Briefs

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Wiggins factor sees Yorkshire host start of 2014 Tour

CYCLING:British cycling success this year has been rewarded with the selection of north of England county Yorkshire to host the start of the 2014 Tour de France.

The city of Leeds will host the “Grand Depart” on July 5th, 2014 and there will also be a stage in London, organisers ASO said in a statement yesterday.

Details of the stages will be announced in Leeds and Paris on January 17th.

This year, Team Sky rider Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour, raising the profile of cycling’s most famous race in his country.

It will be the fourth time the Tour has been to Britain after previous visits in 1974, 1994 and 2007 when the prologue was held in London and the first stage also started in the city.

Apparel-maker Oakley suing McIlroy and Nike

GOLF:Apparel-maker Oakley are suing golfer Rory McIlroy and Nike, saying the world's top-ranked golfer and Nike breached his existing contract with Oakley when he recently signed a new deal with Nike.

According to a lawsuit filed this week in a federal court in Santa Ana, California, Oakley tried to use its right of first refusal to match the Nike offer, but McIlroy and his agent, Conor Ridge, ignored their counter-offer, thereby breaching the Oakley-McIroy contract.

Oakley claims in its lawsuit that its contractual rights for McIlroy's endorsements of its eyewear and performance apparel would be 30 per cent of the Nike package. If reports in European golf publications of a $200 million deal for McIlroy with Nike are accurate, then Oakley offered about $60 million to continue its deal with McIlroy. No one involved in the dispute will confirm the magnitude of the Nike offer.

According to Oakley, the damage that has resulted from McIlroy's refusal to renew with Oakley is "irreparable" and entitles Oakley to an injunction to stop the Nike contract.

BRIAN KEOGH

Murphy sets another record in semi-final Swimming

SWIMMING:Barry Murphy has set another Irish record in Istanbul at the World Short Course Swimming Championships, finishing 13th overall in the semi-final of the 50m Butterfly. Murphy's time of 23.39 bettered the Irish record he set in the morning heat (23.52) by .13 of a second.

London 2012 Olympian Murphy will now turn his attention to his final event of the Championship today.

Murphy's 50m Breaststroke is his strongest event and he will be hoping for at least a semi-final spot. He finished sixth at the recent European Championships when he set a new Irish Record of 26.60 and secured his best international ranking to date.

Myres sends out warning to Barnes

BOXING:Hugh Myres has fired a warning shot across the bows of two-time Olympic medallist Paddy Barnes ahead of February's Irish Elite Championships.

The Kildare light-flyweight, who ran Barnes very close in the 2012 Elite 49kg final, guaranteed Ireland at least one bronze medal at the European under-23 Championships in Russia yesterday.

Myres, who boxes out of the Ryston BC, took all three rounds versus French southpaw Ory Georges en route to a 17-10 quarter-final win at the Sports Palace in Kaliningrad.

He will now meet Israel's David Albrdian – who saw off Wales' John Williams yesterday – in Monday's semi-finals.

Next year's Circuit of Ireland rally cancelled over funding

MOTOR SPORT:The Circuit of Ireland rally planned for Easter weekend of next year has been cancelled due to a lack of funding. Last year's event, which was part of the International Rally Challenge series, proved a big success and drew a global television audience of close to nine million.

Rally director Bobby Willis admitted he had to pull the plug on the event due to the lack of funding and the lack of time remaining to organise the event.

Willis said: "This is an extremely painful judgment for me to make and one that I do not enter into lightly. I had publicly expressed concern in October over funding for the 2013 Rally.

"We have received significant backing from Government but we were falling short of our full funding requirements and, given the delay this has imposed, it is now impossible to organise an international sporting event in less than three months.

"This is not the end for the Circuit of Ireland Rally and I, along with 700 volunteers which it takes to run the rally, will regroup and begin planning now for 2014."