CYCLING

• POZZOVIVO WINS 8TH STAGE; HESJEDAL IN GIRO LEAD: LAGO LACENO, Italy (AP) — Domenico Pozzovivo of Italy won the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday after a strong ride on a tough uphill finish while Ryder Hesjedal of Canada kept the overall lead.

Pozzovivo made his break with less than 4½ miles from the finish of the 142-mile leg from Sulmona to Lago Laceno to win in 6 hours, 6 minutes, 5 seconds. The Colnago-CSF Inox rider was 23 seconds ahead of Movistar’s Benat Intxausti.

Joaquin Rodriguez led the main pack over the line 27 seconds after Pozzovivo to close the gap on Hesjedal to nine seconds in the overall standings.

Defending champion Michele Scarponi moved up into 12th, 54 seconds behind Hesjedal, while two-time winner Ivan Basso is in sixth, 40 seconds behind the Garmin-Barracuda cyclist.



• SCHURTER, BRESSET WIN AT MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP: NOVE MESTO NA MORAVE, Czech Republic (AP) — Swiss rider Nino Schurter increased his overall lead in the mountain bike World Cup standings Sunday, while Julie Bresset of France won the women’s race to move into the overall lead.

Schurter won the third stop in the cross-country series in 1 hour, 26 minutes, 46 seconds, holding off defending champ Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic by six seconds. Burry Stander of South Africa was third, and Sam Schultz was the top American finisher in 20th.

Bresset won the women’s race with an attack on the final lap, finishing in 1:29.17. Irina Kalentieva of Russia was second, Katerina Nash of the Czech Republic was third and American rider Georgia Gould was fourth, 11 seconds off the podium.

There are four more events on the schedule before the London Olympics.





SWIMMING

• LOCHTE WINS 200 IM, SETS NEW MEET RECORD: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Ryan Lochte tossed aside the swimming brief and got down to business Sunday.

Switching to a regular racing suit for the first time in three days of competition, Lochte salvaged an otherwise underwhelming weekend performance by winning the 200 IM and setting a new meet record at the Charlotte Grand Prix on Sunday.

Lochte had failed to earn a medal in his other five events wearing a brief, but closed strong by beating Conor Dwyer and Eric Shanteau with a time of 1 minute, 57.63 seconds. It was a pleasing finish for Lochte, who failed to qualify for the finals of the 100-meter freestyle earlier in the day after placing 33rd in the preliminaries.





GOLF

• PAUL CASEY WITHDRAWS FROM VOLVO MATCH PLAY: CASARES, Spain (AP) — England’s Paul Casey withdrew from the Volvo World Match Play Championship on Sunday because of a right shoulder injury, and Sweden Robert Karlsson took his spot in the 24-man field in the European Tour event that begins Thursday at Finca Cortesin.

Casey withdrew from The Players Championship in Florida on Thursday after shooting a 42 on the front nine in the first round. He dislocated the shoulder snowboarding over the holidays.

“Unfortunately, despite having had intensive treatment since last Thursday, I have been advised not to play,” Casey said. “I am absolutely gutted as it is one of my favorite events and I was really looking forward to a week of match play to kick-start my season. I am very sorry to miss out.”

Karlsson tied for 56th on Sunday in The Players Championship.



• NA HECKLED AT PLAYERS, SLIDES DOWN LEADERBOARD: PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Na was booed, taunted and heckled on nearly every hole.

The 28-year-old South Korean native even had one guy tell him he “better not choke” because he had money riding on him.

Na dealt with it best he could, and even though he felt rushed at times, he never chastised fans at The Players Championship for his Sunday slide in the final round.

He blamed himself, just as he has all week for his countless waggles and his painfully slow pace.

Na closed with a 4-over 76, falling from first to a three-way tie for seventh and becoming the latest 54-hole leader to falter at the treacherous TPC Sawgrass. The third-round leader hasn’t won The Players since it moved from March to May in 2007.





AUTO RACING

• YOUNG DRIVERS POST TOP SPEEDS AT INDY PRACTICE: INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Colombia’s Sebastian Saavedra used late tow to jump to the top of the Indianapolis 500 speed chart Sunday.

His fast lap of 221.526 mph was the fastest of the week in practice.

Rookies Bryan Clauson and Josef Newgarden, both rookies with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, were second and third. Clauson went 221.173 while Newgarden had a 221.158. Newgarden was the fastest driver in Saturday’s practice.

Two-time IndyCar champ and 2008 Indy winner Scott Dixon was fourth at 220.829.

Drivers and teams were busy Sunday. Thirty-one drivers turned a total of 1,138 laps.