Sports News Roundup: Tour stage 19 briefly interrupted by protesters; Thiem reaches first Tour-level semi-final in 14 months and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Soccer-Barcelona sell further 15% of LaLiga TV rights to Sixth Street

Barcelona have sold a further 15% stake in their LaLiga TV rights for the next 25 years to U.S. private equity group Sixth Street, the club said on Friday, with The Financial Times reporting the investment is worth more than 300 million euros ($305.64 million). Sixth Street have now purchased 25% of Barcelona’s income from LaLiga TV rights, having bought 10% for 207.5 million euros on June 30.

Boxing-Maths teacher rolls with the punches of hectic schedule for pro boxing dream

Maths teacher Ramez Mahmood occasionally walks into class with a black eye but his students at his Ilford-based school have grown accustomed to visible bruises knowing it comes with the territory of also being a professional boxer. Armed with a degree from the University of Greenwich, Mahmood’s day job involves teaching students aged 11-18, but the ultimate dream of ‘The Mathemagician’ is to win British Commonwealth and European titles.

Athletics-Garcia Leon completes worlds race walk double with 35km gold

Peru’s Kimberly Garcia Leon bagged her second gold medal at the World Athletics Championships after winning the women’s 35km race walk on Friday, adding to last week’s 20km race walk triumph. Garcia Leon won the inaugural women’s 35km race walk at the worlds, held on a closed loop at Autzen Stadium north of Eugene city centre, after crossing the line in a time of 2:39:16, which was over four minutes faster than her previous personal best.

Cycling-Tour stage 19 briefly interrupted by protesters

The 19th stage of the Tour de France was interrupted for five minutes because of a protest on the road, organisers said on Friday. “The riders have been asked to slow down and stop because of a protest on the road. They’ll resume racing with the same time gap (between the peloton and the breakaway riders): 1:20,” the Tour organisers said in a statement.

Cycling-Astana suspend Lopez over alleged link to drug trafficking investigation

Colombian rider Miguel Angel Lopez has been internally suspended by his Astana-Qazaqstan team following media reports that linked him to a drug trafficking case in Spain, the Kazakh outfit said on Friday. Spanish website Ciclo21 reported that police in the country were scrutinising his connections to Dr Marcos Maynar, a professor at the University of Extremadura, who is under investigation for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.

Athletics-Lyles retains 200m crown as US sweep podium, Jackson wins women’s title

Noah Lyles retained his 200 metres title as U.S. sprinters secured their second podium sweep while Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it a 1-2 finish for Jamaica in the women’s event at the World Championships on Thursday. Lyles, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, scorched to victory in 19.31 seconds to become the third-fastest athlete of all time over the distance and break four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s national record.

Athletics-Champion Lyles relishes American worlds dominance

A year after the U.S. men walked away from the Tokyo Olympics without a single individual track gold, sprinter Noah Lyles said on Thursday he was savouring every title won by American athletes at the World Championships. The 25-year-old retained his 200 metres world title in a national record of 19.31 seconds, leading an unprecedented second U.S. podium sprint sweep after Fred Kerley headlined an American 1-2-3 in the 100m.

Tennis-Thiem reaches first Tour-level semi-final in 14 months

Former world number three Dominic Thiem reached his first Tour-level semi-final in 14 months at the Swiss Open in Gstaad on Friday, as the Austrian looks to step up his comeback from a wrist injury that sidelined him for nine months. The 2020 U.S. Open champion had been out of action after injuring his wrist in June 2021 and could not defend his title at Flushing Meadows.

Cycling-Laporte breaks French jinx with victory on stage 19 of Tour

Frenchman Christophe Laporte ended a lengthy home drought at the Tour de France, claiming the 19th stage with a perfectly timed effort on Friday to give the local fans something to celebrate for the first time in more than a year. Laporte, a domestique within the mighty Jumbo-Visma team of yellow jersey holder Jonas Vingegaard and points classification leader Wout van Aert, bridged a small gap with a leading trio in a nail-biting finale before moving clear 300 metres from the line.

Tennis-Djokovic joins Nadal, Federer, Murray for Team Europe at Laver Cup

Tennis fans are used to seeing Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray fight tooth and nail to beat each other at the Grand Slams but the “Big Four” are set to play together in the same team for the first time at the Laver Cup in London. Wimbledon champion Djokovic on Friday was named as the fourth member of the six-man Team Europe, the 35-year-old Serb joining his long-time rivals at the fifth edition of the ATP-sanctioned event from Sept. 23-25.

(With inputs from agencies.)