Lance Armstrong says he may be kept out of Tour de France

Lance Armstrong, in a video he released from Aspen, Colo., where he is training in advance of the May 9 Giro d’Italia, suggested Friday that there is a “very high likelihood” that he will be prohibited from riding in the Tour de France in July.

Armstrong, 37, in the midst of a comeback after a 3 1/2 -year retirement and recuperating from a broken collarbone, is involved in a dispute with the French anti-doping agency known as AFLD. While Armstrong was training in France last month an AFLD doping control tester came to his rented home.

Armstrong said in the video that the tester wrote “no” on the official paperwork to a question about whether there was anything irregular about the test.

But the AFLD has said Armstrong broke a rule by being out of the line of sight of the tester for 20 minutes while he showered before he gave the tester urine, blood and hair samples.

International Cycling Federation President Pat McQuaid said he was unhappy the AFLD leaked the report. “The French authorities . . . forwarded it to us knowing the UCI has no jurisdiction in the case while the report was leaked to the press,” McQuaid said. “I would have to question why this has happened.”

-- Diane Pucin

TENNIS

Williams to miss Family Circle Cup

Defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, S.C., because of an injury to her left leg.

Williams said she originally hurt her leg at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final last Saturday.

Williams’ sister Venus and No. 3-ranked Elena Dementieva are among those scheduled to play in the tournament.

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Top-seeded Nadia Petrova defeated Alona Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), to advance to the semifinals of the MPS Group Championships at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. She will next play fifth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak, who outlasted Tamira Paszek, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7). . . . Jelena Jankovic rallied to defeat Roberta Vinci, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in the quarterfinals of the Andalucia Tennis Experience at Marbella, Spain. Jankovic will play fourth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, who defeated Sara Errani, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5. Elsewhere, fifth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro routed Klara Zakopalova, 6-1, 6-2, and will play Sorana Cirstea, who upset third-seeded Kaia Kanepi, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

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Bjorn Phau beat Tommy Haas, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Houston. In other quarterfinals, Wayne Odesnik outlasted John Isner, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (5), wild card Lleyton Hewitt beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, and Evgeny Korolev came back to defeat Guillermo Canas, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Top-seeded Igor Andreev defeated Marc Gicquel, 6-1, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II at Casablanca, Morocco. Andreev will play 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, who defeated fourth-seeded Victor Hanescu, 6-3, 7-5.

ETC.

Diamondbacks get 2011 All-Star game

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chase Field have been chosen to host baseball’s 2011 All-Star game.

The formal announcement will be made today at a news conference by Commissioner Bud Selig.

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Boston University senior defenseman Matt Gilroy, who came to the school as a walk-on, received the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top college hockey player. Gilroy’s team will play Miami of Ohio for the NCAA title tonight.

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Conference USA has signed an agreement to send one of its teams to this year’s Hawaii Bowl. The runner-up in the C-USA championship game or another selection will be invited to take on a Western Athletic Conference team in the Dec. 24 game. An agreement between the bowl game and the Pacific 10 Conference to send its seventh-place team has been voided.

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A prominent thoroughbred breeder who once owned a Kentucky Derby favorite was charged with cruelty to animals, two days after authorities seized 177 malnourished horses at his Hudson Valley farm. Ernie Paragallo was charged with 22 counts of violating New York’s Agriculture and Markets law that prohibits torturing or injuring an animal or failing to provide sustenance, New York state police dispatcher Terri Gallagher said.

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Canada edged the defending champion United States, 2-1, to complete round-robin play at the world hockey championships in Hameelinna, Finland. The teams will meet again on Sunday for the championship.

PASSINGS

Casey, 60, former Kentucky player

Former Kentucky basketball player Mike Casey, who led the Wildcats in scoring during the 1967-68 season and was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference player, has died of heart complications. He was 60.