GERARDMER, France -- In a solo breakaway, Blel Kadri gave France its first stage winner at the Tour de France in the entree to the Vosges mountains on Saturday.
Chris Chelios Jersey . Meanwhile, Vincent Nibali extended his lead over his biggest rivals except an important one:
Two-time champion Alberto Contador. Over two minutes back, an attacking Contador
duelled with Nibali to capture second place at the uphill finish of a rainy
161-kilometre (100-mile) ride from Tomblaine to Gerardmer La Mauselaine ski
resort. Contador gained only seconds on Nibali, and was still 2 1/2 minutes
behind him, but the threat was loud and clear. The overall standings changed
after Stage 8, with mostly strong climbers at the top. Kadri, sensing his
looming victory in the last kilometre, clasped hands in joy with a staffer of
his AG2R Mondiale team, who was alongside him in a team car. He kissed his
fingers to the crowd and smiled broadly at the line. "Today was my day, and Im
really, really, really happy," he said after his maiden Tour stage win. "We work
all year for good performances in this race. ... Today it paid off." Kadri
emerged from a five-man breakaway that chiselled out a lead of as many as 11
minutes. None of the breakaway riders threatened Nibalis yellow jersey: The
highest-placed among them started the stage nearly 26 1/2 minutes back. Contador
attacked as he and Nibali passed under the red flag marking one kilometre to go.
But the Italian couldnt be shaken -- hewing right on the Spaniards back wheel
except for Contadors final surge at the line. "Im not explosive, but I held my
own," Nibali said. "I tried to respond as best I could to his attack ... he
moved a lot, I really wanted to stick close to him ... in the last 100 metres he
accelerated a lot." The ride featured three mid-grade climbs in the first of
three days in the mid-sized Vosges range near the German border. 90. Christian
Meier of Langley, B.C., was 90th, finishing in a peloton that clocked in at
4:7:19. Svein Tuft, also from Langley, was in the same group, finishing the
stage 110th. Meier is 143rd in the overall standings, while Tuft is 146th.
American Andrew Talansky had trouble and lost time in the title chase to other
contenders. In the final ascent, he skidded off the wet road and fumbled -- with
help from a fan -- to repair what seemed to be a problem with his bike. A race
medical report said he had multiple contusions. Talansky, the Garmin-Sharp team
leader, finished more than two minutes behind Nibali and Contador, and trailed
the leader by 4 minutes, 22 seconds in 16th place overall. He started the ride
in eighth, 2:05 down. Overall, Nibali led Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang of
Denmark in second by 1 minute, 44 seconds. Australias Richie Porte of Team Sky,
who finished fourth on Saturday, was 1:58 back in third. Spains Alejandro
Valverde was fifth, 2:27 adrift, and Contador was sixth, 2:34 behind. The
breakaway five chiselled out their maximum lead with about 50 kilometres (30
miles) left, and the pack began to accelerate. With around 25 kilometres left,
the lead dwindled to 4 1/2 minutes. Frances Sylvain Chavanel pressed the pace
among the five in front, then Kadri overtook him, pedalling alone up the final
climb. There were fewer crashes than in recent days. Before the stage, Swiss
rider Mathias Frank, the leader of the IAM Cycling team, withdraw because of
broken left femur in a crash on Friday. Frank, who was runner-up in the Tour de
Suisse last month, underwent surgery in Geneva on Saturday. The toughest ride in
the Vosges will come on Monday when cyclists face seven ascents, including an
uphill finish to the storied ski resort La Planche des Belles Filles. The pack
faces six ascents on Sunday with a 170-kilometre (106-mile) ride from Gerardmer
to Mulhouse.
Henrik Zetterberg Jersey . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but
come away impressed.
Dylan Larkin Jersey . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night
session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with
cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman
Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Houston Rockets hadnt
been very good lately with Dwight Howard on the court, and downright lethal with
him on the sidelines. But that all changed Monday night. James Harden stayed
hot, Howard provided a boost on defence and the Rockets won their fourth
straight game 100-89 to cool off the surging Charlotte Bobcats. Harden scored 31
points and Howard battled through foul trouble and a head cold he picked up over
the weekend to chip in with 10 points and 10 rebounds, handing the Bobcats only
their second loss in the last 11 games at home. Houston had lost three straight
before Howard decided to sit out and rest a nagging ankle injury. The Rockets
quickly started rolling without him, winning the next three games by an average
of 23 points. "Dwight is a great talent and you figure a way to get him in,"
Harden said. "He didnt score the ball well tonight, but he had 10 rebounds and
did so many other things, He held Al Jefferson to a fewer amount of points. It
doesnt always show up in the stat sheet, but we know how important he is to our
team." Jefferson still finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte,
but many of those came when Howard was sitting out after picking up a pair of
offensive fouls — his third and fourth of the game — in the third quarter. "I
was trying to play through (being sick) and the conditioning, but the important
part is we got the win," Howard said. Terrence Jones added 18 points and seven
rebounds in the victory and Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverly had
backbreaking 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes to
seal the victory. The Rockets (48-22) entered 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles
Clippers in the race for third place in the Western Conference and riding a wave
of confidence having shot 54.7 per cent during the recent three-game win streak.
The turning point came late in the third quarter with the Bobcats leading 66-65.
Harden took over, helping Houston close the quarter with a 13-2 run to build a
double-digit lead. Harden scored 10 points during that crucial stretch,
including a breakaway left-handed dunkk and a fall away 3-pointer.
Alex Delvecchio Red Wings Jersey. He was fouled another 3-point attempt and sank all three shots. The Bobcats got to
within five on a jumper by Jefferson in the lane, but Parsons and Beverly each
hit 3s to push the lead to 98-87 with one minute left in the game. "Chandler
made a really big transition 3 and Pat made a big 3 in the corner that kind of
sealed the game," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. Kemba Walker had 22 points to
lead Charlotte. The Bobcats (34-37) came in having won seven of their last 10 —
including a 30-point victory over Portland on Saturday night — and looking to
gain ground on Washington in the race for the sixth seed in the Eastern
Conference playoffs. But they shot just 37 per cent from the field. "The ball
movement just wasnt the same tonight. We didnt have a James Harden," Jefferson
said. Few teams do. At times, Harden was hitting step-back jump shots that not
even the leagues best defenders could stop. Jefferson called Harden the best
1-on-1 player in the game. "He didnt do anything that surprised me tonight,"
Jefferson said. "Hes an amazing player." It was Hardens 18th 30-point game this
season. "He just took over," McHale said. "Hes been fantastic and playing the
right way. He had 31 (points) on 19 shots. And hes making the right play. Hes
making great passes and he led us in assists" with five. NOTES: NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver attended the game. Silver said he would like to see Charlotte host
the NBA All-Star game in the near future. "The process is for them to apply.
Weve had our events department down here to survey the building and there are
some upgrades to the t stage winner at the Tour de building that are needed. Part of the understanding is to
assure the building remains state-of-the-art... but Id love to bring the
All-Star game back here. Its a hotbed of basketball and the only thing they have
to do is apply." ... Team owner Michael Jordan took in the game from the end of
the Bobcats bench. ... Houston has won seven straight against Charlotte. ...
Bobcats coach Steve Clifford picked up his seventh technical of the season.
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