American cyclist suspended after positive test
PARIS — American rider Tom Danielson has been suspended by his Cannondale-Garmin team after testing positive for synthetic testosterone but he denies taking a banned substance.
The team issued a statement on Monday saying Danielson had returned an “adverse analytical A sample using carbon isotope testing” and had been suspended immediately.
Danielson, who is awaiting the results of his B sample and could face a lifetime ban if that concurs with the A sample, said on Twitter he had not used performance-enhancing drugs.
“While I was eating dinner with my team the night before the Tour of Utah I received a call from USADA notifying me that an out of competition test I gave July 9 has tested positive for, from what I understand, synthetic testosterone,” Danielson said.
“I have not taken this or any other banned substance.”
Danielson, 37, has already served a six-month ban, in 2012-13, after admitting to blood doping while riding with The Discovery Channel team.
Eagles LB Long suffers another ACL tear
For the second straight year, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Travis Long will miss the season with a torn left ACL.
Long missed last season after suffering an ACL injury in the final preseason game, and he injured the same knee Monday at training camp.
Long, whom coach Chip Kelly said would have made the team a year ago, was battling for the third outside linebacker position behind starters Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham in this camp.
Long joined the Eagles as an undrafted rookie out of Washington State in 2013 and spent most of the season the practice squad.
This is Long’s third ACL injury; he suffered a torn right ACL while playing at WSU.
Giants’ Panik placed on disabled list
The San Francisco Giants placed All-Star second baseman Joe Panik on the 15-day disabled list on Monday and scratched center fielder Angel Pagan from their game in Atlanta.
The Giants also recalled infielder Kelby Tomlinson from Triple-A Sacramento.
After treatment Sunday did not help Panik’s inflamed lower back, he was placed on the DL. He was scheduled to fly back to San Francisco on Tuesday to undergo tests to determine the cause.
Pagan was out Monday with a sore right knee and inflammation in his left knee.
A’s activate Crisp
The Oakland A’s activated outfielder Coco Crisp off the disabled list after he had spent two months recovering from a neck injury.
The A’s also claimed outfielder Danny Valencia off waivers, recalled right-hander Arnold Leon from Triple-A Nashville and demoted reliever Dan Otero and outfielder Jake Smolinski to Nashville.
Adidas makes $200 million bid for Harden
Adidas has submitted a bid of $200 million over 13 years to sign Houston Rockets guard James Harden, according to ESPN.com.
Harden’s sponsorship deal with Nike recently expired. Nike has until the end of next week to match the deal or lose him.
Adidas is giving up its uniform deal with the NBA after Nike made a $1 billion bid in June to take over beginning with the 2017-18 season. Adidas replaced Reebok in 2006 but said in March that it would not seek to extend its 11-year, $400 million deal. Unlike during the deals with Reebok and Adidas, Nike’s logo will appear on NBA game jerseys.
Harden signed an $80 million contract extension with Houston in 2012 that goes through the 2017-18 season.
Harden, 25, averaged 27.4 points, 7.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game last season and finished second behind Golden State’s Stephen Curry in the media MVP voting.
Nuggets’ Gallinari gets new deal
The Denver Nuggets restructured the deal with forward Danilo Gallinari and signed him to multi-year contract extension, the team announced.
Details of the contract were not released, but Fox Sports reported two weeks ago that the Nuggets were finalizing a two-year contract extension with Gallinari that will pay him an additional $34 million through the 2017-2018 season.
The restructured Gallinari deal includes a $2.5 million increase on the $11.5 million owed to Gallinari as he enters the final year of his contract this coming season.
