Italian Giuseppe Guerini from the German team Deutsche Telekom won the 10 stage of the Tour de France Wednesday. Guerini was leading the chasing pack when he hit a photographer only a few yards from the finish line. He was back on his bike within 15 seconds and finished 21 seconds in front of Russia’s Pavel Tonkov. American Lance Armstrong from the U. S. Postal team kept the overall lead and is now seven minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Spain’s Abraham Olano from the ONCE team.

Also in cycling news, Italy’s Marco Pantani is planning to return to professional cycling soon, after testing revealed that his red blood cell level was too high during this year’s Giro d’Italia.

Wednesday’s stage also saw extensive drug testing of riders from six different teams. All the 20 teams that are participating in this year’s Tour will be tested sometime during the race.

In Formula One racing, British driver Damon Hill will finish this season for the Jordan team. He earlier announced that he would retire after the British Grand Prix last weekend, where he finished fifth, his best result this year.

In the Copa America soccer tournament, Uruguay advanced to the final after beating Chile on penalties on Tuesday. Chile’s coach Nelson Acosta was sent off twenty minutes before full time and had to be removed from the sidelines by the police.

In the other semifinal in Paraguay, Brazil and Mexico played late last night.

Also in soccer news, Italian club Lazio has withdrawn from negotiations to buy English club Arsenal’s French striker Nicholas Anelka. Anelka himself has said that he will no longer play for Arsenal.

German tennis player Steffi Graf announced Tuesday that this season is definitely her last. She recorded 22 Grand Slam wins over her career, including seven wins at Wimbledon. She ranks second on the list of all time greats after Margaret Smith Court from Australia, who won 24 Grand Slams in the 1960s and 1970s.

In England, sailing’s Admiral Cup is well underway with the host nation leading with 17 points. Europe is in second place while the Netherlands holds third. The teams consist of three boats in three different classes.

Also in England, the cricket season continues. Essex’s Australian batsman Stuart Law became the first player to reach 1,000 runs in English first-class cricket this season. Law achieved the landmark while hitting 58 against Middlesex at Southend on Wednesday.

Finally, at the World University Games in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the United States captured the gold in the men’s basketball tournament by beating Yugoslavia 79-65. The title is the sixth consecutive title for the American team.