By VERA FILIPELLI, Times wires
Published March 29, 2004
MADRID, Spain - Cyclist Jesus Manzano thinks it's not possible to compete in major races without taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Manzano, who was released from the Kelme team last year, is creating a stir with his detailed accounts of widespread doping practices by his former team and cycling.
"Of course you could ride without being doped, but a cyclist couldn't do the Tour (de France) or Vuelta (Tour of Spain), for example," Manzano was quoted in the newspaper As in the last of a five-article series.
"You could ride, for example, if the stages of 200 kilometers (120 miles) were lowered to 140 (90)."
In earlier articles, Manzano said he had health problems that resulted from frequent blood transfusions and being injected with performance-enhancing substances.
Kelme officials said Manzano was lying.
The Kelme team was ruled out of the Tour de France this year by race officials, and Spanish anti-doping authorities launched an investigation.
CRITERIUM INTERNATIONAL: Lance Armstrong finished third in Montherme, France, 14 seconds behind winner Jens Voigt of Germany. Armstrong, the five-time Tour de France champion, placed 17th in the 60.1-mile stage early Sunday and fourth in the 5.1-mile time trial. Voigt won those stages and finished with an overall time of 7 hours, 40 minutes, 43 seconds.
SOCCER: Arsenal extends streak
Arsenal of the Premier League tied the record for longest unbeaten streak in a season and broke the mark for longest streak to start a season with a 1-all tie against Manchester United in London. Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 30 and matched the record set by Burnley (1920-21).
TENNIS: Serena wins again
Serena Williams hung on to beat Elena Likhovtseva 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne. The top-seeded Williams was playing for the second time after taking eight months off to recover from knee surgery. Three-time champion Venus Williams struggled early but defeated No.27 Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (7-0), 6-2. The sisters could meet in the final Saturday. On the men's side, former No.1 Lleyton Hewitt lost to Andrei Pavel 6-4, 7-5.
SECURITY CONCERNS: Serena Williams said the threat of terrorism at the Summer Games might keep her home.
ATHENS OLYMPICS: Cameroon won't defend
Defending soccer champion Cameroon was eliminated with a 1-0 loss at Mali in the African qualifying tournament in Bamako. Ghana qualified by beating Zambia 2-0 in Kumasi.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Tina Thompson scored 21 and Swin Cash had 19 to help the United States complete its European tour 6-0 with an 88-64 victory over Hungary in Budapest.
SAILING: Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter will represent the U.S. sailing team in the Star class, sealing their spot with a fifth-place finish in the trials in Coconut Grove.
SWIMMING: Ian Thorpe, the 400-meter freestyle world-record holder, won't ask Craig Stevens to give up his place in that event after Thorpe's disqualification during the Australian trials.
RUNNING: Italian wins in Rome
Ruggero Pertile won the Rome Marathon, improving his chances of making Italy's Olympic team. Pertile finished in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 13 seconds. Italy's Ornella Ferrara won the women's race in 2:27:24.
CARLSBAD 5K: Kenya's Isabella Ochichi set a world record, winning in 14:43 in California.
HORSES: Long shot wins Derby
Hi Teck Man wore down the leaders in the stretch for an upset in the $500,000 WinStar/Sunland Park Derby in Sunland Park, N.M. The chestnut colt, a 46-1 shot, beat a field of 3-year-olds that included the Bob Baffert-trained twosome of Consecrate and Teton Forest.
TAMPA BAY DOWNS: Frynch held off In Lightening to win the $62,650 Jewels of the East Sapphire Sprint for 4-year-old Arabian fillies. Frynch finished the 7-furlong race in 1:36.35.
ET CETERA
BOWLING: The PBA plans to announce this week that it will let women attempt to qualify for its national tour, the Detroit Free Press reported.
GREYHOUNDS: Fuzzys Cannon earned his 50th career win and ninth straight on the five-sixteenths-mile course Saturday at Derby Lane.
HORSES: Frynch held off In Lightening to win the $62,650 Jewels of the East Sapphire Sprint for 4-year-old Arabian fillies at Tampa Bay Downs. Frynch finished the 7-furlong race in 1:36.35 and paid $2.80.
