CYCLING

4-time champ Froome to miss Tour de France — Chris Froome, four-time winner of the Tour de France, will miss next month’s race after he was “badly injured” in a crash during the Criterium du Dauphine in France. The 34-year-old British cyclist, who rides for Team INEOS, sustained a fractured femur, the team principal said, adding that he was awaiting confirmation on the specific injuries. Dave Brailsford told reporters that Froome and his teammate, Wout Poels, were racing downhill when a gust of wind swept Froome off course during a recon, or pre-ride, before stage four in Roanne. “He’s had a bad crash actually,” Brailsford said. “He’s got a bad fracture, he’s badly injured and it sounds like he’s got a fractured femur, to be confirmed, he’s not in hospital yet.” Froome, 34, was hoping to achieve a record-tying fifth victory in the Tour de France, which starts July 6 in Brussels.

TRACK AND FIELD

Cancer claims inspirational runner Grunewald — Gabriele Grunewald, one of the country’s top middle-distance runners, has died at her home in Minneapolis after inspiring many with her long and public fight against cancer. She was 32. Her husband, Justin Grunewald, said she died Tuesday night. Grunewald was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma — a rare form of cancer in the saliva glands — in 2009 while running for the University of Minnesota. Following surgery and radiation therapy, she went on to finish second in the 1,500 meters at the 2010 NCAA championships. She kept running through three more bouts with the disease, forging a career as a professional athlete and U.S. champion while enduring surgeries, radiation treatments, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. In 2014, she was the U.S. indoor 3,000 champion.

BASKETBALL

Blazers star Lillard receives citizenship honor — Damian Lillard has earned a little national respect for his RESPECT campaign. The Portland Trail Blazers’ All-Star guard has won the 2018-19 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award from the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The honor is awarded annually to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community. Lillard, who has been active in the Portland-area community since his rookie season in 2012-13, earned the award for RESPECT, an anti-bullying campaign he created that encourages youth to show respect for all people. The campaign, which has evolved and expanded over the years, focused on three inner-city high schools during the 2018-19 school year and preached three basic tenets: show up, work hard and be kind.

Cavs hire Cal women’s coach Gottlieb as assistant — The Cleveland Cavaliers have lured away another prominent college coach. This time, from the women’s game. Lindsay Gottlieb is leaving California after eight seasons to join John Beilein’s staff in Cleveland and become the seventh female assistant in the NBA. Gottlieb led the Golden Bears to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and their first trip to the Final Four (2013). While she is not the first female assistant in the world’s preeminent men’s league, she is the first to make the jump from head college coach to a pro bench. The Cavaliers recruited the 41-year-old Gottlieb, who said she was impressed and intrigued by the team’s goals following a recent meeting with Beilein and general manager Koby Altman. Commissioner Adam Silver has been pushing for more female inclusion in the league and Gottlieb raises the number of women with on-court roles to 10.

BASEBALL

Arrests made in Ortiz shooting — An alleged gunman and five accomplices have been detained in the shooting of former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz, Dominican Republic officials said Wednesday, while providing no information about why a group of young men would try to kill their country’s most beloved sports hero. Four other suspects were also being pursued in the shooting, which witnesses said was carried out by two men on a motorcycle, assisted by two other groups of people in cars. “At this moment, they are being interrogated and we will continue deepening the investigation to get to the truth about what happened,” chief prosecutor Jean Alain Rodriguez said. The national police director, Maj. Gen. Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte, said the coordinator of the attack was offered 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to orchestrate the shooting. He said the alleged coordinator was also among those in custody. No motive has been determined for the shooting at a popular Santo Domingo bar Sunday night.

— From wire reports