Tuesday, saying he’s signed with the best team in the world.
The 35-year-old Leipheimer says he plans to ride in the Tour of California, Dauphine Libere and Tour next year, calling them his three favorite races.
After breaking his right wrist in a crash during stage 12 of this year’s Tour, Leipheimer will return to competition Monday in the seven-day Tour of Missouri, which begins in St. Louis.
ESPN.com first reported Leipheimer’s signing.
Football
NFLPA focus of investigation
The NFL Players Association has confirmed it is the target of a federal investigation into whether union leaders attempted to collude with NFL officials by holding a secret meeting to discuss labor talks.
NFLPA official George Atallah said Tuesday the union has been cooperating with the Department of Labor probe, which came to light in a lawsuit filed against the union last week by NFLPA employee Mary Moran. Moran claims she was wrongfully removed from her job and placed on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 3.