e countrys highest civil court, the Swiss Federal Tribunal.A federal case is slow and tough to win, with few grounds of appeal.Federal judges int

BARDONECCHIA, Italy -- Mauro Santambrogio of Italy won a weather-affected and altered 14th stage of the Giro dItalia on Saturday, and favourite Vincenzo Nibali finished second to extend his overall lead. Santambrogio, who rides for Vini Fantini, won in a time of 4 hours, 42 minutes, 55 seconds in in rainy, windy and even snowy conditions, beating Nibali in a final sprint at the top of the steep Jafferau climb. Carlos Betancur was third. "It still hasnt sunk in," Santambrogio said. "I set off at the end, in the snow. My team was magnificent today. I found myself in front with Nibali with about 3 kilometres to go, Vincenzo attacked and I responded, because I felt good." The stage had to be altered shortly before the start and the climb up Sestriere was removed because of avalanche threats. The cyclists were re-routed through Val di Susa, on a longer 180-kilometre (112-mile) course from Cervere to Bardonecchia. Sundays route, which crosses into France and includes climbs up the Galibier and the Col du Mont Cenis, is also likely to be altered. Nibali, who finished third and second in his last two Giro races, extended his lead to 1:26 over Cadel Evans and is firmly on course to win his home countrys biggest cycling race for the first time. "It was a very difficult stage," Nibali said. "There was just rain the whole way, apart from at the end, when we were hit by sleet. The road is still long. I did well today. Santambrogio won after managing to stay on my wheels." Santambrogio moved up to fourth, 2:47 behind Nibali and just a second behind third-place Rigoberto Uran. Sonny Colbrelli, Luca Paolini, Matteo Trentin and Daniele Pietropolli led for most of the leg, building a lead of more than nine minutes, but the peloton started to reel in the four escapees with 40 kilometres (25 miles) left. Trentin and then Pietropolli fell back from the lead group shortly before the start of the grueling category-one climb to the finish, which had a gradient of 14 per cent in some places. Nibali made his move inside the final 2 kilometres, (1.5 miles), emerging from the fog near the finish line with Santambrogio. And Santambrogio clung on, holding off the race favourite to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory. The Giro ends May 26 in Brescia. Cheap Air Max China . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Cheap Wholesale Air Max . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. http://www.wholesaleairmax.net/ .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Cheap Air Max Wholesale . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Discount Air Max Shoes .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. GENEVA -- Much of the intense Olympic action before the Rio de Janeiro Games open in less than two weeks is set to play out in the law courts.For many Russian athletes caught up in a doping scandal, a legal fight -- and a race against time to get the verdict they want -- is their biggest barrier to competing.The Court of Arbitration for Sport already handed one defeat to Russia on Thursday. It rejected an appeal by 67 Russian track and field athletes who the International Association of Athletics Federation had declared ineligible for Rio after previously banning their national federation from international competitions.On Sunday, the International Olympic Committees executive board will consider banning all Russian teams from the Summer Games because of a state-sponsored doping conspiracy.If the IOC imposes the toughest punishment, the Russian OIympic committee could then also challenge it at CAS, which opens a special Olympic court in Rio next week.Cases can go above world sports appeal court. Just a short walk from CASs headquarters in Lausanne is Switzerlands supreme court -- the Swiss Federal Tribunal.Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko already suggested that the 67 athletes could defend their honor and dignity by going to a higher civil court.Many try but few succeed in persuading Swiss federal judges to overturn CAS verdicts.---WHO CAN APPEAL A CAS VERDICT?Anyone who loses before a typical three-member panel of CAS judges can file a further appeal at its home countrys highest civil court, the Swiss Federal Tribunal.A federal case is slow and tough to win, with few grounds of appeal.Federal judges intervene if legal process was abused but will not re-examine the merits of a case.A faster option for Russian appeals would be for a provisional measure -- an interim ruling to freeze a verdict pending the full case.---WHO HAS BEATEN CAS AT FEDERAL COURT?Very few cases, at a rate of about one per year of around 400 arbitration and appeal processes annually.It is even possible to overturn a CAS verdict in the federal court and still lose the re-triaal.dddddddddddd That happened to tennis player Guillermo Canas of Argentina in 2007.Canas was initially banned for two years by the ATP Tours anti-doping tribunal, and saw that reduced to 15 months at CAS.When Canas went to federal court, Swiss judges ruled his right to be heard had been breached and sent back the case. A second CAS hearing also applied a 15-month ban.---WHATS THE BEST WAY TO BEAT CAS?Federal judges have set aside several verdicts on the grounds that CAS did not have jurisdiction to judge the original case. Those cases include a win and a loss for the International Ice Hockey Federation.The IIHF lost to a German international player whose ban for refusing a doping test was overturned. It then won a million-dollar compensation case against Swiss hockey champion Bern.CAS had awarded the club damages for lost earnings when the 2009-10 Champions Hockey League folded due to the main sponsor, Russian energy giant Gazprom, pulling out.---IS THERE AN EXCEPTION TO GIVE RUSSIA HOPE?The case of Brazilian soccer player Matuzalem stands out for federal judges intervening to say: Enough is enough.He won a supreme court ruling in 2012 over a manifest and serious attack on his rights by FIFA and CAS.Matuzalem broke his contract to force a transfer and was ordered to compensate his former club, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, around $15 million.When the player struggled to pay, and broke FIFAs disciplinary rules, he filed a further round of appeals to CAS and the federal court.Federal judges objected to Shakhtar having the power to request a ban, which itself could curb Matuzalems ability to earn and repay the debt.In exceptional cases, a sentence can be annulled for violation of the essential principles of the judicial system, named `the public order, the federal court said.Could Russian authorities or athletes eventually persuade Swiss judges that an Olympic ban is a similar violation?Unlikely, but perhaps not impossible. 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