Schumacher revels in his star turn

Germany's Stefan Schumacher surged to the overall lead in the Tour de France yesterday by winning the first individual time trial of the three-week race. He completed the 18.3 miles in 35 minutes 44 seconds, ahead of Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg and David Millar of Britain. Schumacher took the yellow jersey from France's Romain Feillu, who won it Monday. Schumacher is 12 seconds ahead of Millar and Kirchen. The big winner may have been Australia's Cadel Evans - he finished fourth and his main rivals for the overall title lost time to him. Alejandro Valverde of Spain was 23d, more than a minute back, with countryman Carlos Sastre another five places and nine seconds behind. Two Americans are now well positioned after excellent time trials. Christian Vandevelde is sixth, 41 seconds behind Schumacher, and George Hincapie is one place and six seconds further back.

Unable to fully recover from his second concussion this year, New York Mets right fielder Ryan Church was placed on the 15-day disabled list again . . . Julian Tavarez signed with the Atlanta Braves for the remainder of the season. The former Red Sox reliever was 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA in a combined 20 innings with the Sox and Milwaukee Brewers . . . Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt is on track to start Friday against the Washington Nationals after having his previous turn in the rotation skipped because of a nerve problem in his lower back . . . The Orioles placed lefthander Adam Loewen on the 15-day DL with a stress fracture in his left elbow, the same injury that cost him most of the 2007 season . . . Charlie Zink pitched his second straight complete game and the Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Braves, 6-1, to gain a split of their International League doubleheader in Richmond. The Braves won the opener, 7-6.

Tony Stewart is expected to be released from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, freeing the two-time NASCAR champion to purchase his own race team. Stewart's contract runs through the 2009 season, but he was reluctant to commit to the extension Gibbs officials have been pushing for since last summer. He instead explored free agency, where numerous options were presented to Stewart ranging from ownership to seats driving for other top teams. An announmcement is expected today . . . Martin Truex's bid to make the Chase for the Championship took a severe hit when NASCAR penalized his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team 150 points for bringing an illegal car to Daytona. The penalty drops Truex from 14th in the standings to 18th . . . The Navy is leaving Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series after four seasons, forcing Earnhardt to search for funding for his car at JR Motorsports.

Seventh-seeded Frank Dancevic spoiled Taylor Dent's return to the ATP Tour by rallying for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, victory in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, R.I. Dancevic, Canada's top-ranked player, trailed, 4-5, in the second set before breaking Dent's serve to get back into the match. He then broke Dent's serve the next three chances. Dent was playing his first tour match since a pair of back surgeries last year . . . Wimbledon semifinalist Marat Safin rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to beat Marc Lopez, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, in the first round of the clay-court Swedish Open in Bastad . . . Jan-Michael Gambill edged Justin Gimelstob, 5-4, in men's singles and the visiting Boston Lobsters edged Serena Williams and the Washington Kastles, 22-19, in overtime in a World TeamTennis match, evening their record at 2-2. Three days after losing to her sister Venus in the final at Wimbledon, Serena played in three matches, beating Marie-Eve Pelletier in singles and teaming with Mashona Washington to beat Pelletier and Raquel Kops-Jones in women's doubles before teaming with Gimelstob in a mixed-doubles loss to Gambill and Kops-Jones.

Curlin is set for his turf debut in the first step of an ambitious attempt that could prove he's the best horse anywhere - regardless of the surface, competition, or continent. The reigning Horse of the Year will run in the $500,000 Man o' War Stakes over the turf at Belmont Park Saturday, part of a plan by the owners that would make him the sport's all-time leading money winner and secure a place among racing's pantheon. Curlin has won nine of 12 career races on dirt, including the Preakness and the Breeders' Cup Classic last year . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning signed veteran free agent forward Mark Recchi to a one-year, $1.25 million contract and also announced the signing of former Bruins forward Brandon Bochenski . . . The Vancouver Canucks retained forward Steve Bernier by quickly matching the one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet he signed with the St. Louis Blues . . . Former Canucks center Brendan Morrison, who has had 50-plus points in six of the past seven seasons, signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks . . . Brett Favre has tried to contact the Green Bay Packers about possibly ending his retirement but reportedly the team has not responded. WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee reported that the quarterback sent a text message to general manager Ted Thompson last Saturday - and that Thompson's reply was that he is on vacation and the two men will have to talk later . . . Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes as much as $50 million to creditors . . . In WNBA play, Plenette Pierson scored 23 points to help the Detroit Shock beat the visiting Connecticut Sun, 88-82 . . . Diana Taurasi scored 30 points to become the fastest to reach 3,000 career poinst (151 games) and the Phoenix Mercury edged the Houston Comets, 99-94.