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Angoulême, France - Sandy Casar of France captured Stage 18 of the Tour de France on Friday, while Spain’s Alberto Contador remained the overall leader heading into the final weekend of cycling’s most prestigious event.

Graffiti Wall reports that Casar completed the 211-kilometer trek from Cahors to Angoulême in a time of five hours, 13 minutes and 31 seconds, outsprinting a trio of three other riders to the wire.

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Belgium’s Axel Merckx, Frenchman Laurent Lefevre and Dutchman Michael Boogerd were the next three finishers, all one second behind Casar, who notched his first-ever stage victory and became the second Frenchman to win a stage in this year’s Tour. Casar finished second to countrymate Cedric Vasseur last Wednesday in Stage 10.

Contador, meanwhile, finished Friday’s stage in 16th place and saw his overall lead trimmed by three seconds. Australia’s Cadel Evans was 14th on Friday and is now one minute, 50 seconds off the pace. American Levi Leipheimer is still third, 2:49 behind, as he finished in the same group with Contador.

Saturday’s 19th stage will likely determine this year’s Tour de France winner. A 55.5-kilometer time trial is on tap for the Tour’s penultimate day.

“I’m not a time trial specialist, but I’m going to absolutely all I can to try and not lose one minute 50 seconds,” said Contador. “The stage today went perfectly well despite the length; we rode at a rather good pace as opposed to yesterday when it was a lot harder even though the finish was manageable. It’s really important to rest and have a tranquil day before tomorrow’s really important time trial.”

After Saturday’s stage, the 2007 edition of the Tour will close Sunday with a 146-kilometer ride that concludes with the traditional finish along the Champs Elysees in Paris.

This year’s event has again lost some of its luster in the wake of recent doping-related expulsions, including Denmark’s Michael Rasmussen, who led the overall standings before removed from the race by his team on Wednesday night.

Rasmussen’s Rabobank team required the Danish rider to leave the race after discovering he lied of his whereabouts during his training in June. Rasmussen was apparently supposed to be training in Mexico, but the team later found out he was in Italy during a time when he reportedly missed random drug tests.

It was the third notable doping-related dismissal from the Tour in just two days. Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team left the Tour on Tuesday after accusations of doping and the Cofidis team abandoned earlier Wednesday after Italy’s Cristian Moreni apparently tested positive for testosterone following the 11th stage of the Tour last week.

Last year’s Tour also came under scrutiny after American Floyd Landis’ victory was clouded by doping suspicions.

Rome, Italy - Former world pole vaulting champion Giuseppe Gibilisco received a two-year ban for doping Wednesday.

The Italian athletics federation (FIDAL) made the decision with Gibilisco at the hearing.

Gibilisco was the 2003 world champion and earned a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics

Guatemala City, Guatemala - The International Olympic Committee changed the way it adds and removes sports from future Summer and Winter Games.

Until Friday, it took a two-thirds majority to approve a new sport. However, now only a simple majority will be needed to add or remove sports.

Baseball and softball were the first sports dropped from the Olympics since polo was cut in 1936. They remain on the program for the 2008 Games in Beijing, but won’t be part of the program for the 2012 London Games. However, they could return for the 2016 Olympics.

The number of core sports has been increased from 15 to 25 from the Games of 2020 onwards. For the 2016 Games, the 26 core sports from London will be proposed. The maximum number of sports included in the program remains capped at 28.

In the future, the executive board of the IOC will vote for 25 core summer sports. These 25 core sports will need a simple majority to be included in the Olympic program.

IOC president Jacques Rogge complimented the new system for “providing a better flexibility to change the Olympic programme through the introduction of up to three new sports.”

Seven core sports - biathlon, bobsled, luge, curling, ice hockey, skiing and skating - will be included in the program for the Winter Games. The voting procedure by the session for these sports is the same as for the summer sports.

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Russian Sochi wins 2014 Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-07-05 08:02

GUATEMALA CITY _ Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi was awarded the 2014 Olympics on Wednesday, rewarding President Vladimir Putin and taking the Winter Games to his country for the first time.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) receives from the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge a certificate for the candidacy of Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, during the IOC’s meeting in downtown Guatemala City, July 4, 2007.

Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang 51-47 in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.

The Austrian resort of Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of the secret ballot, setting up the decisive head-to-head contest between Sochi and Pyeongchang.

Pyeongchang led the first round with 36 votes, followed by Sochi with 34 and Salzburg with 25. Sochi picked up 17 votes in the second round to secure the victory.

The result was a triumph for Putin, who put his international prestige on the line by coming to Guatemala to lobby IOC members and lead Sochi’s final formal presentation to the assembly. Putin had left by the time the result was announced.

IOC president Jacques Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words the Russians longed to hear:

“The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in 2014 are awarded to the city of Sochi.”

Russian delegates in the hall erupted in cheers, jumped to their feet and hugged each other. They unfurled a Russian flag and chanted, “Sochi! Sochi!” South Korean delegates bowed their heads, some in tears.

“It was a historic decision for all countries,” Sochi bid chief Dmitry Chernychenko said. “Russia will become even more open, more democratic.”

In Sochi, cheers erupted from the crowd of more than 15,000 that had gathered for a pop concert and the “It is great. I’ve never been so happy in my life,” said Marina Matveyeva, 23, who works in a bank. “It means that Russia has reached the level of Europe, and we can be proud of our country.”

Russia, an Olympic power which has won 293 Winter Games medals, has never hosted the Winter Games. That was a strong point in Sochi’s favor with the IOC, which likore you can enjoy a fine spring day, but up in the mountains, it’s winter … a real snow is guaranteed.”

Although most venues will have to be newly built, Putin assured, “We guarantee the Olympic cluster in Sochi will be completed on time.”

“No traffic jams, I promise,” he said with a smile.

Noting that athletes would have a short walk to their venues, Putin said, “Five minutes’ walking distance, not bad.”

It was the second straight first-round defeat for Salzburg, which also mounted a failed bid for the 2010 Winter Games, which went to the western Canadian city of Vancouver.

The Austrians were squeezed out by the political and economic might of the Russian and Korean bids.