Chatecke » their playoff cushion all but evaporat

PLANCHER-LES-MINES, France -- Italys Vincenzo Nibali stamped his dominance on the Tour de France by winning Stage 10 in the Vosges mountains on Monday -- shortly after his biggest rival for the title, two-time champion Alberto Contador, crashed out with a fractured shin after a high-speed spill. Nibali, the Astana team leader, also regained the overall race lead from Frances Tony Gallopin -- who had taken the leaders yellow jersey off him a day earlier -- in the 161.5-kilometre trek from the eastern city of Mulhouse to a super-steep uphill finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. With a final burst of speed in the last two kilometres, Nibali overtook breakaway rider Joaquim Rodriguez. The Spaniard, heaving hard as Nibali overtook him, caught back up briefly but then the Italian accelerated brutally with 700 metres to go. By the end, Nibali crossed 15 seconds ahead of Frances Thibault Pinot in second and Spains Alejandro Valverde in third, a further five seconds behind. The Italian recovers the yellow jersey that he wore for seven days after he won the Tours second stage in the hills of Yorkshire in northern England. "My legs felt good. I knew the last three kilometres were the toughest, and thats when I accelerated," said Nibali, sucking his thumb in a tribute to his young daughter as he finished. "I thought Rodriguez would follow but he seemed to have trouble." With Contador out, Nibali is now the favourite to win his first Tour. He has won the Italian Giro and the Spanish Vuelta -- cyclings other "Grand Tours" along with the French race. Overall, he leads Richie Porte of Australia by nearly 2 minutes, 23 seconds, and Valverde, who is third, 2:47 back. A string of crash injuries has meant that the Tour will have a first-time winner this year. The departure of Contador, a 31-year-old Spaniard with Tinkoff-Saxo Bank, follows that of defending champion Chris Froome of Britain who crashed out in the fifth stage. Before the race began, they were considered the top two favourites. Andy Schleck, the 2010 Tour winner, dropped out before Stage 4 following a crash injury a day earlier, though the Luxembourg rider said before the race that he wasnt in good enough shape to contend this year. According to his spokesman, Contador said he wasnt exactly sure what caused the crash -- which happened while he was speeding downhill at over 70 kph about halfway through the stage. Contador began the stage in ninth place overall -- 4 minutes, 8 seconds back of Gallopin. "He explained to me just a few minutes ago that he (hit) a stone or a hole in the road or something -- and he crashed," Contador spokesman Jacinto Vidarte told The Associated Press by phone during the stage. "He couldnt do anything about it." TV images showed thick streams of blood pouring from Contadors right knee after the crash, his hip was scraped up, and the back of his jersey torn. Team director Bjarne Riis rushed over and bandaged the knee. Philippe Mauduit, a team sporting director, said initial X-rays showed that a Contador had a fractured shin. Contador then sat back down on the grass bank and changed his left shoe as riders weaved through the narrow gap between him and his bicycle. After several minutes, he got back in the saddle of a new bike, and three teammates who had dropped back escorted him to try to make up lost time as the peloton pulled away up the Col du Platzerwaswel mountain pass. The Spaniard rode for about another half-hour, clearly in pain, and finally stopped, got off, wiped his eyes and climbed into a team car. Nibali said he was riding next to Contador, and almost went down himself. "I feared that the Tour might be over for me too," the Italian said. "There were a lot of risks today, and Im really sorry for Alberto Contador. I was right behind him and luckily I was able to avoid him. It was on a descent. The road wasnt in great condition. "I dont know what happened, but it was just incredible," said Nibali. "He fell right in front of me and was rolling on the floor. We must have been going about 60 kilometres per hour." There were crashes elsewhere. Italian rider Michele Scarponi -- Nibalis Astana teammate -- sustained a heavy crash coming down from the penultimate climb up to Col des Chevreres. He misjudged a turn and thudded into a protective crash barrier, flipping over his bike and colliding with an adult spectator who was standing up. Scarponi was able to continue riding. British rider Geraint Thomas also crashed near the end and continued riding with blood pouring out of his left elbow. The stage featured four steep Category 1 climbs. The last section of the final ascent up to Belles Filles featured a punishing 20 per cent gradient which, as expected, shook up the pack and gave a clearer indication of contenders for overall victory of the three-week race on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 27. The race has its first rest day on Tuesday before resuming with a slightly hilly 187.5-kilometre route from Besancon to Oyonnax in eastern France on Wednesday. Stage 11 will feature four moderate climbs toward the end. ------ Eds: AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Plancher-les-Mines, France, contributed to this report. Greg Little Youth Jersey . PETERSBURG, Florida – Its been almost seven years since the Blue Jays last won a series at Tropicana Field. Curtis Samuel Womens Jersey . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panther...el-blue-jersey/. After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. Sam Mills Youth Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman is a finalist to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State, his agent said Monday. Jordan Scarlett Womens Jersey . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit.Staring down a six-game stretch heading into the Olympic break, the Maple Leafs gathered as a group and discussed the importance of yielding as many points as possible out of a pair of match-ups with the Panthers and Lightning as well as games against the Senators and Canucks. Already with four wins out of five, a victory on Saturday night against Vancouver would make it mission accomplished. "We want to end this part of the year off on a winning note," said Dion Phaneuf after the team took part in an off-ice workout on Friday. "We talked about it two weeks ago, how we wanted to get as many points as possible to set ourselves up going into the break in a good position." Despite the Leafs rolling to a 10-2-1 record in their last 13 games, a playoff position is still far from secured though. On Jan. 12, the day they beat the Devils 3-2 in a shootout to begin this impressive stretch, the Leafs sat two points out of a Wild Card spot. As of Feb. 7, they sit with a five-point Wild Card cushion and have gained ten points on the Montreal Canadiens to draw even at 68 points. Though still with 23 games remaining, Toronto is nowhere close to a position where they can ease up on their effort. "I dont think any team wants to give away any points," said Carl Gunnarsson. "Were in kind of a tight spot too. We really need the points." So too do the Canucks who have struggled mightily of late, losing six straight games and posting a dismal 4-12-2 record since the turn of the calendar to see their six-point Wild Card cushion evaporate to just one. That doesnt, however, mean the Leafs are taking anything for granted. "When youre playing a team that hasnt had as much success as theyd like, theyre going to want to end their pre-Olympic break on thee right note," Phaneuf said.dddddddddddd"Were expecting a push out of them." How hard the Canucks can push though is the question, since they are missing Henrik Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev, Andrew Alberts, Mike Santorelli and Yannick Weber to various injuries and ailments. "Quite honestly, Ive never been through so many injuries at one time in all the years that Ive coached," said head coach John Tortorella after putting his team through practice at the MasterCard Center on Friday. "I dont want to paint this as Woe is me and were getting all the bad breaks, we have to find a way to get out of it. I think we have in the past three games regained our structure and hopefully itll get things going our way tomorrow." Outscored 23-10 during their six-game skid, an inspired performance from both Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo would be most welcomed by the Canucks. Sedin has not scored in 2014 and has just five assists in the 18 games he has played since the turn of the calendar. Luongo meanwhile has lost his last four starts, posting an ugly 3.50 GAA and .881 save percentage. With their playoff cushion all but evaporated, the Canucks no longer have time to slowly work their way out of this slump. They need points, and fast. "I think a win is the top priority," Luongo insisted. "I dont want to sit here and make excuses, injuries are part of every team in the NHL, and everybody goes through it. You still have to find a way to accumulate points. That being said, were missing a lot of guys but sometimes its little things and then all of a sudden it snowballs into bigger things and next thing you know, you dont realize it but youre in a six-game losing streak." ' ' '