Allgemeines » he Australian team benefit

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Canadian Svein Tuft powered Orica Green-Edge to victory in the team time trial in Belfast in the opening stage of the Giro dItalia on Friday, taking the overall leaders pink jersey on his 37th birthday. Orica, which was the overwhelming stage favourite, clocked a time of 24 minutes, 42 seconds along the 21.7-kilometre course, which was lined by more than 140,000 fans. The Australian team benefited from starting second and avoiding most of the rain that fell later. "What an amazing day, I never in my life would have imagined something like this," said Tuft, a native of Langley, B.C. "Im so proud of my team and I just cant thank them enough for that. They gave me the gift, it was really a birthday present. This team is really selfless that way. I feel really fortunate to be given that gift on my birthday." Omega Pharma-QuickStep finished second, five seconds behind Orica, beating third-place BMC by just two seconds. Cadel Evans looked strong for BMC and is one of the favourites after last years third-place finish. With defending champion Vincenzo Nibali not competing, Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana is another of the race favourites and his Movistar team finished eighth, 55 seconds behind Orica. One of his rivals, Joaquim Rodriguez, had a poor start as his Katusha team struggled throughout and only finished 19th. Rodriguez is 1 minute, 33 seconds behind Tuft and 38 seconds behind Quintana. While it has become a tradition for the first Giro stage to be held outside Italy, this is the first time that the Grande Partenza — or the Big Start — took place outside mainland Europe. Despite the wind and rain, it was a festive atmosphere in the Northern Irish city, with large crowds lining the route and cheering the riders on. However, Irish rider Dan Martin crashed after just 15 minutes, leaving him with a suspected broken collarbone. Martin caused the crash when he caught his wheel on a drain cover and went down strongly on his right arm, bringing down several of his Garmin-Sharp teammates. The four cyclists who were able to continue had to wait for teammate Fabian Wegmann — who had been dropped early on — to catch up with them, as rules stipulate a team has to finish with at least five riders for its time to count. Garmin eventually finished last, 3:26 behind Orica. That means Ryder Hesjedals chances of repeating his 2012 Giro success are all but over. "Obviously there was a crash, and there was only four of us that stayed ahead," said Victoria native Hesjedal. "It was right before a corner and you hear something had happened, we were already through the corner, looked back and there was nobody there. "Obviously it was pretty scary because you dont know what the hell is going on. I dont know what happened, it was basically a nightmare." Belfast is also the start and finish point for Saturdays 218-kilometre leg, which takes in picturesque rock formation, the Giants Causeway along its coastal route. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. Adrien Rabiot Jersey . -- The Denver Broncos retired John Elways No. Neymar Jersey . Now Arizonas new manager is hoping Yasmany Tomas can have the same effect on the Diamondbacks. http://www.parissaintgermainfcstore.com/Women-Thiago-Silva-Paris-Saint-Germain-Jersey/ .Y. - Referee Ed Hochuli referred to replay official Tom Sifferman by his nickname Jungle Boy, which was heard on the in-stadium microphone during the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers NFC wild-card game Saturday. Thomas Meunier Jersey . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. Angel Di Maria Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed.DALLAS (11-4) at WASHINGTON (4-11)Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FoxOPENING LINE — Cowboys by 5RECORD VS. SPREAD — Dallas 9-6, Washington 5-10SERIES RECORD — Cowboys lead 64-43-2LAST MEETING — Redskins beat Cowboys 20-17, OT, Oct. 27, 2014LAST WEEK — Cowboys beat Colts 42-7; Redskins beat Eagles 27-24AP PRO32 RANKING — Cowboys No. 4, Redskins No. 26COWBOYS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (2), PASS (17)COWBOYS Defence — OVERALL (16), RUSH (9), PASS (23).REDSKINS OFFENSE — OVERALL (13), RUSH (20), PASS (12).REDSKINS Defence — OVERALL (14), RUSH (10), PASS (22).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Cowboys have won three straight to clinch 18th NFC East title and first since 2009. Would earn first-round bye with losses by Seahawks and Cardinals. Other bye scenarios would require one or more NFL games to end in a tie on Sunday. ... Cowboys have chance to go 8-0 on road for first time in franchise history. ... Dallas RB DeMarco Murray leads NFL with 1,745 yards, needs 29 to break Emmitt Smiths franchise record of 1,773 in 1995. 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