Sports digest

Today's other stories in brief

Petrov blows Giro d'Italia wide open on day of drama

CYCLING: The general classification of the Giro d'Italia was completely upended yesterday when a break of 56 riders got clear 20 kilometres into the 262km stage, opened a huge lead and finished over 12 minutes clear. Irish pro Daniel Martin (Garmin Transitions) infiltrated the move and went on to place a solid 32nd, jumping from 109th to 62nd in the general classification as a result, writes Shane Stokes.

The Russian, Evgeni Petrov (Team Katusha), jumped ahead on the gradual drag up to the finish in Aquila and won what was the most dramatic stage of this year’s race. Martin came in two minutes and 17 seconds back.

The young Australian Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) was the only rider in the top 10 to make it into the move and he surged into the pink jersey of overall leader.

“It was a long, hard day. I had two team-mates who annihilated themselves for me. It’s thanks to the team,” said Porte.

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), first and second overall going into the stage, dropped back to 12th and 13th, with the other general classification contenders now even further back.

It was one of the most dramatic legs in the race for many years, and it means riders such as Carlos Sastre (Cervélo Test Team), Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Linus Gerdemann (Milram) are now back in the mix for overall victory.

Boston Celtics open a 2-0 lead 

BASKETBALL: The Boston Celtics took a tight hold on the Eastern Conference finals with a 95-92 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, staving off a late rally to open a 2-0 series lead with back-to-back road wins.

Paul Pierce scored 22 of a team-high 28 points in the first half to put the streaking Celtics on course for a healthy lead in the best-of-seven set before the teams head to Boston for Saturday’s third game.

Zabriskie grabs overall lead

CYCLING:Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) moved into the overall lead after he held off Levi Leipheimer and Mick Rogers to claim a dramatic third-stage win on the Tour of California.

However, Mark Cavendish finds himself in 89th place after coming in 67th, 16 minutes 24 seconds adrift, after the 113.3-mile leg from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.

Zabriskie, Leipheimer (Team Radio Shack) and Rogers (HTC Columbia) broke away on a climb outside Santa Cruz, gaining a maximum advantage of 90 seconds, before a chasing group closed to within a handful of seconds.

Zabriskie attacked with less than a kilometre to go and held them off, taking the win and a 10-second bonus that put him into the overall lead. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, is 12th overall after finishing 14th on the stage.

Galea charged over smuggling HGH

DOPING: Toronto doctor Anthony Galea, who has treated golfer Tiger Woods and Major League Baseball's Alex Rodriguez, was charged on Tuesday with smuggling human growth hormone and unlawfully distributing it within the US, including to National Football League players.

The players weren’t named in papers filed yesterday by the US attorney in Buffalo, New York.

Galea provided one player injections of actovegin, which is neither banned by the league nor approved by federal regulators, according to prosecutors.

He shipped two kits of HGH to another player, and a third was treated by Galea, who isnt licensed to work in the US.

Galea (50) illegally treated professional athletes including Major League Baseball players and professional golfers, as well as football players, prosecutors said.

They also accused him of making false statements to federal officials.