Floyd Landis and the men's and women's champions from last year's Nature Valley Grand Prix bike race in the Twin Cities are on board for next month's competition, organizers said.
Landis, a former teammate of Lance Armstrong's whose two-year doping ban expired Jan. 30, is returning to racing following hip resurfacing surgery in September 2006. He is believed to be the only pro racer competing with an artificial hip, say organizers of the five-day event (June 10-14).
Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France crown after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.
The defending champions are Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong -- also the winner in 2006 and 2007 -- and Australian national champion Rory Sutherland.
Gophers news
Baseball: The second-seeded Gophers will play third-seeded Indiana at 2:35 p.m. today during Day 2 of the Big Ten tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Chauncy Handran (7-2, 3.81 ERA) will get the start. The Gophers had a first-round bye, while the Hoosiers defeated Purdue 9-1 on Wednesday.
Men's tennis: Gophers sophomore Ishay Hadash, a second alternate, advanced to the second round of the NCAA championships by beating Cory Parr of Wake Forest 6-3, 7-6 in College Station, Texas.
Men's outdoor track and field: Minnesota distance runner Hassan Mead and thrower Aaron Studt were named Big Ten athletes of the year, and the Gophers' Steve Plasencia was named coach of the year.
Area colleges
St. Thomas: Junior righthander Matt Schuld was named to the D3Baseball.com All-America team. A third-team honoree, Schuld is 10-1 this season.
Winona State: The Warriors softball team (49-11) plays the University of Alabama in Huntsville (51-5) at 5 p.m. today during the opening round of the NCAA Division II World Series in Salem, Va.
Etc.
• The St. Paul Saints lost 10-7 to the Lincoln Saltdogs on Wednesday afternoon at Midway Stadium.
• The Houston Aeros, farm team of the Wild, avoided elimination Wednesday night in the AHL Western Conference finals, defeating the Manitoba Moose 5-4 in overtime. Manitoba leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.
• Team USA Minnesota's Matt Gabrielson has been selected as one of five members of the U.S. men's marathon team that will compete at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Berlin in August.
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