CYCLING

Yates loses time in Vuelta; Canadian wins stage — Simon Yates lost a few seconds of his Spanish Vuelta lead on Wednesday, while Michael Woods of Canada earned an emotional victory on a difficult mountain stage. Woods outlasted the field in a 97.5-mile 17th stage that finished with a tough climb up Balcon de Bizkaia in Basque Country, and then dedicated the win to his stillborn son, who died this year when his wife was 37 weeks pregnant. Woods, 31, crossed the line five seconds in front of Dylan Teuns and 10 seconds ahead of David de la Cruz. This was the first stage win at a Grand Tour race for the rider from team Education First-Drapac. Yates’ gap to Alejandro Valverde was cut from 33 seconds to 25 seconds after a solid climb by the veteran Spaniard. Enric Mas also had a good run and moved up to third place overall, 1:22 behind Yates. Bend’s Ian Boswell, riding for Katusha Alpecin, finished 139th for the stage and is 133rd overall.

FOOTBALL

Mariota practices, expected to play — Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota practiced fully Wednesday after being knocked out of the team’s season opener when he hurt the elbow on his right (throwing) arm. Barring any setbacks, Titans coach Mike Vrabel expects his quarterback to play Sunday when the Titans (0-1) host rival Houston (0-1) in an early AFC South showdown. Mariota, in his fourth year as a pro out of Oregon, briefly left the 27-20 loss in Miami after a late hit from Dolphins end William Hayes after a handoff. Vrabel said the NFL told him that play should have been flagged as a late hit on the quarterback. Mariota returned to the game but left for good after his second interception in a game that was the league’s longest since at least the NFL/AFL merger in 1970 due to lightning delays.

Ex-Duck Hall arrested in L.A. — Receiver Jalen Hall, a freshman who spent part of spring practice with the Oregon Ducks, was arrested in Los Angeles earlier this week for allegedly being involved in a home invasion. Hall was a highly rated member of Oregon’s 2018 recruiting class. He reported for spring practice but left early to attend to a “personal matter.” He never reported for preseason camp. “He hasn’t been on the roster for a pretty long time now,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said Wednesday. “We’re moving on. Certainly, it is what it is.”

BASKETBALL

OKC’s Westbrook undergoes knee procedure — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Russell Westbrook underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee on Wednesday, putting his availability for the season opener against the Golden State Warriors in doubt. The team says Westbrook decided after suffering from inflammation in the knee this past weekend that he would have the procedure.

— From wire reports