09-15-2018, 04:46 AM
BESANCON, France -- With defending champion Chris Froome and two-time winner Alberto Contador out of the race, the path is wide open for Vincenzo Nibali to become the first Italian to win the Tour de France since the late Marco Pantani in 1998. The French have waited even longer for a champion -- the last was Bernard Hinault way back in 1985 -- but with three riders in the top six places, hopes are growing of at least a first podium place since climber Richard Virenque finished second in 1997. After Tuesdays rest day, the race resumes with Stage 11 on Wednesday, followed by arduous mountain stages on Friday and Saturday which will reveal the genuine contenders. These are where Nibalis climbing skills could set him apart, and give him a chance to fully stamp his authority on the race. There are five days of hard climbing ahead, starting with Fridays 197.5-kilometre (122.4-mile) trek from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse, which ends with a huge ascent of 18 kilometres (11.2 miles). As for Nibalis rivals, Contador broke his shin in a violent fall in Mondays 10th stage and Froome pulled out on stage 5 with a broken wrist. "Im not happy about what happened to Alberto and Chris," the 29-year-old Nibali said. "The climbs would have been better and more spectacular for everyone." Nibali, who won the Spanish Vuelta in 2010 and the Giro dItalia in 2013, is 2 minutes, 23 seconds ahead of Australian Richie Porte and 2:47 clear of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who won the Vuelta five years ago. Three Frenchmen are within four minutes of Nibali -- Romain Bardet, Tony Gallopin and Thibaut Pinot. None has come close to a podium place on a Grand Tour, although the 23-year-old Bardet and the 24-year-old Pinot have strong climbing skills. "Weve got to stay calm and study the situation," Nibali said. "The danger can come from anywhere." Porte rode as a key support rider for Froome last year on the Sky team, but now has free reign to attack. "Porte goes well in the climbs, he goes well in time trials, you have to keep a good distance on him," Nibali said. "You have to watch Valverde, he can attack at any time." The 34-year-old Valverde was handed a two-year suspension in 2010 for his involvement in the Operation Puerto doping plot, which involved dozens of riders over secretly stored blood bags. Like Nibali, Pantani was a courageous cyclist who loved to attack in the tough climbs. Pantani was found dead in a hotel room on Valentines Day in 2004 and a coroner ruled he died from cocaine poisoning. Nibali has one of Pantinis yellow jerseys at home, a gift from Pantinis mother to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. "It would be a great honour to follow on from him," said Nibali. Fridays stage will also be special for Nibali because it marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of two-time Tour champion Gino Bartali, who died in 2000 at the age of 85. "As an Italian, its a huge privilege to be asked about Bartali. I grew up watching documentaries on the big riders, the big wins of (Felice) Gimondi, Bartali and (Fausto) Coppi," Nibali said. "Theyre all in the encyclopedia of cycling. There are others like Hinault, too. Theyve written the history of cycling." The last French heyday came in the 1980s when Hinault, a five-time champion, competed against Laurent Fignon, who won in 83 and 84. Wednesdays stage is a 187.5-kilometre (116.3-mile) route in eastern France from Besancon to Oyonnax and features four small climbs. Veteran Fabian Cancellara wont be among the starters. The 33-year-old Swiss cyclist has pulled out to focus on the Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, from Sept. 21-28. Cancellara withdrew prior to the start of the 11th Tour stage in 2012. Spencer Pulley Jersey .ca. Hi Kerry, Thursday nights Bruins-Blackhawks game had a goal by Patrice Bergeron initially waved off by the referee, but video review clarified it was a good goal. Melvin Ingram Jersey . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. http://www.chargersauthenticshop.com/Cha...ft-Jersey/. PETERSBURG, Fla. Mike Williams Jersey . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Russell Okung Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle.CHESTER, Pa. -- It was Marco Di Vaios return that ended Montreal Impacts poor start to the season and a three-game losing streak. The squads leading goal scorer a year ago, Di Vaio was playing his first match of the season following a three-game carryover suspension from the 2013 playoffs. The Italian veteran scored a beauty in the second half on Saturday, salvaging a 1-1 draw for the 10-man Impact against the Philadelphia Union. "Were walking away from a difficult place to play with a point," said manager Frank Klopas. "The way we had to come back and fight, we were short-handed for a long period of time and I think its a very positive result. Its something we can build on." It was a cold, rainy, and windy day in Pennsylvania and Klopas made three changes to the squad that lost 2-0 to Seattle at home last week. Heath Pearce replaced Jeb Brovsky at left back while Andres Romero was preferred to Patrice Bernier in the midfield. Klopas stayed with the 4-2-3-1 formation but swapped Di Vaio for Andrew Wenger in the lone striker role. The Impact dodged a bullet in the 10th minute after Union midfielder Vincent Nogueira beat Hernan Bernardello on the touchline. The Frenchmans shot went just inches wide after a 50-yard run at goal from the right flank. But Nogueira would make up for that miss on the 35th minute. Taking a feed from striker Jack McInerney, he beat the Impact backline into the right channel and fired from the same angle, this time hitting the target and giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. "I thought we started the game strong, but we made a few errors that put us on the back foot in the first half," said Pearce, who was starting his first game for the Impact. "We didnt keep the ball as well as we could have in the first half and we obviously gave up a bad goal." The Immpact had a great chance to level in the 68th minute, when Di Vaio found space on a counter attack.ddddddddddddWith an eye-opening and age-defying 70-yard run, he beat the Union defence but could only fire over the crossbar from inside the box. It looked to fall apart in the 76th minute when substitute Wenger was sent off with a straight red card. Referee Edvin Jurisevic wasted no time in making the decision after the striker was judged to have gone studs-first into a tackle on the goal scorer Nogueira. With ten minutes to play and a fourth consecutive loss looming, Di Vaio showed why he is so important. Down a man and playing on the counter, he found space on the left and inched toward goal with the Philadelphia defence stretched. Stepping to his right, he ripped a curling shot that beat Zac MacMath at the far-post and levelled the game at one. "When you have players like that, its just that one moment," Klopas said. "Those are guys that you never take off the field. They have some chances, and they might miss. But you saw him, he gets the ball and its one special play that he can pull off. Thats why there are guys that you dont take out, because they have one magic moment in them." The draw is Montreals first result of the season and moves the Impact to a 0-3-1 record ahead of next weeks home match against New York. "For us, its a big point," said Bernier, who entered in the second half. "After four games we have to come away with something. It shows great character to get the result after the red card, but we still have to look at the idea that were not right when were going eleven versus eleven. Over the last few minutes we showed character, we (defended) together, we got the goal, and we got a result away from home. Right now that point is big for us." 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