/[/url] . The mixed zone is not a place to make frien

SAINT-NAZAIRE, France -- Chris Froomes Sky team manager vows the star rider will never be left exposed again in his bid to win the Tour de France for the first time. Froome successfully defended the yellow jersey on a ferociously tough mountain stage on Sunday and will wear it when the race resumes for Stage 10 on Tuesday following a rest day. The fact Froome had to defend the jersey alone on Sundays ninth stage -- because all of his teammates had been left behind -- offers hope to rivals like two-time champion Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck that Sky may be vulnerable. If they can isolate Froome again further on in the race, he will be more tired and may not be able to respond. "Weve learnt some lessons, valuable lessons, to take into the rest of the race," Sky manager Dave Brailsford said Monday. "But Im not going to spell it out. Im not going to go into the details of the changes were going to make." Froomes key teammate is Richie Porte, a 28-year-old Australian who won the Paris-Nice stage race in March. He was unable to help Froome on Stage 9 and badly wants to make amends. "It was absolute war," he said. "Am I going to have another bad day like that? I hope not." Contador, the Tour winner in 2007 and 09 who was stripped of his title the following year for doping, is already looking ahead to getting another crack at Froome in the mountains on Sunday. "I will try and do something," Contador said. "If you dont think you can succeed then you never will. So we have to take a few risks." Sundays 15th stage is the next big climbing trek and features a 20.8-kilometre (12.9-mile) ascent up to Mont Ventoux. A few days later, riders face three straight days of mountain torture in the high Alps. "Throughout my career Ive found my best form in the third week," the 30-year-old Contador said. The Spaniard takes heart from winning the Spanish Vuelta last year, a race in which Froome finished about 10 minutes behind in fourth overall. "People can speculate and look at my previous performances however they like, but I look at that Vuelta in that I was running on fumes. I was in survival mode," Froome said. "If people want to make comparisons thats up to them, but I dont feel I was at my best." Rather than looking back, Contador should focus on the immediate future -- notably Wednesdays time trial. "Its a very flat time trial and that is a disadvantage for me," Contador said about the 33-kilometre (20.5-mile) circuit. Froome finished second to Tour winner Bradley Wiggins in the time trial last year and is considerably faster than Contador, who may be able to limit the time gaps this time because the dash from Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel is relatively short. Given the dominant way Froome is riding, he can take a big step toward winning the Tour if he extends his overall advantage after the time trial. Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde is 1 minute, 25 seconds behind Froome. Contador is 1:51 behind in sixth, while Schleck is four minutes back in 15th place, and Evans is 4:36 adrift in 16th. None of them will want to look in the history books. Valverde but was a massive 7:20 slower than Froome in last years 53.5-kilometre (33.2-mile) time trial; Evans was 4:28 slower. They again face the prospect of losing significant time to Froome. This is the 100th edition of the Tour and also the first since Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven straight titles from 1999-2005 for serial doping. Froome has said twice so far during the race that he is riding clean. Contador again repeated that he has never doped, even though he tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol. "Naturally people are going to ask questions in cycling," Froome said. "Whenever there are great performances they have been linked to doping in the past, so naturally now were bearing the brunt of a lot of those questions." Contador, who lost his 2010 title to Schleck, has always denied doping and said: "You can believe what you want. But the only thing that I can tell you is that I have always practiced cycling clean." Froome would not be drawn on Contadors comment, other than saying: "there definitely do need to be questions asked about performances in the past." Tuesdays stage is a 197-kilometre (122-mile) route from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo and is made for sprinters.Nike Schuhe Schweiz Outlet . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Schuhe Schweiz Store . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. http://www.schuheschweiz.ch/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Nike Schuhe Schweiz . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Schuhe Schweiz Online . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions.Team Envy took down Team Liquid, 3-0, in the first round of the North American Regional Finals. Team Envy will move on to the second round to face up against Cloud9 (a rematch, it seems, of their playoffs quarterfinals set), while Team Liquid is eliminated from World Championship contention.Team Liquids lane phase and early game were stronger and relatively effective in the first two games, but that was the end of the good news for this lineup. The team struggled with its transition to the midgame and in decision-making. It was death by passive play; when Team Envy took down objectives or split pushed, Teamm Liquid played a reactionary style, gathering to contest rather than trading or pushing other lanes.ddddddddddddTeam Envy promised a sweep and it was an easy road for the upstart team. Shin Seraph Woo-yeong was the major damage-dealer and split pusher for Team Envy. He was the focal point of the offense and the most valuable core throughout the series. That being said, everyone on Team Envy was cohesive and played effectively and efficiently to finish the set in speedy fashion. ' ' '