Britain's Mark Cavendish powered past Slovakia's Peter Sagan just before the finish line Sunday to win the first stage of the Tour of California.

Cavendish, a 25-time Tour de France stage winner, raced to his 10th victory of the season, finishing the 126.2-mile flat road race in 4 hours, 43 minutes, 27 seconds. He also won Tour of California stages in Sacramento in 2010 and last year, also on the opening day.

LeBron James hit a jump shot from the corner at the final buzzer to give the Cleveland Cavaliers an 86-84 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, leveling the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2.

James finished with 25 points to help the Cavaliers win in another wild finish, returning the favor after Chicago took Game 3 on Derrick Rose's banked 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Manchester United is set to return to the Champions League next season after Premier League champion Chelsea held Liverpool to a draw, effectively ending the Reds' hopes of making it to Europe's top competition.

In Italy, Lazio missed the chance to move back into second place while Marseille came from behind to beat Monaco and kept alive its bid of a top three finish in the French league.

Andy Murray beat Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time Sunday, dominating the Madrid Open final to win 6-3, 6-2 against the four-time champion.

It was Murray's first Masters title on clay, a week after his maiden career tournament victory on the red surface at the Munich Open.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos is expected to be fit for his side's crunch Champions League semi-final, second leg against Juventus on Wednesday after fears over a hip injury were allayed on Sunday.

The German World Cup winner had to be replaced midway through the first half of Madrid's 2-2 draw with Valencia on Saturday which all but ended their La Liga title hopes.

Fresh claims linking Pep Guardiola to Manchester City are circulating after Bayern Munich warmed up for their Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona by slumping to a fourth straight defeat.

The Bundesliga champions were beaten 1-0 at home by Augsburg on Saturday, hardly the best preparation for Tuesday's clash with Barcelona, when they must somehow overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit.

Only one percent of people feel that gays are "completely accepted" on the sporting field, according to a new international survey released on Sunday highlighting homophobia, as officials vowed to tackle the issue.

Close to 9,500 people were interviewed for the survey, initiated by the Sydney organizing committee of a gay rugby event, which found few positive signs that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people were welcome playing team sports.

Brazilian football legend Pele was released from hospital Saturday following prostate surgery, doctors said, after his latest health scare.

The Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo released a picture of a smiling Pele wearing sportswear and waving at the camera with his partner, Marcia Cibele Aoki.

Roma failed to strengthen their grip on second place in Serie A after goals from Marco Van Ginkel and Mattia Destro saw struggling AC Milan win 2-1 to blow the race for the Champions League wide open.

Van Ginkel's first Serie A goal five minutes before half-time and a close range header from Destro just before the hour mark were enough for Milan to win for the first time in six games, despite a Francesco Totti penalty letting Roma back into the game 17 minutes from time.

Louis Van Gaal believes Manchester United’s fighting spirit helped secure the victory that takes them to the brink of qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Van Gaal’s side were forced to work hard for the 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace that moved them seven points clear of fifth placed Liverpool, 24 hours before Brendan Rodgers’ side travel to champions Chelsea.