In brief - 2004-10-27

Top Lithuanian cyclist Edita Pucinskaite will ride for the Italian-based Nobili Rubinetterie Guerciotti in 2005, according to an announcement from the team. Ranked fifth in the world, Pucinskaite won the Plouay round of the women's World Cup in August, and finished ninth and 10th respectively in the women's road race and time trial at the Olympics.

With International Olympic Committee officials coming to town to check out new construction sites for the 2008 Olympics, Chinese officials in Beijing are in a race against time to meet an air quality target of 227 "clean air" days by the end of the year. By the end of September, the city had only notched up 175 such days. Improving air quality is key to the city's efforts to be ready for the Olympics. China has earmarked $7 billion of its total $37 billion Olympic budget to clean up the capital. Pre-Olympic plans call for the relocation of 200 polluting Beijing factories and treatment of more than 90 percent of sewage in the cities noxious canals by 2008.

Mexico's Caribbean beach resort of Cancun will host an annual Formula One race for at least five years starting in 2006, it was revealed on Oct 25. The race will be held on a new $70 million track designed by German expert Hermann Tilke, who also designed Shanghai's much-praised new circuit. The announcement comes shortly after Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone (photo) announced that the F1 road show would not include Britain's antiquated Silverstone track in the 2006 season. Ecclestone has frequently made it known that he believes the future of the sport lies more in developing countries.

English Premier League side Arsenal's astonishing record of going unbeaten in the top flight was at last ended in an ugly encounter with fierce rivals Manchester United on Oct. 24. Arsenal had gone 49 matches unbeaten dating from May 7, 2003. United won the game 2-0 thanks to a controversial penalty in the 73rd minute and a late tap-in goal from Wayne Roone (photo). The only team in a major European league to better Arsenal's record was the legendary AC Milan side of the early 1990s which went on an unbeaten run of 58 games from 1991-1993.