Stars und Sternchen! » und is Montreal tackle David Fo

PARIS -- Chris Froome has a chance to prove over the next three weeks what some suspected in 2012 -- that he could have won last years Tour de France if he hadnt had to give way for his teammate, Bradley Wiggins. Now Wiggins is out injured and that makes the Kenyan-born Briton the favourite to triumph on a particularly mountainous route this year, one that should suit his climbing skills. The 100th edition of the Tour begins Saturday in Corsica -- Frances "Island of Beauty" in the Mediterranean -- the first time cyclings greatest race has set wheel to road in the land of Napoleons birthplace. Another key plotline: the shadow of Lance Armstrong. This the first Tour since he was stripped of his record seven victories for doping, which he finally admitted after years of denials following a detailed report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. While Armstrong will have no involvement in this years race, fans and media will have a close eye on performance-enhancing drug use in the peloton. That 198-rider peloton, or pack, is to cover 3,479 kilometres (2,162 miles) over three weeks -- 21 stages and two rest days -- before an unusual nighttime finish July 21 on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The race spends three days on Corsicas winding, hilly roads then begins a counterclockwise run through mainland France along the Mediterranean, into the Pyrenees mountains, then up to Brittany and the fabled Mont-Saint-Michel island citadel before a slashing jaunt southeastward toward the Alps before entering the capital. Long before they knew Wiggins would be out, race organizers gave relatively short shrift to the time trial -- a race-against the clock in which last years champ excels. Theres no opening-day time-trial. The team time-trial returns to the Tour in Stage 4. Two individual time-trials in Stage 11 (33 km, 20.5 miles) and Stage 17 (32 km; 19.8 miles) will count, but the latter one comes before three days in the Alps, which may have more impact on the race outcome. Froome, the 28-year-old Team Sky leader, has ridden in two other Tours. His dazzling start to the season -- winning four of the five races he started -- and his second-place finish behind his British compatriot last year has put him on the top rung of Tour favourites. Last year, Froome was a dutiful, if not always respectful, sidekick to Wiggins. Froome injected drama into the race -- and fanned talk of rivalry -- after he repeatedly outperformed Wiggins in the mountains. At one point, he even gestured at his Team Sky leader to catch up. At the time, Wiggins acknowledged Froome had "talent," but also didnt know what it was like to feel the pressure of being the favourite. Now is Froomes chance, and so far he has seemed to manage the pressure: He won the Tour of Oman, the Criterium International, the Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine this year. His only loss this season? Second place in the Tirreno-Adriatico. Two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador is seen as Froomes most likely challenger. The Spaniards career hit a speed bump in 2010 when he tested positive for the banned fat-burning, muscle-building drug clenbuterol at the Tour -- landing him a ban that forced him to sit out last years race. He hasnt yet revived the fear and admiration that his sharp uphill accelerations once inspired. American Tejay Van Garderen, who was a support rider for BMC leader Cadel Evans of Australia last year, will be among the rising stars to watch. The 24-year-old took home the white jersey awarded to the Tours best young rider last year. The question now is whether 2011 Tour champion Evans, now 36, will be in contention enough for Van Garderen to stay in a support role: If not, he could be cut loose. Froome, Contador and Van Garderen are potential contenders for the overall, general classification -- or GC -- victory because they fare well at both mountain-climbing and time trials, the two pillars of todays stage-race competitions. Other would-be contenders include Evans, Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Belgium, a two-time fourth place finisher, Ryder Hesjedal of Canada -- who crashed out last year -- and Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain. The route is among the most mountainous in recent years. Stage 15 on July 14 -- Frances national Bastille Day holiday -- features an uphill finish on the barren Mont Ventoux in Provence. The years "Queen Stage" comes four days later in Stage 18, with not one but two runs up the famed Alpe-dHuez. Froome said Tour planners were "bordering on sadistic" with the selection of the Alpe dHuez stage. Before then, race contenders must emerge unscathed and in contention after the Pyrenees -- including an uphill finish at Ax-3-Domaines ski station in Stage 8 -- and avoid crashes that often bedevil the flat stages. Look for nervous, jostling, and adrenaline-fueled finishes on those days, when sprinters will shine. This years sprinter crop is among the best among recent Tours, headlined by British superstar Mark Cavendish. The 28-year-old native of the Isle of Man, garnering him the "Manx Missile" moniker among fellow Britons and cycling buffs, is the best sprinter of his generation. Cavendish already has 23 Tour stage victories, putting him fourth on the all-time list. Even as cycling tries to get past the doping legacy embodied by the Armstrong saga, the plague of drugs cheats continues. In May, the Italian Giro was marred by three doping cases. Danilo di Luca, who won that race in 2007, tested positive for banned blood booster EPO -- long the designer drug for riders. Fellow Italian Mauro Santambrogio, who won a stage this year, also tested positive for EPO. Frances Sylvain Georges tested positive for Heptaminol, a banned stimulant. Froome said the Armstrong revelations were "a big hit" to both fans and riders, who are now "all being painted with the same brush" -- even if the sport is among the groundbreakers when it comes to anti-doping controls. "I am confident in the testing thats in place," Froome said. "Its up to us to use this as an opportunity to show that the sport has changed and that this is a completely different cycling to that (Armstrong) era." Jim Brown Youth Jersey .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win. Sheldrick Redwine Youth Jersey . -- A.J. Burnett was happy to escape from New York. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com/Youth-Odell-Beckham-Jr-Elite-Jersey/ . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. Joe Thomas Browns Jersey . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Sheldrick Redwine Womens Jersey . -- Jake Paterson made 39 saves as the Saginaw Spirit halted the Guelph Storms seven-game win streak with a 6-3 victory on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action.TORONTO - While Ottawa Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins has entertained some offers for his first overall pick in the CFL draft, he says theres a "relatively good chance" hell make the pick Tuesday night. "There has been some (interest) but not a whole lot," Desjardins said Monday. Desjardins says he knows who he wants to take first overall but is keeping it to himself. One player the Redblacks wont use the top pick on is McGill tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, the top-ranked CIS prospect for the draft who was selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft Saturday by the Kansas City Chiefs. "As much as he wouldve been a guy that we probably wouldve selected, now that he has a commitment from an NFL team theres no reason for us to go in that direction," Desjardins said. The popular sentiment is if Desjardins keeps the No. 1 pick, hell use it on Laval centre Pierre Lavertu. The six-foot-three, 300-pound Lavertu finished third in the CFL scouting bureaus season-ending top-15 rankings, and while he might not have the most upside and potential, Lavertu is generally regarded as one of the most pro-ready prospects in the draft. Drafting Lavertu first overall would address a need for Ottawa after the off-season retirement of veteran Marwan Hage, whom the Redblacks selected in the CFL expansion draft in December from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. "Offensive line is a need, no doubt," Desjardins said. "But that doesnt necessarily mean 100 per cent thats what well do. "Theres a good chance but everybody talks about a certain number of guys, whether its those two or three other top prospects. Just because theyre being written about and spoken about that doesnt mean we have them graded the same way." For the first time ever, the CFL draft will be held at night, with the first round broadcast live on TSN. That could give teams more time to talk trade with Desjardins, although the Redblacks GM isnt anticipating a lot of last-minute offers. "Maybe a little bit but I wouldnt think that dynamic would change," he said. Toronto Argonauts GM Jim Barker said the extra time could prompt some action. "Im sure from early in the morning there will be people calling and youll sit there and probably want to do something," he said. "It will make for a long day . . . but I think its kind of cool were doing it in the evening." If the Redblacks are coveting Lavertu, they might be well advised to take him with the early selection because the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have the No. 2 selection, are said to be very interested in the Laval centre. So much so that if Ottawa does take Lavertu first overall, the Bombers would then reportedly be willing to deal the second pick to acquire some assets while moving down in the first round and selecting a player who could still help them.dddddddddddd A potential trade partner could be the B.C. Lions, who are said to like Simon Fraser centre Matthias Goossen, the CFL scouting bureaus fifth-ranked prospect. Barker says Lavertu and Goossen are definite players of interest. "I think theres a lot of teams in this league looking for a centre . . . and theres a couple of them, he (Lavertu) and Goossen," Barker said. "Those are guys who are being looked at by all the teams. "I wouldnt say he (Lavertu) is the top prospect, hes one of the top prospects, theres no doubt about that. Hes a tough guy coming out of a good program." Hamilton could be another team on the lookout for a centre after losing Hage in the expansion draft. But the Ticats, who have the final first-round pick at No. 9 overall, would have to deal with either Ottawa or Winnipeg to be assured a shot at either Lavertu or Goossen. All nine teams will make first-round selections Tuesday night. The Edmonton Eskimos will select third overall, followed by the Montreal Alouettes. B.C. is at No. 5, with Toronto, the Calgary Stampeders and Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders selecting before Hamilton completes the opening round. Another offensive lineman expected to go early in the first round is Montreal tackle David Foucault. The towering six-foot-eight, 300-pound Foucault finished behind Duvernay-Tardif in the final top-15 list and although hell attend the Carolina Panthers mini camp this week, it wont be with the security of having signed an NFL contract. What makes Foucault a top prospect is much more than just his sheer size. Many CFL scouts believe he has the potential to develop into a dominant left tackle, a key spot on any offensive line. Should Edmonton pass on Foucault, its very likely Montreal will take him with the fourth selection. Another first-round prospect is Concordia Stingers defensive lineman Quinn Smith, who finished ranked fourth on the top-15 list following an impressive showing at the CFL combine. The six-foot-two, 305-pound Toronto native was solid on both sides of the football. Last week, Smith announced he had tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanozolol prior the combine. If Smiths B sample also tests positive, hell receive a two-year ban from the CIS, thus ending his college career. But in the CFL, Smith would be deemed a first-time offender of its drug policy and be subjected to mandat