NEWS » champions are in third place here with 71.44 points a

A look at the top contenders for overall victory in the 103rd Tour de France, which starts Saturday at Mont-Saint-Michel and concludes July 24th in Paris:---CHRIS FROOMEThe overwhelming favorite after his victories in 2013 and 2015, Chris Froome is aiming to join an elite club of just seven riders who have won cyclings biggest event at least three times.Born in Kenya and representing Britain, the 31-year-old Froome will be supported by a Sky squad that is considered the sports best.Froome enters in top form, having won the Criterium du Dauphine warmup race -- just as he did before his two Tour victories.With Lance Armstrong having been stripped of his seven consecutive titles, Froome can become the first man to win consecutive Tours since Miguel Indurain took the last of his five victories in 1995.While often criticized as an ugly rider for his high-cadence seated technique on climbs, Froomes frenetic pace is often unbeatable once the road tilts uphill.Hes also an able time trialer, although in 2014 his weaknesses on cobblestones, technical descents and wet roads were exposed.---NAIRO QUINTANAA pure climber and a two-time runner-up at the Tour, Nairo Quintana is looking to make his breakthrough in the Grande Boucle.Having finished second to Froome on his Tour debut in 2013 at the age of 23, Quintana won the Giro dItalia in 2014 and returned to the Tour in 2015, only to finish second to Froome again.Small and light at about 130 pounds (less than 60 kilograms), Quintana developed his technique while cycling to school in the Colombian town of Combita, which has an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters (10,000 feet).Riding for the Movistar team, Quintana will have his eye on the penultimate stage, which ends in Morzine and is the final mountainous leg before the mostly ceremonial finish in Paris.Fellow Colombian greats Luis Herrera, Fabio Parra and Santiago Botero posted wins in Morzine in 1985, 1988 and 2000, respectively. And Quintanas first WorldTour victory came in the Alpine town during the 2012 Criterium du Dauphine.---ALBERTO CONTADORAt 33, this could be Alberto Contadors last chance to take a third Tour victory.Last year, the Spaniard with the Tinkoff team made a declared attempt to follow up his Giro victory with a Tour triumph and finished only fifth, acknowledging that he ran out of steam.This year, Contador has built his entire season around the Tour, finishing fifth in the Dauphine, 35 seconds behind Froome, and winning the Tours of Catalunya and Basque Country.One of six riders to have won all three Grand Tours, Contadors record includes two Tour de France wins (2007, 2009), two Giro wins (2008, 2015) and three Spanish Vuelta wins (2008, 2012, 2014).Contador once seemed destined to dominate cycling. But a failed doping test at the 2010 race for the fat-burning, muscle-building drug clenbuterol punctured his progression. Stripped of his first-place finish that year, Contador has not won the Tour again.Nicknamed El Pistolero, Contador likes to celebrate his wins with a mock-gun salute using his right thumb and index finger. But after the November terrorist attacks in France, Contador suggested he might abandon the salute at the Tour.---RICHIE PORTE AND TEJAY VAN GARDERENAustralian standout Richie Porte and top American rider Tejay van Garderen are joint co-captains of the BMC team.Previously with Sky, the 31-year-old Porte was the top support rider for both of Froomes Tour wins, and for Bradley Wiggins yellow jersey ride in 2012. Now he has a chance to challenge Froome.First, though, Porte may have to battle Van Garderen for leadership within BMC.The 27-year-old Van Garderen was in third place when he had to abandon last years race in tears due to illness during Stage 17.---ROMAIN BARDET AND THIBAUT PINOTRomain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot represent the best chance to give France its first home winner since Bernard Hinaults fifth and final win in 1985.Riding for the AG2R La Mondiale team, Bardet finished second behind Froome in the Dauphine.FDJ rider Pinot, who placed third in the 2014 Tour, has shown improved time trial performance this season.---FABIO ARU AND VINCENZO NIBALIAt 25, Fabio Aru is attempting to win the Tour on his race debut.A climbing specialist, Aru won the Spanish Vuelta last year and has also achieved two podium results at the Giro in his short but successful career.Aru is expecting to be paced through the mountains by fellow Italian Vincenzo Nibali on the deep Astana team.Fresh off a dramatic Giro win where he took the pink jersey on the penultimate stage, Nibali is meant to use the Tour as preparation for the Olympics.But having won the Tour in 2014, Nibali could take over team leadership if Aru struggles.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap Nike Shoes Online .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Wholesale Nike Shox . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. http://www.cheapnikeshoxfreeshipping.com/ . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Clearance Nike Shox .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Cheap Nike Shox Shoes In China- Wholesale . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. MARSEILLE, France -- Yuzuru Hanyu took the lead with an electrifying performance in the short program on Thursday to stay on course for a fourth straight Grand Prix Final figure skating title.In perfect rhythm to the funky sounds of Lets Go Crazy by Prince, the Olympic champion brought the crowd to its feet at the Palais Omnisport, as he earned his season-best score of 106.53.This program cant be completed without the audience, Hanyu said through a Japanese translator. When I got out on the ice this morning I felt really comfortable. I feel like my body was well rested.Two-time former champion Patrick Chan of Canada was second, and defending two-time world champion Javier Fernandez was third after sloppy errors.Although Hanyu had to slightly correct a landing on his opening quad loop, he was clean on his quad salchow and triple toe loop. Even coach Brian Orser was dancing along to the routine beside the rink as the crowd got increasingly louder.Hanyu was probably the only one not totally impressed.My skating skill can still be improved and I can improve my jumps, he said.Chan, a three-time world champion, put some pressure on him with his season-best score of 99.76.I felt pretty happy about todays performance, said Chan, also a two-time Olympic silver medalist. Its my first good short program internationally for a long time.But Fernandezs bid to upstage Hanyu at the Final after finishing runner-up in the past two years looks like a long shot.The Spaniard just about recovered from a fall on his quad salchow and fell again on his flying sit spin to score 91.76.I wasnt happy for sure, more than one mistake this time, he said. We just have to go back to practice to find out what is going on with this short program. When I go to competition there are always mistakes. I just have to keep myself strong for the free program on Saturday.A comeback has precedence: At the worlds in April, he clawed back a considerable deficit on Hanyu to win.The Americans lagged behind, Nathan Chen in fifth place and Adam Rippon in sixth.I was at the Final last year as a junior skater, he said. Its a huge step for me and its cool to be competing with these top-level skaterss.dddddddddddd Im excited.Rippon admitted to being nervous.Its great to be here. Its a bonus, he said. I want to put out good performances. I got the crowd on their feet today, so thats what my main goal was. Im trying the least amount of quads, so my focus is to skate well overall.Russians Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov nailed all of their jumps for a season-best 78.60 to lead the pairs.We have managed to skate at the same level we trained for, Morozov said. Hopefully we can keep that trend going into the free program.They are ahead of Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao, who also scored a season best, 75.34. The Chinese pair is working well in its first season, having won the Cup of China in Beijing last month.Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford have a lot to do to win back the title they lost to Russians Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov last year. Duhamel and Radford were recent winners at the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan, but the two-time world champions are in third place here with 71.44 points after Duhamel made a couple of errors.She put one hand on the ice landing slightly awkwardly on a triple lutz, and fell over backward on the throw triple axel.Well, it wasnt the way I wanted to have my birthday go, said Meagan Duhamel, who turned 31 Thursday.Radford was also dejected.Were trying some really difficult elements, the triple Lutz and the throw triple axel, he said. Its frustrating because they were really good in practice, but theyre not transferring into the performance and today they werent even close. Were going to have to review this when we get home.It proved to be a tricky night for the Canadians, with Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau in last place with 60.86. They fell once each. Bilodeau fell back on the triple salchow, and Seguin tumbled forward on the throw triple lutz.Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert of Russia skated with elegance to the melancholic sound of Georgi Sviridovs Snowstorm but a lack of technical difficulty put them in fifth (65.79) behind Chinas Peng Cheng and Jin Yang (70.84). ' ' 'ards. ' ' '