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Spain’s Alberto Contador said Monday all seven of his major cycling Tour wins still count as far as he’s concerned, despite being stripped of two titles along with receiving a two-year doping ban. Contador, the 29-year-old Saxo Bank rider who won his second Tour of Spain on Sunday in a fairy-tale comeback from his hotly disputed drugs suspension, raised seven fingers on the winner’s podium. Asked on public television station TVE why he made the gesture, Contador said: “Seven, that how many Tours I feel I have won....

Mourinho in Wenger ‘respect’ dig Zouma has come through three games for Adi Viveash’s Under-23 unscathed and trained in full sessions for several weeks with the first team, but won’t be rushing back the France international with his full squad fit. Despite being fit, Zouma won’t travel to Middlesbrough as Conte wants to ease the 22-year-old back into form with Chelsea’s current back three having kept five successive clean sheets with John Terry deputising on the bench....

Guardiola and Conte will face off for the first time as managers, with both having flourished since taking their talents to England. City have secured 30 points from 13 games under Guardiola’s stewardship, a tally only bettered by Conte’s Chelsea, who top the pile on 31. Conte enjoyed great success at Juventus, leading them to three Serie A titles, and his Italy side impressed en route to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, where the Azzurri lost on penalties to Germany....

Barca eyeing Isco The Blues have enjoyed a remarkably successful season thus far, and lead the Premier League by 10 points from second-placed Tottenham. La Repubblica, though, reported on Monday that Conte is pining for a return to Italy, as he misses his family, and is struggling with his relationship with owner Roman Abramovich. However, Goal can confirm that Conte is happy at Stamford Bridge, and the Italian has repeatedly said in public that he wishes to remain at Chelsea for many years....

The Blues previously lost 2-1 at the hands of Liverpool at Stamford Bridge after they also dropped points against Swansea City in a 2-2 draw, despite taking an early 1-0 lead. But the 47-year-old says he knew he was joining a club with problems to solve after their disappointing 10th-place league finish last season. “I am not surprised [about the results] because, usually, when you change manager it means you have a problem,” he said during a news conference ahead of his side’s trip to Hull City on Saturday....

Having previously been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, speculation has recently suggested that the Spain international has agreed a new long-term contract. Conte considering Terry recall The riches on offer in China were said to have turned his head in January, while Costa has admitted that he considered a return to Atletico Madrid last summer. He has, however, spearheaded a Premier League title bid this season, with his 15-goal return helping Chelsea to establish a commanding lead at the top of the table....

Last week, NSBA sent an open letter to President Joe Biden calling for his administration to examine invoking “the PATRIOT Act in regards to domestic terrorism.” It argued that as “acts of malice, violence and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” Anyone who attacks or threatens violence against a school board member should, of course, be arrested and prosecuted by the proper authorities....

Photos of the “extremely rare” spectacle and footage of the mother with her newborn calf were shared on Facebook by Captain Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, a boat tour agency in the city of Dana Point, California. “It’s something you dream about and hope that someday might happen, but you don’t really expect it,” Dave Anderson, who runs the tour agency, told Newsweek. Dana Point was recently named the first whale heritage site in the United States....

Duke and Virginia open the ACC Tournament as co-favorites, both listed at 7-to-4 odds at the SuperBook. MORE: Power ratings | NCAA Tournament automatic bids | Print your bracket The Big 12 looks particularly wide open, as the favorite, Kansas, is just 3-to-1, and four teams are listed with odds of 9-to-2 or lower. Here are the opening odds posted at the Westgate for 16 conference tournaments tipping off this week:...

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Dustin Johnson said on Tuesday that being the hottest golfer on the planet heading into the U.S. Masters means nothing when it comes to trying to tame Augusta National. The long-hitting American is the favourite to win the year’s first major after recording wins in his last three tournaments but no world number one has captured the Green Jacket since Tiger Woods in 2002. “It’s a funny game....

‘Mkhi is Rooney’s long-term heir at United’ The goalkeeper has long been linked with a return to Madrid, having moved to Manchester United for a British record fee for a goalkeeper in 2011. The Spain international was within minutes of moving to Real Madrid in 2015, only for a part-exchange deal with Keylor Navas to collapse as the transfer window ended and De Gea signed a new contract at Old Trafford days later....

But does vaccination pose a greater risk than the threat of terrorism? That’s a question health officials will no doubt be grappling with in the coming months as they debate exactly who else should be protected and how best to deploy the vaccine. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the variola virus, which causes smallpox, remained very much alive in Soviet military laboratories, and their stockpile has never been fully accounted for....

Entering with a 20-fight unbeaten record, Benn had been expected to face the toughest test of his career against durable southpaw Van Heerden, only to make dazzlingly light work of his 34-year-old opponent. Benn characteristically looked for huge shots from the opening bell, although Van Heerden, whose only previous knockout defeat came against Errol Spence Jr in 2015, asserted himself while looking largely unflustered. That abruptly changed during the first minute of the second round, when a brutal right wobbled Van Heerden back onto the ropes and allowed Benn to step in with a deadly combination that sent the veteran to the canvas in a brutal end to the brief contest....

In what was an otherwise sterile ceremony, McGregor’s speech provided a lighter point — despite the fact that he was no doubt genuine in his message. MORE: Ronda Rousey’s return date | CM Punk’s first UFC opponent McGregor didn’t attend the Las Vegas ceremony, opting to shoot an acceptance video from the back of his car in Ireland ahead of his lightweight championship showdown with Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196....

As part of his #AskNotorious Q&A on Twitter, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was asked which fighter he feels isn’t getting as much attention, and his response was none other than fellow lightweight contender Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson. While Conor McGregor has always been known for his next-level trash talk, the brash Irishman has also usually given credit where credit is due. In the same Q&A, McGregor also gave props to former opponents such as Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and even Jeremy Stephens, who he notoriously burned with the now-iconic ‘Who the f*ck is that guy?...

“It’s been agreed that McGregor will appear in one of the remaining two seasons of Game of Thrones,” a source told The Sunday Life. MORE: McGregor blasts Floyd Mayweather again “He was headhunted as it were by HBO, as one of the ‘Game of Thrones’ directors is a huge UFC fan. They believed that he would be a perfect fit for the show.” No details have been reported about the role McGregor would play....

It can be kind of awkward if your parents or roommates are watching you video chat with someone. Solid-colored backgrounds look better on camera than busy prints. You could talk about the shows you’ve been watching, your pets, how school is going, or how excited you are for an upcoming event. If your arm starts to get tired, place your phone on a coffee table or a shelf. Just make sure your microphone isn’t covered up so the other person can still hear you....

Right-leaning commentators and everyday Americans alike need to stop pretending to be shocked by these stories. There’s a deeper lesson here, if we are willing to heed it. Yoel Roth is not unique. He, and a myriad of others throughout America’s elite professional class, are typical representatives of an irredeemably corrupted credentialing system. Anyone who wants to free themselves and their business from the insanity of woke capital needs to get serious, reject our current credentialing system, and radically change how they recruit and hire....

Hazard turned in a virtuoso performance on Saturday, scoring twice as the Premier League champions dispatched Newcastle 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. It was a timely demonstration of the 26-year-old’s talents in the English top flight after his Belgium were paired with England in the 2018 World Cup draw. Conte marvelled at his star man’s exploits as the topic of new deals for Hazard and his similarly valuable countryman, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, were again near the top of the agenda....

The comments suggest that Conte will not stand in the way of the likes of David Luiz and Michy Batshuayi should either of them decide they would like to go in search of greener pastures. Luiz has been hampered by injury this season but has also fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea, losing out to Andreas Christensen, and Batshuayi has started just two Premier League matches this term. In Batshuayi’s case, Conte has even opted to play Eden Hazard as a striker at times when he was without first option Alvaro Morata up top, claiming that the Belgian must “show me that he’s better than Morata, or than Hazard” to find a place in the team....