Aktuelles » or the Pirates in his first start off the disabled li

Throughout the Tour de France, Australian professional cyclist Richie Porte will be checking in. Here is his first entry, as told to ESPN contributor Rupert Guinness:Stage 1: Mont Saint Michel to Utah BeachSeeing Alberto Contador sitting in the gutter by the side of the road after he crashed in the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday -- and every rider who fell in the opening day of racing -- showcased what is at stake after having spent so much time preparing for the race.The stage, from Mont Saint Michel to Utah Beach in Normandy, was sketchy for the peloton. But thats how it often is on the first day of a Tour that has a road stage like Saturdays. Id prefer it started with a prologue time trial. That would have created some order before the first road stage as the winners team could control the race a bit to defend the yellow jersey.When the Tour starts with a road stage that is raced on narrow roads with plenty of roundabouts, the odds of there being a crash rise so quickly. With the cross winds blowing, there was also going to be some sort of drama.So ... after seeing Alberto down, I wondered, Why do we race on roads like that? ... [We] come into that corner [from a roundabout] so fast when there is hardly any warning, if any at all.I hate to say it, but I believe Sundays second stage from Saint L? to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin will be much of the same. Any Tour start is nerve-racking, but it is not made any easier by some of the roads we are using. And Sunday will be on narrow roads with road furniture, which makes it quite dangerous. It even feels like its a luck thing ... to come out of this first week without any major issues will require a lot of that.What happened to Alberto showed what price it might take. Fortunately, it seems he will be OK; but it is not good to see anyones Tour compromised by an accident. It was the same on Saturday for my teammate Brent Brookwalter and Luke Rowe (Sky), who also came down in the same crash as Albertos.Crashes aside, for the sprint finish, won by Briton Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), I was in quite good position. I was up there when the crash occurred and was lucky to avoid it.It was a good end for me, even though it might not go down as one of the most memorable, unless you are Cavendish with 27 stage wins in his Tour career.It was still quite a hard stage. The pace was on, and then, when we got into the cross-wind section, a few teams tried to split up the peloton. In such a situation, you are always covering breaks. Its one of those nervous stages where you concentrate the whole time. Normally, the good art of that is you sleep well, a great thing on any grand tour.But it is still great to have the stage behind us. It at least feels the Tour has finally started.I have to be honest ... when you are sitting around in your hotel room for days before the Tour starts, the mind does wander ... where you are at, where your form is at. You start to ask all the questions. The show that is the Tour can get to a rider. But I believe that when you are at your best when you to try to focus on the race as if it was just another one of the lead-up races.All the races we do are super hard and super stressful. Sure, at the Tour, seeing the massive crowds makes it that bit more dangerous. It becomes harder to move up because you dont really want to move too much on the sides because there are people everywhere. But then, without the people on the roads, where would the Tour be today? That the crowds can be so close to the race -- and the rider -- still makes the sport, let alone Tour, unique.Having a passionate crowd that loves cycling is great, as I believe the next weeks will show. Wilt Chamberlain Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Andris Biedrins Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. https://www.cheapwarriors.com/379o-david-west-jersey-warriors.html . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Alec Burks Jersey . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Glenn Robinson III Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds.SEATTLE -- Another key hit by Jordy Mercer gave the Pittsburgh Pirates their season-high sixth straight win. Mercer hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth inning and the Pirates beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Wednesday. Mercer has come up big for the Pirates in several clutch situations. Hes batting .391 with runners in scoring position with a home run, six RBIs and three walks. "I guess I have a knack for coming up with big hits in big spots," Mercer said. The Pirates improved to 48-30 -- they are 18 games over .500 for the first time since 1992, their last winning season. With the victory, Pittsburgh wraps up a 7-2 road trip to Cincinnati, Anaheim and Seattle. "It was a good trip. Very good trip," manager Clint Hurdle said. Neil Walker hit a two-run homer off Felix Hernandez to put Pittsburgh ahead in the fourth. Seattle tied it in the sixth on Raul Ibanezs team-leading 18th home run, and fourth in four games. It was 2-all when Pedro Alvarez singled to lead off the ninth inning against reliever Charlie Furbush (1-4) and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Neil Walker. After a groundout by Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider was intentionally walked. Mercer followed with an RBI single off Yoervis Medina, and the Pirates added an insurance run when a wild pitch on a third strike from Medina allowed Snider to score and Starling Marte to reach first base. Mercer said he had a solid scouting report on Medina from the coaching staff and knew what to expect from the Mariners reliever. "I was just looking to see something over the plate and put a good swing on it," Mercer said. "I gained a little confidence from the previous at-bat before when I singled to right. Just let it get deep and drive it up the middle or the other way and it worked out." Mark Melancon earned his second save of the season. Mike Zunino delivered a pinch-hit single and Nick Franklin singled to put a pair of runners on with two outs in the ninth, but Kyle Seager grounded out. Vin Mazzaro (4-2) picked up the victory with two innings of scoreless relief. Hernandez bounced back to form after his worst start of the season. He blew a seven-run lead against the Los Angeles Angels in his last appearance, but struck out 11 against the Pirates. Hernandez gave up six hits and walked two. "Youve juust got to battle him.dddddddddddd Youve got to battle him and try and get his pitch count up and stay in the game so you can get him out before its the ninth inning," Hurdle said. "We were able to do that. Hes always going to be tough. He competes very, very well out there and the sequence and the stuff he has makes it a very difficult day at the plate." The Mariners squandered a chance to take the lead in the eighth. With the game even, Kendrys Morales doubled and the Pirates intentionally walked Ibanez to put a pair of runners on with one out. Mazzaro managed to escaped by striking out Justin Smoak and getting Michael Saunders to fly out. "Weve got to hit. Its time to hit," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Youre not going to win games unless you hit. They got the two-out hit. We didnt. Game over. Thats the difference." Walker hit his sixth home run, connecting with two outs. Seattle managed to get a run back in the bottom half without a hit. Ibanez reached first after swinging at a third strike wild pitch that got away from catcher Russell Martin, then Smoak hit a grounder and Mercer mishandled the throw to second, the ball deflecting off the shortstops glove. Ibanez took advantage of the Pirates defensive shift and advanced to a vacated third base on the misplay. A sacrifice fly from Saunders made it 2-1. Jeanmar Gomez turned in a fine outing for the Pirates in his first start off the disabled list. He allowed just three hits and an unearned run in five innings with five strikeouts and threw the most pitches (81) of any outing this season. "He gave us the innings we needed and got to the part of the game were hoping to get to with the lead." Hurdle said. "He was effective again -- real nice job." Ibanez tagged Justin Wilson for his ninth home run in June. NOTES: Notes: The Pirates optioned RHP Duke Welker to Triple-A Indianapolis in order to activate Gomez from the 15-day disabled list. ... Alvarez extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Hes batting .390 with four doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs over that span. ... Ibanez has just 12 hits against left-handed pitchers this season but six of the hits have been home runs. He is batting .214 with six home runs and 12 RBIs against lefties. ... Ibanez hit his ninth homer in June. ' ' '