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PARIS -- With Spanish superstar Alberto Contador suspended for doping, the Tour de France looks wide open. Nike Free 4.0 Flyknit Uomo Grigie . Australian veteran Cadel Evans will defend his title, and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins hopes to give Britain its first victory at cyclings biggest event -- just days before the London Games. Victoria native Ryder Hesjedal will lead the Garmin-Barracuda team. He won the Giro dItalia last month to become the first Canadian to capture one of cyclings three major tour titles. The 99th Tour starts on June 30 in Liege, Belgium, and will cover 2,162 miles over three weeks. Race planners have given slightly more weight this year to time trials compared to mountains, generally seen as the twin pillars in cycling races that separate title hopefuls from the stragglers. The Olympics, which start less than a week after the Tour ends, is casting a shadow on this years race -- forcing some to choose one event or the other. Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen and promising American Taylor Phinney are skipping the Tour to focus on the London Games. American Tyler Farrar -- who plans to ride in both -- has said its "a little frustrating" that cycling has two of its biggest events nearly back-to-back. Once again, cyclings longtime doping scourge looms large. Contador, the biggest name in cycling since the Lance Armstrong era, had one of his three Tour titles stripped in February and was banned from racing through August this year after he tested positive for the banned stimulant clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour. Pre-race injuries and illness also have depleted the cast of contenders. RadioShack Nissan leader Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, who inherited Contadors 2010 title and is also a two-time Tour runner-up, will be at home after injuring his spine this month in the Criterium du Dauphine race. Norways Thor Hushovd, who won two Tour stages last year, is out while he recovers from a virus. At least one Tour record will be rewritten this year. American veteran George Hincapie, a BMC teammate of Evans and Armstrongs longtime lieutenant during his run of seven Tour titles, will begin his 17th Tour de France -- breaking the record he had shared with Dutch legend Joop Zoetemelk for the most Tour starts in history. This race also looks like one of the most promising in years for Britain, in particular through Team Sky. Mark Cavendish, one of the worlds top sprinters who already has 20 Tour stage victories, recently joined the team. But he has said he expects to be less dominant in Tour sprints this year because he has changed his training and lost weight with an eye to the Olympics, where bookmakers see him as a favourite to win gold. He also will be without his longtime lead-out man, Mark Renshaw of Australia, who is on Dutch squad Rabobank. Plus, Sky has put the lions share of its resources behind Wiggins, who crashed out of last years Tour and wants to give Britain at least its first podium finisher at the Tour -- if not an outright winner. This season, the three-time Olympic track champion has again proved his success at morphing into a road racer, winning three competitions, including this months Dauphine Libere. Evans, who was third in that race, remains a question mark: The 35-year-old didnt race in May and this year has won only the three-day Criterium International in April. The BMC team leader still has a strong cast of supporters including Hincapie, Philippe Gilbert of Belgium, and young American rider Tejay Van Garderen. This years race features three uphill finishes, which is relatively few by recent Tour standards. The first comes on the eastern Vosges range in Stage 7, with a short, steep ride up the Planche de Belles Filles -- a plateau named for a legendary mass suicide of French damsels faced by the threat of Nordic invaders centuries ago. The others are rides up to ski stations: La Toussuire in the Alps in Stage 11, and Peyragudes in the Pyrenees in Stage 17. In keeping with tradition, the course in this even-numbered year runs clockwise around France. After three days in Belgium, the race cuts from the English Channel across northern France to the Vosges, down to the Alps, down to the nudist-beach town of Cap dAgde on the Mediterranean Sea, then into the Pyrenees, followed by a dash up to Paris for the July 22 finish on the Champs-Elysees. This year, more than most, time trials will get star billing. The race against the clock, in which riders set off one by one, is a discipline traditionally dominated by riders like Wiggins, Switzerlands Fabien Cancellara of RadioShack Nissan -- a favourite for Saturdays 3.8-mile prologue in Liege -- and Germanys Tony Martin of Omega Pharma-Quick Step. Time trials require sustained power, good aerodynamics, and monk-like self-control: Racers cant slide into the wake of competitors to save energy. Contador is one of the worlds best time-trialers, as was Armstrong in his day. Outside threats for overall victory include Dutch rider Robert Gesink, the winner of the Tour of California this year, American veteran Levi Leipheimer -- generally solid in both time trials and the mountains -- and Italys Vincenzo Nibali, who is returning to the Tour for the first time since 2009 after winning the Spanish Vuelta the following year and placing second last year in the Giro dItalia. The International Cycling Union promises hundreds of anti-doping tests during the race, on par with last year, as part of the continued effort to root out drugs cheats from the peloton. The doping cloud in cycling re-emerged this month when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency filed formal doping charges against Armstrong, threatening to strip him of his seven Tour victories. The U.S. agency also brought charges against Armstrongs longtime manager Johan Bruyneel -- the current manager of the RadioShack Nissan team -- and four others linked to the Texan champions former teams. Armstrong has forcefully denied the allegations. Nike Flyknit Lunar 2 Uomo . As both players sat on the sideline during the changeover before Federer was going to serve to try to force a fifth set, most of the nearly 15,000 spectators began chanting "Ro-ger! Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" Federer did extend the match. Nike Flyknit Lunar 2 Donna . -- Al Jefferson beat up the Detroit Pistons in a key game in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Oliver Cooper scored three times and added an assist as the Saint John Sea Dogs halted a nine-game winless streak by defeating the visiting Charlottetown Islanders 4-2 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Sebastien Auger stopped 46-of-48 shots for Saint John, including 22 saves in the third period to preserve the victory. Mathew Highmore had a goal and an assist for the Sea Dogs (6-11-2), who won on home ice for the first time in six outings, while Olivier LeBlanc chipped in with two assists. Jack Nevins and Alexandre Goulet supplied the offence for the Islanders (10-6-2), who have dropped five straight contests. Eric Brassard made 34 saves in defeat. Saint John went 2 for 7 on the power play while Charlottetown failed to score on three chances with the man advantage. --- ARMADA 3 CATARACTES 2 SHAWINIGAN, Que. -- Blainville-Boisbriand jumped out to a three-goal lead and held on long enough for their fifth win in a row. Frederic Bergeron, Danick Martel and Samuel Hodhod scored for the Armada (15-1-1), who sit atop the QMJHL standings. Frederick Goudreau and Frank Schumacher scored for the Cataractes (2-15-2), who have dropped three straight games, and Kris Hodge earned an assist on both goals. Samuel Montembeault made 19 saves for Blainville-Boisbriand while Marvin Cupper stopped 15 shots for Shawinigan. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 6 TITAN 2 SYDNEY, N.S. -- Cape Breton led by five goals before Acadie-Bathurst found the back on the net for the first time in the third period. Julien Pelletier, Raphael Corriveau and William Carrier had a goal and an assist each for the Screaming Eagles (9-9-2) while Justin Hache tacked on three assists. Kyle Farrell and Michael Layle added a goal apiece. Patrick Walsh put the Titan (6-11-2) on the board with a power-play goal in the third and Patrik Zdrahal added one more late. Cape Bretons Chase Marchand made 23 saves for the win. Mason MacDonald started in net for Acadie-Bathurst but was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots. Jacob Brennan turned aside 22-of-25 shots in 39 minutes of relief. --- PHOENIX 7 WILDCATS 4 MONCTON, N. Nike Flyknit Lunar 2 Bianche. B. -- Jean-Francois Plante had a hat trick to lead Sherbrooke to its fourth win in as many outings. Dominic Talbot-Tassi, Simon Desbiens and Tim Wieser each produced a goal and an assist for the Phoenix (8-11-2) and Vincent Deslauriers scored once. Christophe Lalonde scored twice for the Wildcats (8-12-1) while Liam Hynes and Christopher Caissy had the others. Francis Desrosiers stopped 29 shots for Sherbrooke as Graham Hunt gave up six goals on 18 shots for Moncton. --- VOLTIGEURS 6 OLYMPIQUES 3 GATINEAU, Que. -- Jerome Verrier had two goals and two assists and Georgs Golovkovs tacked on three assists as Drummondville doubled up the Olympiques. Guillaume Gauthier, Nikolas Brouillard, Dexter Weber and Cameron Askew also scored for the Voltigeurs (10-6-1) while Askew added an assist for a two-point night. Gatineau (14-6-0) got its only goal from Alex Dostie. Drummondvilles Louis-Philip Guindon only had to stop 17 shots for the victory. Robert Steeves turned back 35 shots for the Olympiques. --- HUSKIES 6 REMPARTS 1 ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. -- Maxime St-Cyr scored once and set up three more as the Huskies toppled Quebec. Liam OBrien had a goal and two assists for Rouyn-Noranda (11-6-2), Dillon Fournier and Mathieu Lemieux each recorded a goal and an assist while Jeremy Lauzon and Marcus Power scored the others. Fabrice Herzog scored the lone goal for the Remparts (9-7-4), who have dropped back-to-back contests. Alexandre Belanger made 22 saves for a Huskies victory. Callum Booth gave up four goals on 24 shots for Quebec and was pulled in relief of Francois Brassard, who stopped six-of-eight shots in relief. --- MOOSEHEADS 4 FOREURS 2 VAL-DOR, Que. -- Backup Kevin Darveau turned away 39 shots as Halifax defeated the Foreurs. Jonathan Drouin and Darcy Ashley had a goal and two assists apiece for the Mooseheads (14-8-0) while Nikolaj Ehlers and Luca Ciampini had the others. Guillaume Gelinas and Samuel Henley scored for Val-dOr (10-9-0) and Anthony Mantha assisted on both, giving him a league-leading 43 points in 17 games. Keven Bouchard stopped 21-of-24 shots for the Foreurs. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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