OLYMPICS:Britain is targeting exceptionally tall athletes to help the country meet its lofty gold medal target at the London 2012 Olympics.
A scheme launched this week by UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport is calling for sleeping giants to take up rowing, handball and volleyball in the hope that they can be fast-tracked into becoming Olympic champions.
Detailing the requirements of the scheme on its website, UK Sport says it will only consider women measuring 5ft 11ins (1.80m) and men of 6ft 3ins (1.90m). Candidates must also be under the age of 25.
"We want to unearth the hidden talent of the six-foot plus variety . . . we have a unique opportunity to pluck individuals from relative sporting obscurity and provide the opportunity of a sporting lifetime," Chelsea Warr of UK Sport said.
British Olympic chiefs have identified fourth place in the medals table as the goal for the 2012 Olympics. In the Athens Games in 2004 Britain was 10th.
CYCLING: UCI president Pat McQuaid and the organisers of cycling's three-week tours of France, Italy and Spain have been requested to attend what is termed a 'last-chance' meeting to resolve the conflict between them, reports Shane Stokes.
Seventeen of cycling's top teams met under the IPCT (International Association of ProTour Cycling Teams) banner in Brussels yesterday, holding crisis talks to discuss the future of the ProTour series.
Paris-Nice, the first event in the 27-race league, is due to begin on Sunday week, yet the race is plunged into uncertainty due to the conflict between the UCI and Grand Tour organisers.
ASO, which organises Paris-Nice as well as the Tour de France and several other races, plus the organisers of the Tour of Italy (RCS Sport) and the Tour of Spain (Unipublic), have said that they are opposed to their 11 races being included as part of the ProTour by the UCI, and that they will block the Unipublic team from riding their events.
The UCI says that this is against their rules and following ASO's recent decision to run Paris-Nice as a national event, issued a directive to the teams pointing out that under current UCI rules, they are unable to ride this level of race.
The teams met yesterday to try to find a common ground and decide what stance they would take. If they rowed in en masse behind the UCI, this would almost certainly force ASO and the other organisers to back down. However, backing for ASO would make things very difficult for McQuaid and the rest of the governing body.
In the end, a decision was put off until next week as regards participation in Paris-Nice and other events.
