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D, England --

(2015-04-24 20:53:33) 下一個
SHEFFIELD, England -- Italys Vincenzo Nibali displayed his riding smarts at the Tour de France, winning Stage 2 on Sunday and taking the yellow jersey after a well-choreographed attack on rivals in the postindustrial English city known for "The Full Monty. Nike Air Max 90 Dam Billigt ." The Astana team leader nicknamed "The Shark" for his road savvy took the final lead in a cycling dance of sorts with other title hopefuls, who took turns in front in the last stretch through a sea of fans from York to Sheffield. Nibali perhaps had more at stake: The 29-year-old rider has won the Italian Giro and Spains Vuelta, but has never captured cyclings showcase event. The victory on Sunday gave him both his first Tour stage win and yellow jersey, and sent a message that he could contend to take it home from Paris in three weeks. With less than two kilometres left, Nibali escaped a 21-man breakaway bunch at the end of the 201-kilometre course over nine heath-covered hills of Yorkshire, and held off their late surge. England is hosting the first three Tour stages this year. GERMAN LOSES YELLOW JERSEY Marcel Kittel, a powerful German sprinter who often struggles on climbs, trailed nearly 20 minutes back and lost the yellow jersey that he had captured by winning Stage 1. While the Italian won the fight to the line, under the shadow of a black Sheffield Forgemasters tower, defending champion Chris Froome of Britain and two-time winner Alberto Contador of Spain are focusing more on the overall race -- which ends July 27 on Paris Champs-Elysees. Overall, Nibali leads 20 other riders by two seconds, including Froome in fifth place and Contador in eighth. A six-man breakaway bunch tried its chances early, but got swallowed up by the pack with less than 40 kilometres left. Then, the big race stars moved to the front, splitting the pack. Contador, Froome, and Americans Andrew Talansky and Tejay van Garderen all spent time at the front. At times, they mustered bursts of speed or zipped across with width of the road in tactical manoeuvrs. "In the finale, a lot of contenders were making moves: Nibali ended up taking two seconds on us," Froome said. "Its not a big margin. For me, it was about staying out of trouble to stay at the front, and avoiding any major issues or splits. "Im tired, but I hope everyones tired after a day like today." TIME TO WORK, ASTANA Dave Brailsford, boss of Froomes Team Sky, said the leaders actually "were all hesitant, because nobody wanted the jersey." In the cycling playbook, the yellow shirt brings both glory and responsibility. Brailsford said: "Astana will have to now defend it, which is pretty good for anybody else. "Perfect. Theyve got to work." Nibali didnt dare claim he might keep it all the way to Paris, saying "the Tour de France doesnt stop here: We have three weeks to go, and very tough and tricky stages lie ahead." Mondays stage should be a far less grueling ride: Riders cover 155 kilometres from Cambridge to London, where the pack will finish on the Mall not far from Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. CROWDS FOR A CLASSIC STAGE The course Sunday resembled that of historic one-day races known as "classics," which often feature hilly terrain. Michael Rodgers, an Australian on Contadors Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team, called it "a bit of a special stage, like the Amstel Gold Race, but with 20 times the people." New roads for cyclings greatest race also mean new audiences, some of whom are so enthusiastic and eager for a selfie with the pack that they might not realize the hazards of getting too close to the riders as they go by. Untold thousands turned out just hours after one of the biggest British stars in the race, Mark Cavendish, dropped out because of pain from a separated right shoulder sustained in a crash Saturday. "There are thousands and thousands of people. Its great but its also dangerous," Contador said. Race officials say millions of fans have flooded the course route in just the first two stages. While Yorkshire doesnt have ascents on a par with the Alps or Pyrenees in France, riders faced nine low- to mid-grade climbs. The hardest was the Holme Moss pass. The steepest was also the shortest: The 800-meter Jenkin Road pass had an average gradient of 10.8 per cent. Several riders crashed. Simon Gerrans, who went down with Cavendish in Saturdays stage, also spilled -- as did van Garderen and Joachim Rodriguez, the third-place finisher in the 2013 Tour. All recovered to finish the stage. On the up-and-down, picturesque course, the 197-rider peloton scaled a narrow, cobblestone hill in Haworth, where the Bronte sisters -- the famed 19th-century novelists -- lived when their father was parson in the town. Nike Air Max Thea Sverige . Stosur extended her unbeaten run to eight matches by defeating Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-4, while Kuznetsova beat second-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-3. Also, defending mens champion Andreas Seppi of Italy made it into his fifth semifinal of the season after Edouard Roger-Vasselin retired with a neck strain while trailing 5-2. Nike Air Max 90 Dam Rea . The Maple Leafs are three points behind Columbus for the last playoff spot in the East with only three games left on their schedule. You can listen to the game live on TSN 1050 starting at 7:30pm et/4:30 pm pt."Everybody knows that I"m a better back than he is ... he knows that I"m a better running back than he is." Thats what Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Kory Sheets said about Jon Cornish, according to Riders radio voice Rod Petersen of 620 CKRM. But a look at the numbers tells a different story. In 13 games this season, Sheets has run for 1,408 yards and 11 touchdowns – an average of 5.6 yards per carry – while adding 33 catches for 259 yards through the air. Cornish on the other hand, leads the league in rushing 1,545 yards and 11 scores in 14 games with the Calgary Stampeders this season. Hes already broken his own single-season rushing record for a non-import and has an additional 320 yards and two touchdowns through the air this year. While its true Sheets would almost certainly have more rushing yards than Cornish had injury not robbed him of nearly three games this year, he still has mmore rushing attempts – 251 compared to 215 – than the New Westminster, BC native. Nike Air Max 90 Sverige Online. The stat that really sticks out is Cornishs yards per carry average, 1.6 yards more than Sheets at 7.2 Sheets is the more used back perhaps, but the better back? With three games left on the schedule, Cornish appears a lock as the leagues Most Outstanding Player. But if we remember back to the first half of the season - when the Riders were still undefeated - all the talk was about Sheets for the award. Had he not been injured would the conversation be changed? The CFL loves record-breakers and Cornish is just that for the second year in a row. But Sheets too was on pace to break a record, the all-time single season rushing title, before injury struck. The Rouge asks: Who is the better running back, Kory Sheets or Jon Cornish? Youve heard what weve had to say, now its your turn. As always, its Your! Call. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
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