Tour de France Cyclist Is Suspended by Team - Los Angeles Times
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Tour de France Cyclist Is Suspended by Team

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Raimondas Rumsas, the little-known Lithuanian cyclist whose third-place Tour de France finish was considered a breakthrough, was suspended by his team Monday in Paris after French police detained his wife on suspicion of carrying doping products.

Rumsas’ finish remained in place Monday pending the results of an investigation and drug test results, a Tour official said.

His wife, Edita, is to appear before a judge in the eastern town of Bonneville today, said Christian Lothion, of the judicial police in Lyon.

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“We seized an enormous amount of products,” Lothion said, adding they included the injectable form of the performance-enhancing substance EPO and testosterone.

It was not immediately known whether the products had anything to do with Rumsas.

He finished 8 minutes, 17 seconds behind Lance Armstrong, who won his fourth straight title. Joseba Beloki of Spain was second.

The Tour’s vice president, Daniel Baal, said Rumsas was tested at least once during the Tour, and that the results of tests carried out through last Wednesday had come back negative. Tour officials were still waiting for the results of tests carried out over the last four days, Baal said.

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Tennis

Lleyton Hewitt, the world’s No. 1 tennis player, lost to Felix Mantilla in the first round of the $2.95-million Tennis Masters Canada tournament at Toronto.

Mantilla, 27 of Spain, who has struggled this year to remain ranked in the top 50, pulled off the 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 upset.

“I am surprised because in the last month I wasn’t playing so well,” Mantilla said. “This is a special win for me--maybe the best win of my career.”

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Pete Sampras and South African Wayne Ferreira were to play the last match Monday night but it was postponed until tonight because of the rain.

Todd Martin rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over Greg Rusedski in the first round. In another early match, unseeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina upset 10th-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland, 7-6 (10), 7-5.

Andre Agassi withdrew from the tournament, claimed a lower back and hip injury and was fined $80,000 by the ATP Tour for taking a week off for the second time this season.

Hockey

The Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed left wing Geoff Sanderson to a one-year contract and agreed to multiyear deals with center Espen Knutsen and defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre. Financial terms were not disclosed.... The Toronto Maple Leafs said they signed former first-round draft pick Aki Berg to a multiyear contract.

Miscellany

Germany broke the world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle relay, finishing in 3 minutes, 36 seconds at the European Swimming Championships, beating the mark of 3:36.61 set by the United States in winning the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

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Darrell Russell earned his second consecutive top fuel victory at the NHRA Nationals at Kent. Wash. Russell raced his Bilstein dragster down the quarter-mile in 4.657 seconds at 308 mph to defeat Kenny Bernstein, who lost traction in his Bud King dragster and slowed to a run of 5.788 seconds at 159.12 mph.

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A public memorial service for former USC assistant football coach Marv Goux will be held Friday at 3 p.m. in front of Tommy Trojan on the USC campus. Current and former players, coaches and administrators will speak and the marching band will play a musical tribute.

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Friday night’s broadcast of the Angels’ 8-0 victory over the Mariners averaged a 2.9 rating and 6 share--26% ahead of the 2.75 for the Dodgers’ game against the San Francisco Giants, according to KCAL 9. It marked the first time that an Angel broadcast on KCAL 9 topped the rating for a Dodger game in head-to-head competition.

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