Finish line, January 28

The Rocky

Published January 28, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Jamie McDonald / Getty Images

Bubbly Down Under. Cyclist Andre Greipel won his fourth stage of the Tour Down Under on Sunday at Adelaide, Australia, to win the overall title by 15 seconds over Australian Allan Davis. The German's four stage wins equal the event record set by Australian Robbie McEwen in 2002. Greipel, left, who led by four seconds going into the 54-mile final stage around Adelaide's East End, celebrated his victory by showering Davis with champagne.

Lysacek repeats as figure skating champ

Evan Lysacek won his second straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday, though the results will show him with the same score as Johnny Weir.

The two - they have combined to win the past five U.S. crowns - each finished with 244.77 points in St. Paul, Minn. But Lysacek won the free skate, and that was the determining tiebreaker.

"If you were scripting this whole deal, you probably couldn't have done any better job than this," Lysacek said.

Weir saw no reason to hang his head. An awful free skate at the championships last year relegated him to third.

"It's really fantastic vindication to know I came back and didn't totally fall apart," Weir said.

Also in winter sports:

* Ludwig Ehrhart of France won the 10-kilometer pursuit at the Youth/Junior Biathlon World Championships in Ruhpolging, Germany.

Leif Nordgren, a resident of Marine on St. Croix, Minn., was third, earning the first medal by a U.S. team member at the event since 2002.

* Manuel Pietropoli became the first Italian to win a World Cup snowboard halfpipe competition, at Bardonecchia, Italy, and French snowboarder Anne Sophie Pellissier won the women's event.

* Norwegian Anders Bardal won a World Cup ski jump in Zakopane, Poland, that had been postponed a day because of strong wind.

World Cup leader Thomas Morgenstern of Austria was second, followed by Simon Ammann of Switzerland.

* German Anni Friesinger and Canadian Denny Morrison set track records in the 1,000- meter speedskating races at a World Cup meet in Hamar, Norway.

THREE CHEERS Chip Ganassi's guys are making this look easy.

The quartet of Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas encountered no serious problems, giving Ganassi an unprecedented third straight victory in the Rolex 24-Hour at Daytona International Speedway.

"None of these guys is getting one extra dime for this," Ganassi said before the start of the race. "They all just want to be here and be part of it."

IN MEMORIAM The message on the card attached to a bouquet of red roses was simple, yet eloquent: "We all love you and miss you. Still."

Oklahoma State assistant soccer coach Karen Hancock added a smiley face to the card, left with the flowers at a memorial in Stillwater, Okla., on Sunday, the seventh anniversary of a plane crash in eastern Adams County that killed 10 men associated with the Cowboys' basketball program, including Hancock's husband, Will.

"It's a tough deal. It doesn't seem like it's been seven years," said Oklahoma State men's coach Sean Sutton, who was an assistant for his father, Eddie, at the time of the crash.

The crash occurred Jan. 27, 2001, after the Cowboys had played at Colorado. The plane took off from Jefferson County Airport after the game and crashed in a snow-covered pasture near Strasburg.

TIGERS LOSE GUARD Missouri guard Stefhon Hannah will be sidelined four to six weeks with a fractured jaw suffered in an altercation Sunday morning. Hannah was injured outside a Columbia nightclub and restaurant, and had surgery, Tigers coach Mike Anderson said.

ANGOLA, TUNISIA ROLL Angola and Tunisia each won 3-1 to improve their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament in Tamale, Ghana.

Angola rallied to top Senegal, and 2004 champion Tunisia easily beat South Africa.

DERBY WIN Yankee Bravo surged from the back of the 12-horse field to win the $150,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., beating Cafe Tortoni by a length.

CUBE OPENS Organizers unveiled the "Watercube" swimming venue, one of the more stunning structures built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The National Aquatics Center's design and its translucent, blue-toned outside skin make it look like a cube of bubbles. The venue has 6,000 permanent and 11,000 temporary seats.

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