place." Vitale also is flying in the parents of Justin Miller,

BERN, Switzerland -- As the Tour de France heads toward the Alps, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde have only a few opportunities left to try and derail Chris Froomes bid for a third title in four years.The remaining three high-mountain stages and uphill time trial should be the ideal playground for the Movistar teammates, who need to abandon their conservative approach and take all risks to make up for the big chunk of time they have lost.Quintana, runner-up to Froome in 2013 and 2015, is in fourth place overall, 2 minutes, 59 seconds behind. Valverde is 18 more seconds behind his teammate.The gaps are significant, but Quintana, a pure climber from Colombia, managed to gain time on Froome in the Alps last year.His subdued performance at the Mont Ventoux and his unimpressive time trial last week have, however, raised doubts about his ability to make a comeback.Even his team manager, Eusebio Unzue, admits Quintana is not at his best.We did not see the Nairo we know at the Mont Ventoux. Hopefully, things will return to normal in the Alps, he said.Unzue has been vainly scratching his head to find the winning formula that will allow his riders to crack Team Skys supremacy. While many observers have been struggling to understand why Quintana and Valverde have not harassed Froome with relentless attacks in the Pyrenees and the Jura mountains, Unzue says his cautious approach was right.Attacking all the time would be good for the show. But its unrealistic and not a guarantee for success, Unzue said. We need to wait for the right time, for the moment that will allow us to be efficient when we make a move.Valverde agreed with his boss, saying Quintana has to try it when he considers he can hurt his competitors.Encouraging for Movisar is that Froome has not been as dominant on the mountains as he has on previous Tours.Froome would normally use the first mountaintop finish to assert his authority on the race, something he has not been able to do this year. Instead, hes built his lead with an impressive showing against the clock combined with master tactical coups in the Peyresourde downhill and the crosswinds near Montpellier.I believe that Froome and his rivals are more or less on the same level in the mountains this year, Unzue said. In Andorra and at the Ventoux, he did not attack to create gaps, I believe that he is not as strong as he was before. The problem is more that he has a team capable of controlling the race in delicate situations.Despite claims in French newspapers that Froome has no rival this year, he is certain he will be given a hard challenge in the Alps, where he struggled with a chest infection and lost nearly two minutes to Quintana last year. As a result, he has slightly changed his preparation to be in a better shape in the final week of racing.I feel more ready for the third week than I have been previously, said Froome, who has a 1:47 lead over his closest rival, Dutch rider Bauke Mollema. Starting the season later helped, and I had a quieter run-in to the Tour. I said at the beginning of the race I wanted to be at my best in the third week and Im on track for that.Wednesdays first Alpine stage takes the peloton on a 184.5-kilometer ride to the ski resort of Finhaut-Emosson, and features a punishing 10-kilometer final climb to the finish. It will be followed by an uphill time trial and two more grueling stages in high altitude before the ceremonial finish on the Champs Elysees.I feel as if Ive been waiting for these four days, Froome said. Perhaps some other riders have, too.Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). https://www.nflcheapjerseysfreeshipping.com/ . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Dick Vitales fight against cancer is nearing a major milestone. Vitale expects to top the $10 million mark with his eighth annual celebrity gala in Sarasota, Fla., on Friday night. The event will honour former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, former Connecticut basketball coach/cancer survivor Jim Calhoun, and Kansas basketball coach Bill Self. The gala raises money for the V Foundation in honour of the late Jim Valvano. Net proceeds go to pediatric cancer research. "It should be really, really special," Vitale said in a phone interview Thursday. "It has gone way beyond my dreams." More than 70 sports celebrities are scheduled to attend, including Florida coach Billy Donovan, Indiana coach Tom Crean, Kentucky coach John Calipari, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Miami coach Jim Larranaga, Villanova coach Jay Wright and Florida State coaches Jimbo Fisher (football) and Leonard Hamilton (basketball). The guest list also includes former major leaguer Gary Sheffield, former NFL running back Ricky Watters and 2000 Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke. Vitale has a few special guests planned, too. He will have Michigan State junior forward Adreian Payne and his friend, 7-year-old Lacey Holsworth, in attendance. Holsworth has cancer and is scheduled to have a bone-marrow transplant soon.dddddddddddd She has become close with Payne over the past year and met Vitale before the Indiana-Michigan State game in February. "She just got clearance to join us," Vitale said. "I guarantee there wont be a dry eye in the place." Vitale also is flying in the parents of Justin Miller, who died April 3, less than three weeks shy of his 21st birthday and after a five-year battle with epithelioid sarcoma. Miller continued playing the drums even after having his dominant arm amputated in 2011. Vitale will present Millers parents with a grant in Justins name for $250,000. "Nothing pleases me more now," Vitale said. "Im selfish. I have five grandchildren. Im about to go watch the kids play tennis. Thats what every kid should be doing. Instead, we have so many doing chemo and radiation. Its just not fair." In total, Vitale will have 11 families of cancer survivors, including eight of the survivors, on hand at the Ritz-Carlton. Everyone there should witness a record-breaking night for the event, topping the $1.8 million raised last year and reaching the $10 million milestone over eight years. "People have been great to me," Vitale said. "Ive got goose-bumps thinking about it." ' ' '