Freischaltung » warm-ups before continuing.I

SAINT-LO, France -- Featuring two individual time trials and a lot of mountains, the Tour de France route suits titleholder Chris Froome very well. The British allrounder, however, believes pure climbing specialists will excel in the heat of the French summer.Its a route that is very much a climbers route, Froome told The Associated Press in a TV interview ahead of the Tour starting at Mont Saint-Michel on Saturday. Even though we have two time trials, they are very hilly time trials.Those two stages take place in the second half of the 3,519-kilometer three-week race. The first one, on Stage 13, is on 37.5 kilometers of rolling terrain in the Ardeche region, and comes a day after the daunting ascent of Mont Ventoux, where Froome made his mark in 2013 for his first Tour triumph.The second time trial, in the Alps, will be the Tours first mountain time trial since the 2004 ascent of lAlpe dHuez.The guys who climb well should go right in them, Froome said.Careful of maintaining a sense of suspense until the very end of the race, Tour organizers have chiseled a well-balanced route with many opportunities for Froomes main rivals, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, and Fabio Aru, as well as the French duo of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet.The race features 28 mountain passes and four very hard stages in four days in the final week, where the trio of main contenders is expected to be among the leaders and on the attack.In 2013 and 2015, Froome lost time to Quintana in the closing mountain stages. But he has slightly changed his schedule this year in order to maintain his peak longer, especially as he will be competing in the road race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.If that different approach bears fruit, Froome should be in a better shape come the third week of the Tour.Hes coming up to top form a bit later, and hell try to hold onto that through to the Olympics and the second part of the season, Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford said. He is in great shape.In his quest to become just the eighth rider to win three Tours, Froome will be helped by the strongest team of the field. Team Sky features Sergio Henao, Mikel Landa, Woet Poels, and Geraint Thomas, who will be key assets during the nine mountain stages.Weve got a fantastic team. Ive got a lot of confidence in my teammates, Froome said at his team hotel in Normandy. I feel privileged to be in a position to be leading a lineup of guys like that. Guys who can be leaders in their own right have come here to support me. Its something that gives me a lot of confidence coming into the Tour de France.---Associated Press writer Hernan Munoz Ratto contributed to this report. Nike Schoenen Outlet Nederland . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Nike Schoenen Kopen Goedkoop . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. http://www.nikeschoenenoutletnederland.com/ . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Nike Schoenen Online Goedkoop . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. Nike Schoenen Online Kopen . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. BOSTON -- Mark Trumbo gave the Baltimore Orioles another mighty home run, and Kevin Gausman took it from there.Trumbo hit his major league-leading 42nd home run, Gausman outpitched Rick Porcello over eight innings and the Orioles pulled within a game of AL East-leading Boston with a 1-0 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night.Baltimore took two of three in the series at Fenway Park and pulled a game ahead of slumping Toronto for the top AL wild card. The Blue Jays lost at home to Tampa Bay 8-1 earlier Wednesday.The guys have earned the right to play these type of games. Its a very quiet confidence, Os manager Buck Showalter said. Theyre not guys that toot their own horn. I think they kind of like when people sell them short.Gausman (8-10) and Porcello (20-4) both pitched gems and had nearly identical line scores over eight innings, except Porcello threw a hanging slider that Trumbo drove over the Green Monster on the first pitch of the second inning.It was a bad pitch and he jumped all over it, said Porcello, who lost a home start for the first time this season.Trumbos at-bat in the second was about the only time a hitter prevailed against either starter. Each finished with six strikeouts and limited a powerful offense to four hits before giving way to the bullpen in the ninth.This was a classic pitchers duel, Boston manager John Farrell said. In the second inning, you dont think theres only going to be one run on the board for both clubs combined but tip your hat to both guys.Zach Britton closed for his 43rd save.Porcello was 13-0 in home starts with one no decision entering the game. Trumbo belted the first pitch of the second inning out to left, easily clearing the Monster for his career-high 100th RBI. The one run ended up deciding the series, with another to follow next week when the Orioles host the Red Sox for four games.Were just out there competing. You dont really take into account whos done what where, Trumbo said. Whether it be at this park or another one, we still have a job to do.Meanwhile, the Yankees are hanging around behind the Os and Blue Jays in fourth place. New York comes to Boston for a four-game series trailing the Red Sox by four games.We dont anticipate anything different from here all the way out, Farrell said. This is going to be a hard-fought division right to the final game of the season. We fully embrace it. We fully exxpect it and were looking forward to the challenges ahead.ddddddddddddGREAT GAUSMANThis was Gausmans fourth scoreless outing in his past five starts and matched the longest start of his career. He threw 120 pitches and lowered his ERA to 3.43.I think Im just being a lot more consistent with all my pitches, Gausman said. Every year Ive always got better as the years gone on, but this year its kind of all clicking for me.POWERED UPBaltimore homered three times Tuesday in a 6-3 win to even the series, then clinched its fourth straight series victory with another homer by Trumbo.Hes figured some things out. Hes not as susceptible to offspeed pitches as he once was, Farrell said. Hes got as much power as anybody in the game and if you dont make your pitches, you see what he can do with it.OUCHBoston had a scare in the second when J.J. Hardy hit a hard grounder up the middle and the ball bounced off Porcellos calf to third baseman Travis Shaw. Hardy ran out the single while Porcello limped around the mound, and the game was delayed briefly to allow Porcello a few warm-ups before continuing.It got me in a good spot. If it got me in the shin it might have been a little bit tougher, Porcello said.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: OF Steve Pearce was in New York on Wednesday to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection the Orioles hope will speed his recovery from a sore right elbow. Well let it run its course and see if hes going to be available to us at some point, Showalter said.Red Sox: RHP Steven Wright (right shoulder strain) is expected to start throwing next week in Fort Myers, Florida. Farrell said the knuckleballer will need to gradually regain some arm strength and his return during the regular season is uncertain. I dont want to rule it out, but at this point its going to become a little bit more challenging with each passing day, Farrell said.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Yovani Gallardo (5-7, 5.44 ERA) starts as the Orioles are back at home for a four-game series against last-place Tampa Bay. LHP Blake Snell (5-8, 3.62) starts for the Rays.Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-7, 4.70) gets the start Thursday as Boston opens a four-game series against the New York Yankees. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (13-4, 3.04) is up in the visiting Yankees rotation. ' ' '