Sports Digest

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

Martin digs deep to finish excellent third in Vuelta

CYCLING:Netting his best-ever stage result in a Grand Tour, Irish pro Dan Martin finished an excellent third on yesterday's first mountain finish of this year's Vuelta a España, writes Shane Stokes.

The Garmin-Cervélo rider led home a large chase group 11 seconds behind the stage winner Daniel Moreno (Team Katusha), who out-jumped Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank Sungard) for the win.

“I was suffering really bad in the first 10 kilometres of the climb due to the heat,” Martin said afterwards. “Once we got a bit higher, it was cooler and the wind also changed to a tailwind – we were really flying then. I actually thought I was going for the win, but then in the last 100 metres I could see the other two up ahead.”

French rider Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) took over the race lead.

Martin jumped up 10 places to a fine 11th overall, one minute and six seconds behind. Fellow Irishman Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) didn’t have the same climbing legs and lost time close to the summit, coming home 36th, 51 seconds back.

However, he too improves in the general classification, moving up to 27th overall from 39th this morning. He is now two minutes 11 seconds behind Chavanel, who holds a 43 seconds advantage over Moreno.

Martin had said before the start of the Vuelta that he thought it might take him a week or so to settle in, and so he was motivated by how things turned out.

“It’s a good sign for the rest of the race,” he said.

Wozniacki tops US Open seeding

TENNIS:Serena Williams has been seeded at 28 at the US Open, while Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is top seed in line with her world ranking.

Williams, a three-time winner, will be playing in New York for the first since 2009, when a penalty point for verbally abusing a line judge who called a foot fault cost her the semi-final match against eventual champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium. Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion from the US, missed the tournament last year because of a foot injury.

Following the rankings of the WTA tour, tournament organisers made Wozniacki the top seed even though the 21-year-old from Denmark hasn’t won a Grand Slam singles title and lost back-to-back opening matches in Toronto and Cincinnati this month.

Ireland’s Conor Niland takes on Slovakia’s Pavol Cervenak in his opening qualifying round match today, while Louk Sorensen will face Spain’s Arnau Bruques-Davi tomorrow.

Injury blow to New York Giants 

AMERICAN FOOTBALL:THE New York Giants have suffered a devastating blow to their defensive department after cornerback Terrell Thomas picked up a long-term knee injury in the teams pre-season game against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

The Giants’ leader in tackles and interceptions in each of the last two seasons will miss the next campaign after tearing his right ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) when he collided with team-mate Jason Pierre-Paul towards the end of the first half.

The 26-year-old eventually limped off the field under his own power, but the extent of his injury was revealed in the second half as the Giants went on to record an impressive 41-13 victory that was tinged with a sour taste.

Its devastating, New York defensive end Justin Tuck said. He was primed to have another great year for us.”

Pistorius a boost for Paralympics

PARALYMPICS:OSCAR Pistorius' presence in the London Olympics would provide a boost for Paralympic sport, according to International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven.

South African sprinter Pistorius, a double amputee, could compete over 400 metres in both the Olympics and Paralympics next year after running the ‘A’ qualifying time.

Craven believes the appeal of the 24-year-old ‘blade-runner’ will showcase the quality of Paralympic sport to the world. “Oscar is through and through a Paralympian,” Craven said. “He’s shown this, year-in and year-out. He loves the Paralympic Games but Oscar’s got this opportunity, as very few Paralympians do, to compete in both events and this is what he’s doing.

Craven denied that competing in both sets of games is unreasonably giving Pistorius two bites of the cherry. “I don’t think it’s a problem,” he said. “Who’s it unfair to? “I just think it’s sport – a love of sport.”