Mayo tests positive; Vinokourov fired

Cycling
Spanish rider Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO during the final week of the Tour de France, his team said yesterday in a statement. Doping allegations and suspicions have devastated the 2007 Tour, which ended Sunday. Three riders, including former overall leader Michael Rasmussen, and two teams were expelled during the three-week race. Mayo's Saunier Duval team was told of the results of the July 24 test by cycling's governing body and "immediately suspended" Mayo, according to a statement posted on the team's website. A second test is needed to confirm the initial positive result for Mayo, who finished 16th in cycling's biggest event . . . Alexandre Vinokourov was fired by his team after his positive test. The Kazakh rider was forced out of the Tour along with his Astana teammates last week when he tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after winning the 13th stage. Vinokourov was dismissed because the backup sample confirmed the initial positive finding.

Basketball

The Memphis Grizzlies signed their No. 1 draft pick, Mike Conley. Conley, the fourth overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, averaged 11.4 points, 5.2 assists, and a team-high 39.8 minutes in five games with the Grizzlies at the 2007 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas . . . The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Coby Karl, son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl. A 6-foot-5-inch guard, he averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists as a senior at Boise State last season . . . Connecticut Sun guard Katie Douglas was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 21.3 points and 5 rebounds.

Horse racing

Thinking of his wife and seven children, Jose Santos decided to play it safe for a change. Six months after breaking his back in a spill at Aqueduct, the jockey who rode Funny Cide to victory in the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness called it a career. "I am going to retire because my back is in real bad shape right now," Santos said at a news conference at Saratoga Race Course. "With time, definitely it's going to get better. But my doctor advised me it's not a good idea to come back." His retirement comes a week before the popular 46-year-old rider is inducted into racing's Hall of Fame. Santos, who was injured in a three-horse spill Feb. 1, leaves the sport with more than 4,000 victories . . . Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches was declared fit and ready to resume training, with a start in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 18 still a possibility. The first filly in 102 years to win the Belmont missed two scheduled workouts, one because of a slight fever two weeks ago, the other July 22 because her exercise rider said she felt something wasn't quite right.

Tennis

Venus Williams bounced back from a slow start in her first tournament since winning Wimbledon to defeat Anastassia Rodionova, 6-3, 6-0, in a first-round match at the Acura Classic at Carlsbad, Calif. Williams, the six-time major champion, needed just 50 minutes to finish off her Russian opponent . . . Lindsay Davenport will return to singles tennis after an absence of almost a year when she plays in the Wismilak International on the island of Bali in September, tournament organizers said . . . Thomas Johansson advanced to the second round of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, beating Santiago Giraldo, 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4. The match began Sunday, when rain postponed play with Giraldo serving while trailing, 6-5.

Miscellany

Ian Thimble of George Wright Golf Course fired a 3-under-par 69 to hold the lead following the first round in the Massachusetts Junior Championship at Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston. Josh Salah of Bass Rock Golf Club was two strokes back . . . Three-time champion Kyle Gallo shot a 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead in the Connecticut Open at Lake of Isles Golf Club . . . Rodney Butcher and David Spitz each shot a 5-under 66 to share the first-round lead at the Rhode Island Open at Green Valley Country Club in Providence . . . Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick each strengthened their personally-owned race teams when the drivers partnered with their respective Nextel Cup team owners. Car owner Rick Hendrick will merge his existing Busch team into JR Motorsports, the Busch team Earnhardt owns. Harvick strengthened the existing alliance between Richard Childress and Kevin Harvick Inc., which races in the Busch and Truck Series . . . Michigan and Notre Dame agreed to a 20-year contract extension that will have their football teams playing annually through 2031. The series was set to expire after the 2011 season . . . Dallas Stars right winger Antti Miettinen was awarded an $885,000, one-year deal in salary arbitration . . . Colorado Rapids midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy was suspended for two games and fined $1,000 by Major League Soccer for elbowing an opponent earlier this month. The league also fined Kansas City Wizards coach Curt Onalfo $1,000 and defender Nick Garcia $250 for criticizing officials . . . Boxer Antwun Echols, a former super middleweight champion who twice lost to Bernard Hopkins, was shot in the leg while trying to break up a fight in the parking lot of a grocery store and was later arrested on drug charges in Davenport, Iowa . . . Stoneham's James Palmer pitched a no-hitter, striking out 11, in the East Boston Bombers' 2-0 victory over the Mooney Dental Tanners in the Inter-City League.