VITTORIO VENETO, Italy -- Stefano Pirazzi won the 17th stage of the Giro dItalia on Wednesday, the first professional victory of his career while Nairo Quintana retained the overall leaders pink jersey. Pirazzi made an obscene arm gesture as he crossed the finish line and was reduced to tears following his win. "It wasnt a nice gesture, Im sorry, forgive me," Pirazzi said. "But its been five years of anger, five years of criticism. As the days went by, my moral was going down. I was here to get this victory finally, that was the target. "I was unleashing all that. Five years of criticism is a lot for a young guy. I really had to deal with a lot. Today I reached a goal that I wanted since I was a young boy watching the Giro. Im very happy. Ill enjoy it and never forget this moment." Pirazzi, who had led from the breakaway, made his move with little more than a kilometre remaining and edged out Tim Wellens and Jay McCarthy in a sprint at the end of the 204-kilometre (127-mile) stage from Sarnonico to Vittorio Veneto. The peloton crossed the line 15:36 behind Pirazzi as the top overall standings were unchanged. Quintana remained 1:41 ahead of fellow Colombian Rigoberto Uran and 3:21 ahead of Cadel Evans, with Pierre Rolland only five seconds further back. Victorias Ryder Hesjedal, the 2012 Giro champion, finished 33rd in Wednesdays stage and was in ninth overall, 4:16 back of Quintana. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was in 158th after finishing 144th in stage 17. Quintana had moved into pink after Tuesdays tough leg, which was marred by confusion after some teams believed part of the route had been neutralized -- meaning the times for that section wouldnt count. "In reality there is no controversy," Quintana said. "I know what happened. Theyre creating a story which isnt there. "It would be unjust (if they took time away from me). The organization said the race wasnt neutralized so why remove an advantage that I won?" The peloton remained together for almost half the route before a group of 26 riders managed to get away. After the previous tough stage -- where the cyclists had to deal not only with both the legendary Gavia and Stelvio climbs, but with snow and rain as well -- the peloton was happy to keep a steady pace and let the escape go. The best-placed rider in the break was Damiano Cunego, who was more than 48 minutes behind Quintana, and so the pink jersey group allowed the gap to go out to more than 12 minutes. Thomas De Gendt attacked from the breakaway on the approach to the last of three classified climbs, the ascent up the Muro di Ca del Poggio. Pirazzi followed and caught the Belgian cyclist near the summit, and they were soon joined by Wellens, McCarthy and Matteo Montaguti. There were attacks off the chasing group but the quintets advantage continued to grow and it swiftly became apparent they would not be caught before the finish. The Giro returns to the mountains in Thursdays 18th stage, a 171km (106-mile) leg from Belluno, with a summit finish up to Rifugio Panarotta. The race ends on Sunday in Trieste. . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana. .Connor Graham, Alex Lintuniemi and Sam Studnicka also scored for Ottawa (11-8-2). Liam Herbst made 21 saves for the win.Brendan Lemieux had both of Barries (10-10-2) goals.
http://www.cheapbengalsjerseysonline.co ... sey-online. James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said. . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey.NASHVILLE -- Florida coach Billy Donovan knows his newly top-ranked Gators are an even bigger target for opponents. They just keep finding ways to finish off victories. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, and Florida, playing its first game at No. 1, held off Vanderbilt 57-54 on Tuesday night to clinch at least a share of its second straight Southeastern Conference title and seventh overall. The Gators are 13-2 in games decided by single digits after losing all six last season, and Donovan said their margin for error is not very big. "Were not an overly talented team, were just not," Donovan said. "And what these guys have done up to this point in time it really has been pretty remarkable in my opinion. Theyve done a really good job. ... But I think sometimes when you see a team with a high ranking you think dominance, you think they just blow everybody out. Thats not what we are or who we are." Patric Young added 12 points for the Gators (26-2, 15-0 SEC), who continued the best season in school history by winning their 20th straight game, and they will have a chance to claim their third SEC title in four years all to themselves with a win against LSU on Saturday. "Humbling to know that we can come from where we were not being able to do it last year and be able to finish out these close games this year," Young said. The Commodores (15-12, 7-8) beat Florida 83-70 the last time the Gators came into Memorial Gym ranked No. 1, on Feb. 17, 2007. Coach Kevin Stallings only has seven healthy scholarship players right now, and they proved no match for Floridas smothering defence and much deeper bench. "We did a good job, but thats why theyre the No. 1 team in the country," Stallings said. "Theyve got weapons. They throw it to the open guy, and that guy usually delivers. Thats why theyve lost two games." The Commodores sure made it interesting. Kyle Fuller missed a tying 3 in the final seconds when Luke Kornet was guarded closely by Young, and Dai-Jon Parker missed a putback attempt. "Coach drew up a play for Luke to run a flare screen, but when he got it Patric was kind of on him," said Fuller, who scored the final seven points for Vandy. "When I got it I thought I creatted enough space, but when it left my hand it just didnt feel right.dddddddddddd" Rod Odom scored 12 points and Parker added 11 as Vanderbilt outshot Florida 48.8 per cent (20 of 41) to 40.4 per cent (21 of 52). The Commodores hit four of eight 3-point attempts in the second half to stay close. The Commodores came in 8-16 all-time against top-ranked teams tapping into what they like to call Memorial magic in Nashville. The old gym wasnt sold out Tuesday night, but fans certainly were as loud as they have been all season trying to urge Vanderbilt to an improbable upset. Florida led 32-25 at halftime and pushed that out to 53-45 only to see Vanderbilt rally each time. Fullers three-point play with 3:16 remaining made it 53-50. Finney-Smith hit a free throw, then Vanderbilt forced a shot clock violation when Wilbekins desperate shot from long range banked off the backboard and rim. Fuller made two free throws with a minute left. Finney-Smith got the ball wide open and knocked down a 3 with 30.6 seconds to go for the clinching basket. Finney-Smith had been in a slump, scoring in double digits only once in the past 11 games. "I just shot the ball with confidence," Finney-Smith said. "Usually, I throw it in for Patric, but the forward was holding for Pat so I could replace, we did a roll and replace, and I was wide open for 3." Fuller answered with a driving layup. Wilbekin dribbled away precious seconds before being fouled only to miss the front end of a 1-and-1. Vanderbilt took a timeout to set up a tying shot but couldnt connect allowing Florida to avoid overtime. Florida outrebounded Vanderbilt 32-26 and had a 13-1 scoring edge in second-chance points. The Gators bench also outscored the Commodores 25-11. The Gators forced 11 of Vanderbilts 16 turnovers in the first half. Even as the Gators swarmed Vanderbilt defensively, pressing early and often, they couldnt shut down the Commodores. Florida scored 13 straight points to take the lead for good in the first half. Wilbekins jumper tied it up, then Casey Prather stole the ball and dunked to put Florida ahead to stay at 13-11 with 11:52 to go. Michael Frazier hit consecutive 3s to cap the spurt and put the Gators up 22-11 and 32-25 at halftime. ' ' '
