BRADLEY WIGGINS "smashed" the UCI Hour Record by nearly two kilometers on Sunday at the Veledrome in Olympic Park. The four-time Olympic Gold Medalist finished with an official distance of 54.526km, better than ALEX DOWSETT's record of 52.937km. Wiggins turned in 218 laps in his hour run, six laps more than Dowsett (LONDON INDEPENDENT, 6/7). ... A legion of fans "renewed their homages" for the late footballer FERNANDÃO on Sunday. Hours before the match between Brasileiro sides Internacional and Coritiba, around 8,000 people "came to mass in honor of the former player" and Internacional "idol," who died in a helicopter crash on June 7, 2014 (UOL, 6/7). ... MAURICIO PELLEGRINO is expected to sign a contract to coach Argentine first division side Independiente on Wednesday. Pellegrino will replace JORGE ALMIRÓN. The contract will reportedly be for one year (MARCA, 6/6). ... Russia's double Olympic fencing champion SERGEI SHARIKOV has died in a car accident. The incident happened on Saturday around 100km from Moscow. Sharikov was "behind the wheel when his car moved into the oncoming lane and struck another vehicle" (REUTERS, 6/7). ... New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade has confirmed that former All Blacks rugby player JERRY COLLINS died in a car accident in France in the early hours of Friday morning. Thirty-four-year-old Collins was "travelling near the town of Beziers in southern France when his car was involved in a collision with a bus." Collins and his wife ALANA MADILL died in the accident, while their infant daughter AYLA was "rushed to hospital in Montpellier in a 'desperate state'" (HERALD SCOTLAND, 6/5). ... Chelsea Owner ROMAN ABRAMOVICH has become the largest shareholder in Velocys, the developer of smaller scale gas-to-liquids technology. In his latest purchase, the Russian businessman acquired 762,453 shares in the Aim-listed company "through his investment vehicle Ervington Investment." Over the past 12 months, Abramovich has increased his stake from 6.15pc to 21.29pc (London TELEGRAPH, 6/7).
FARAH OUT OF DIAMOND LEAGUE: An "emotionally and physically drained" MO FARAH has withdrawn from Sunday's Diamond League meeting in Birmingham. The double Olympic champion wants "to go back to the US and seek answers" after a "stressful week" that saw a BBC investigation allege his coach ALBERTO SALAZAR had been involved in doping. There is "no suggestion Farah has done anything wrong" but he is "angry" at his name being "dragged through the mud." Salazar "strenuously denies the claims" made by the BBC's Panorama program (BBC, 6/7).
