CYCLING

Cavendish takes lead as Tour de France opens

Mark Cavendish, a British cyclist, won a sprint in the crash-marred opening stage of the Tour de France at Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont, France, and took the overall lead Saturday following a picturesque first stage that finished on Utah Beach, where Allied troops landed on D-Day in 1944.

It was Cavendish’s 27th stage win in the French classic — third on the all-time list behind Eddy Merckx (34) and Bernard Hinault (28) — but he never whad on the opening leg, which is often a time trial.

GOLF

PGA: Jason Day hit only three fairways and still managed a 1-under 69 to share the lead with Scott Piercy in the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

Piercy, coming off a runner-up finish in the U.S. Open, had a 67. He and Day were at 5-under 205.

LPGA: Defending champion Brooke Henderson shot a 70 to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Cambia Portland Classic in Oregon.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand posted a 3-under round of 68 to move to 8 under and take a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the French Open at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

AUTO RACING

SPRINT CUP: Brad Keselowski finally won at Daytona International Speedway, in a race marred by a 22-car accident that collected more than half the field and thinned Keselowski’s competition.

It really only left Kyle Busch as a legitimate contender, but a restart for a two-lap shootout that sent it into overtime forced Keselowski to earn the win. He easily held off Busch to secure the checkered flag.

SWIMMING

WORLD RECORD: Cate Campbell of Australia broke the 100-meter freestyle world record at the Brisbane Grand Prix.

Campbell clocked 52.06 seconds, eclipsing German Britta Steffen’s mark in 2009.

BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEGION: Luke Klenda struck out seven in a seven-hitter as Summit Natural Gas (2-10) earned a doubleheader split with a 1-0 win over Coastal Landscape (7-4) in the nightcap of a Zone 3 doubleheader at Portland.

In the opener, James Sinclair and Logan McCarthy had three hits each to lead Coastal Landscape to a 9-1 victory.

• Anthony Degifico helped Yankee Ford (8-0) into early leads of an 11-1 and 9-2 sweep of Libby-Mitchell (5-6) at South Portland.

Degifico doubled home both runs as Yankee Ford took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the opener. He added a two-run single during a nine-run third. In the second game, Degifico, with a two-run triple, again gave Yankee Ford a 2-0 first-inning lead.

• Jake Knop drove in the go-ahead run with a fifth-inning single to lift Andrews Post (3-6) to a 3-2 win over the Sebago Lakers (5-3) in the opener at Portland.

In the second game, Brandon Fletcher hit a two-run single for the Sebago in a 4-3 victory.

JUNIOR LEGION: John Jordan and Robbie Sharkey hit consecutive two-run singles as Summit Natural Gas (7-1) rallied for seven runs in the sixth inning to beat Fitness Factory (5-4) 7-3 at Yarmouth. Dominic Morrill of Summit yielded five hits, fanning eight.

• Sean Agrodnia singled home Aiden Knowles in the seventh inning as Cape Elizabeth won 5-4 at home.

• Nathan Cyr drove in a pair of runs during a four-run first inning and combined with Sam Cloutier on a six-hitter as Cumberland downed Biddeford 7-2 at Cumberland,

– From staff and news services