Globale News » fourth round at the French

REIMS, France -- Vincenzo Nibali is growing comfortable in his yellow jersey. Hes not taking the Tour de France lead for granted, though. Despite the stunning departure of reigning champion Chris Froome in a crash the day before, the Italian says hes "afraid" of two-time champ Alberto Contador, and senses other contenders are looking for opportunities to strip him of cyclings most coveted jersey. Nibali took another, if small, step on Thursday toward the Tour crown by maintaining his lead as the pack arrived in Reims -- whose famed Cathedral hosted many French coronations -- in a drizzly and crash-marred sixth stage won by German sprint specialist Andre Greipel. Nibali, who has won cyclings two other Grand tours -- the Spanish Vuelta and Italian Giro -- made it five straight days in the yellow shirt that he hopes to take home when the race ends on the Champs-Elysees on July 27. Its still very early, though, and the race has only had one real climbing day so far: Far tougher up-and-down days are ahead this weekend in the Vosges mountains, in the Alps in week two, and the Pyrenees in week three. But Nibali says he is "calm" and feeling good physically, his Astana team is the best-performing squad so far, and several rival teams have been losing riders to crashes. "Im still afraid of Contador," said Nibali, adding that he expects the Spaniard and other yellow jersey aspirants to attack when the race enters the eastern Vosges range on Saturday -- culminating with a tough uphill finish in Mondays Stage 10. "Its true that you can lose a lot of energy defending the yellow jersey, but Ive been riding well," Nibali said through a translator. "Its a heavy task to wear it ... (but) to have the jersey could be a little advantage in the coming stages. Well take it day by day." Contador, a day after losing about 2 1/2 minutes to Nibali on a muddy ride over cobblestones, was dealt another setback on Thursday: His Saxo-Tinkoff teammate Jesus Hernandez, who was expected to help him up the climbs, dropped out after a crash that left him dazed on the roadside. Richie Porte, who inherited the leadership of Team Sky after Froome quit, also lost a teammate. Spanish veteran Xabier Zandio was taken to hospital with a suspected broken rib and severe back injury from a group spill with about 79 kilometres left. The race medical report listed a total of 14 riders with varying injuries from "two big crashes." "It was such a stressful day -- horrible actually," Porte said, crediting support from his team. "The guys were around me all day, and while we lost Xabi Zandio to the crash, the rest of us kept out of trouble and we live to fight another day." Greipel, the Germany champion, collected his sixth career Tour stage win ahead of Norways Alexander Kristoff in second and Frances Samuel Dumoulin in third over the 194-kilometre (120-mile) ride. Greipels job got easier after countryman Marcel Kittel, who has dominated the sprints this year, got a late flat. "I had really good punch today, I am really happy," said Greipel, a Lotto Belisol rider who turns 32 next Wednesday. "Of course Im not looking at Kittel. I dont need to hide. I am still one of the fastest in the bunch. "There was a lot of pressure on us, on my shoulders. Its a big relief for us." The top of the standings didnt change, as most of the contenders for victory in the three-week race trailed close behind the muscular Greipel. He was not a challenger for the overall title; like many sprinters, he does not fare well on the climbs that are crucial to winning in Paris. Hes 37 1/2 minutes behind Nibali. Overall, Nibali has a two-second lead over Danish teammate Jakob Fuglsang. Peter Sagan of Slovakia was third, 44 seconds back. Porte, an Australian, was another 70 seconds back in eighth place. American Andrew Talansky, who won the Criterium du Dauphine in June, was ninth, 2:05 behind Nibali. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was 10th, 2:11 back, and Contador was in 18th, 2:37 behind. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was tied for 86th in the stage and 132nd overall, 33:35 off the lead. Christian Meier, also from Langley, was tied for 145th in the stage and was 154th overall, 38:45 back. With the Tour giving a nod to 100 years since the start of World War I, French President Francois Hollande honoured the fallen and took a ride with race director Christian Prudhomme on Thursday. The Tour chief led a ceremony honouring 1909 winner Francois Faber, one of three winners of early Tours who died in the war. Stage 7 on Friday will be the Tours second longest, another mostly flat 234.5-kilometre (146-mile) trek from Epernay to Nancy. Air Max 270 Günstig Kaufen . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et. Schuhe Auf Rechnung Bestellen .com) - Matt Beleskey has helped give the Anaheim Ducks some scoring depth and hell look to stay hot on Wednesday night when his club hosts the struggling Philadelphia Flyers. https://www.schuheshopschweiz.ch/gunstig...-shop-d246.html. -- Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo is going to the Pro Bowl as a replacement for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks. Schuhe Schweiz Bestellen . The fourth-year guard from Carleton University kicked off his varsity career with rookie of the year honours in 2011, before racking up three straight Mike Moser Memorial Trophies for outstanding player. Nike Air Max 90 Günstig . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit. HALLE, Germany -- Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the second round of the grass-court Gerry Weber Open on Thursday, losing 6-4, 6-1 to German wild card Dustin Brown. "I didnt play," Nadal said. "That can happen when you play an opponent like this. But I dont want to talk about the opponent." Brown, the world No. 85, broke Nadals serve at the fifth attempt to win the first set, and he pulled off two audacious lobs in succession to break the Spaniard again early in the second. Nothing Nadal tried seemed to work in his first match since winning his ninth French Open title. He had a first-round bye at Halle, where he was the top seed. "The only way I could have tried to do more was resisting with my serve, something I hadnt practiced a lot these days," said Nadal, who was unnerved by Browns unpredictability. "For the first four games he didnt put any returns on the court and then suddenly he was playing winners from the return, so its difficult to analyze these kinds of matches. The only thing I can do is keep working the way that I did the last three days, because I came here, I tried hard, I tried my best." Brown became the lowest ranked player to beat a world No. 1 since 2008, when No. 98 Mardy Fish beat Roger Federer at Indian Wells. "I never played against a world No. 1 before, never played him before, soo this is just crazy for me," the player with the distinctive dreadlocks said.dddddddddddd Brown said it was too soon to consider he will face compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. "I havent thought about that at all yet. Im going to enjoy this," Brown said. Federer began his preparations for Wimbledon by coming from behind to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2. Sousa saved all five break points he faced before taking the first set in a tiebreaker, but the second-seeded Federer raised his level in the next two sets to win the second-round match and move into the quarterfinals. "It was important to stay calm, and actually it gives me more confidence winning this way than maybe just 6-4, 6-4 and you dont quite know what is going on," said Federer, who acknowledged he was worried after losing the first set. It was the seven-time Wimbledon winners first match since losing in the fourth round at the French Open to Ernests Gulbis. He also had a first-round bye in Halle, where he is a six-time champion. He will next play Taiwans Lu Yen-hsun, who defeated Croatias Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3). Steve Johnson is through to the quarterfinals after Teymuraz Gabashvili pulled out of their second-round match with a right knee injury. The American lined up fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Friday. ' ' '