Mark Cavendish will never be the greatest Tour de France rider, because he will never win the race five times like Eddy Merkcx of Belgium and Frenchman Bernard Hinault. Still, the sprinter with thighs like thick hams could outdo both of those legends — by winning more stages than them at cycling's premier race.

By Cavendish's warp-speed standards, his 24th stage win on Wednesday was like taking candy from a baby. The teammates who led Cavendish to the finish, sucking him along in their wheels, building up his speed, were toiling like clockwork. Stamping on his pedals, head down, thighs pumping like pistons, Cavendish then whooshed off alone for the last 150 meters (yards), leaving everyone else in his wake.

The Formula One championship goes to this weekend's German Grand Prix on a bankrupt circuit amid concern over tire safety and with three-time champion Sebastian Vettel seeking his first win on home soil.

The race at the Nuerburgring comes a week after a chaotic British Grand Prix in which five cars suffered tire blowouts, including that of leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Brazil has surged to ninth in the FIFA rankings after winning the Confederations Cup.

The five-time World Cup winner and 2014 host fell to an all-time low of 22nd before a five-match victory streak earned the warm-up event title.

When Any Murray dropped the first two sets of his Wimbledon quarterfinal Wednesday, the 15,000 Centre Court spectators were reduced to a silence so complete that birds could be heard chirping.

By the time his five-set comeback was nearly complete, more than two hours later, the fans were greeting each point that went Murray's way with celebrations of the sort normally reserved for a championship. It's been 77 years since a British man won the country's Grand Slam tennis tournament, and thanks to the second-seeded Murray's 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over 54th-ranked Fernando Verdasco, the locals still can hold out hope the wait will end Sunday.

Manu Ginobili, who turns 36 this month, says he will stay on at the San Antonio Spurs for the next two seasons.

The Argentine tweeted Wednesday that he is staying with the team he has helped win three NBA titles and nearly a fourth last month.

Lebanese designer Elie Saab unabashedly celebrated the glitz of the red carpet in a fall-winter 2013 couture show which used the exact mid-red color the A-listers tread.

The first series of sweeping embroidered silk gowns brushed the aptly red-colored catwalk as they filed by, merging with it in a "trompe l'oeil" effect.

Francisco "Isco" Alarcon delighted the several hundred Real Madrid fans with a solo display of ball control at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.

Madrid officials believe he'll be a great team player, too.

Honda Motor Co.'s walking, talking interactive robot is running into glitches in its new job as a museum guide in Tokyo.

The bubble-headed Asimo machine had problems telling the difference between people raising their hands to ask questions and those aiming their smartphones to take photos at the Miraikan science museum.

Formula One cars will race on different tires for the rest of the season in the wake of a string of blowouts during Sunday's British Grand Prix that sparked the threat of a revolt from teams.

Tires exploded on four cars at Silverstone, including those of Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, forcing tire manufacturer Pirelli to launch an investigation.

Older and wiser, Usain Bolt is out to dominate his rivals on the track at least until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The six-time Olympic champion, who is competing at the Areva meeting in Paris on Saturday, looks to be back in shape after his form and motivation were questioned following a defeat by American sprinter Justin Gatlin at the Golden Gala on June 6.