LONDON -- At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel. Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Mondays Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeths Buckingham Palace. Two days earlier, he courted royal attention as Prince William and Kate saw him win Stage 1 in Yorkshire in another sprint. The stage wrapped up the English debut to this 101st Tour edition, a rousing success among cycling-crazed British fans. Riders hopped on planes and bid "au revoir" to the UK before flying across the English Channel onto the races home turf. Rain in the City of London doused riders at the end of the 155-kilometre (96-mile) ride from the university town of Cambridge to a dramatic finish past landmarks Big Ben and Westminster. Italys Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leaders yellow jersey with a 2-second lead over the most likely contenders to win the three-week race in Paris on July 27. Svein Tuft was the top Canadian in 138th place, 16 minutes 13 seconds off the lead. Christian Meier, also from Langley, B.C., was 17:31 back in 154th. Kittel, led out perfectly by Giant-Shimano teammates, made it look easy as he sped down a final wide approach on The Mall with Buckingham Palace behind him. Peter Sagan of Slovakia was second and Australias Mark Renshaw was third. "Im really, really happy I could win in front of Buckingham Palace," said Kittel, who won four Tour stages last year. "It was one of the greatest finishes Ive ever seen in front of this great scenery." FIRST PARIS, NOW LONDON The hulking German made it a tale of two cities. He added London glory to his record after also winning on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, in the Tour finale last year. His job in the sprints got a lot easier after Britains Mark Cavendish pulled out of the race after injuring his shoulder in a crash in Saturdays Stage 1. "Its one big opponent that is not in the race anymore," Kittel said. "Of course, that changes things for me, but also for the team." Kittel is no threat for the yellow jersey. Like many sprinters, he struggles on climbs and fell nearly 20 minutes behind Nibali in the overall standings in an up-and-down ride on Sunday through the hills and dales of Yorkshire. Nibalis biggest challengers for the prized leaders shirt remain title-holder Chris Froome of Britain and Spains Alberto Contador, who finished with the same time as the Italian and Kittel in an 84-rider bunch. On Monday, the pack cruised nervously and let two breakaway riders go free on Monday. The duo was caught with about 6 kilometres (4 miles) left. EUROPEAN UNITY AMONG FANS? Tour officials estimated fans made nearly 5 million individual visits -- some may have attended more than one stage -- to the route in the first three stages. In signs of cross-Channel comity, Tour chief Christian Prudhomme took English lessons before the race; Britons waved both French tricolours and their beloved Union Jacks. But the teeming curbs, sidewalks and roadsides again caused trouble for the riders. With about 30 kilometres (19 miles) left, 2010 Tour winner Andy Schleck of Luxembourg was among riders who crashed briefly, and French TV showed a fan on the ground. Schleck, who gingerly returned to the race, said he didnt hit a spectator. "I guess it was my own fault," said Schleck, who collided with another rider and hurtled over his handlebars. His Trek Factory Racing teammate Jens Voigt said: "I saw about 15 crashes today. In the end there were two guys on the ground but I dont know what happened exactly ... Thats the Tour de France. The first week is always nervous." In other spills, Ted King of Cannondale and Jan Bakelants, a Belgian rider on Cavendishs Omega Pharma QuickStep team who wore yellow jersey two days last year, each scraped up their right elbows and knees. Some fans got political. A few held up placards imploring Prime Minister David Cameron not to back a U.S.-European Union free trade pact. Three topless protesters bearing slogans condemning female genital mutilation staged a brief protest near the Houses of Parliament before police bundled them away in fluorescent vests. The course route Monday notably bypassed Trafalgar Square, whose landmark Nelsons Column commemorates a British hero of the Napoleonic Wars. Stage 4 takes riders over 163.5 kilometres (105 miles) from Le Touquet-Paris Plage to Lille Metropole on the border with Belgium. Froomes Team Sky floated the idea that the pack might well ride under the sea rather than fly over it one day, if the Tour ever returns to the UK. The team released a glitzy video Monday saying that last month he became the first man to cycle through the Channel tunnel. In the video, Froome quipped: "This could be a really, really cool stage of a race." . Canadas 5-1 loss to Finland in the semifinal ranks as the tournaments most-watched game with a record 2.7 million viewers, the largest ever for a World Juniors game played outside of North America, and winning Saturday as the most-watched program on Canadian television. . -- Martin Kaymer never lost sight of opportunity even amid so much evidence of trouble in the closing stretch Sunday at The Players Championship.
http://www.yeezy700outlet.com/discount- ... nline.html. The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running back Darren Sproles from the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round draft pick on Tuesday. . The 31-year-old, a two-time CFL lineman of the year, was among the most coveted free agents on the market. The Windsor, Ont., native will be especially important to a team that has lost veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to retirement and is expected to go with the less experienced Troy Smith and Tanner Marsh this season. . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season.With time running out in the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks will try to make up ground in the Western Conference playoff race on Sunday when they host the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Sitting five points out of a playoff spot with only 10 games left on their schedule, the Canucks are in danger of missing the postseason in their first campaign under head coach John Tortorella. Although Vancouver didnt make it out of the first round in each of the last two springs, the club hasnt missed the playoffs since 2008. With 74 points, Vancouver is five behind Phoenix for the second wild card spot in the West. The Coyotes hold a game in hand over the Canucks, but with Phoenix idle on Sunday, Tortorellas club has a chance to cut the deficit to three points, Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin will return to action on Sunday and could help with Vancouvers postseason push. Sedin has missed the last nine games with an injured left hamstring, while Kesler has sat out the last four with a sprained right knee. Fellow forward Alexandre Burrows, however, expects to miss Sundays tilt after injuring his left hand in Vancouvers recent win over the Nashville Predators. Vancouver has won two of its last three games and is coming off Wednesdays 2-0 victory over visiting Nashville. Another win Sunday against the basement- dwelling Sabres would give the Canucks consecutive victories for the first time since beating Calgary and Edmonton from Jan. 18-21. The Canucks used a strong performance from rookie goaltender Eddie Lack to down the Predators. Lack made 30 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, while Alexander Edler and Nicklas Jensen scored in the third period for Vancouver. Jensen snapped a scoreless tie 6:06 into the third stanza. He scored from the top of the right circle after Henrik Sedin lost the puck in the slot. "Its being confident and not panicking and just trying to put it on net," Jensen said of his shot, which went just under the crossbar.dddddddddddd "The fact the coach gives me that opportunity is really good, but at the same time you have to show you want to be in those situations too." Vancouver is 17-11-6 as the host this season and is wrapping a brief two-game homestand on Sunday. Buffalo is last in the NHL with just 48 points this season, but the Sabres were able to snap a seven-game losing streak in their last trip to the ice, picking up a 3-1 win in Edmonton. Cory Conacher had two goals on deflections and picked up an assist to back Buffalo neophyte Matt Hackett in Thursdays win over the Oilers. Hackett, the fifth goaltender to start for Buffalo this season, made 35 saves and helped the Sabres kill off 5-of-6 Edmonton power plays. "I think we deserved that one," said Conacher. "We kept it pretty simple for the most part. We ran into a bit of penalty trouble, but our PK came up huge." Hackett, who was recently called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League, made his debut with the club that acquired from Minnesota last April. With Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth still out with lower-body injuries, 22- year-old rookie Nathan Lieuwen will make his second career start on Sunday. Hackett will serve as the backup. Buffalo is 8-22-3 on the road this season and is playing the third test of a five-game swing on Sunday. The Sabres will continue the trek Tuesday in Montreal before completing the trip Thursday against Nashville. The Sabres have won four of the last six meetings with Vancouver, but the Canucks recorded a 3-0 win in Buffalo on Oct. 17. Sundays game marks Buffalos first road game against the Canucks since posting a 5-3 win on March 3, 2012. Before that victory two years ago, the Sabres had been winless in their previous six trips to B.C., going 0-5-0 with a tie. ' ' '
