Clan-Members » ,263-foot) peak in 2013.Ventou

TORONTO -- Under new management, and having brought in 19 new players, Toronto FC promised to field a different team in 2013. Tougher. More resilient. Smarter. A team that opponents did not enjoy facing. BMO Field was to become a fortress. But turning around an MLS franchise synonymous with failure has proved to be like parallel parking a super-tanker. Movement is slow and painful. Thirteen games into the season, the team has eight points from a 1-7-5 record, just three points ahead of last year at the same time (1-10-2, and remember, Toronto started 2012 with a league-record nine straight losses). Toronto, which ended last season with a 14-game winless streak in league play, is currently mired in an 11-game winless stretch. The last win at BMO Field came last July, although Toronto did defeat Sporting Kansas City at the Rogers Centre in March. Its last away win was also last July. Toronto was the league doormat last year with a 5-21-8 record, resulting in the firing of first Aron Winter (after 10 games) and then Paul Mariner (in the off-season). This year, only D.C. United has a worse mark (1-9-2 heading into Sundays game with the Chicago Fire). Injuries to key players like star striker Danny Koevermans (who returned Saturday from a layoff of more than 10 months due to knee surgery) and fullback Richard Eckersley (hamstring, caused celebrating a teammates goal 10 games ago) have not helped manager Ryan Nelsens cause. Some short-term acquisitions (Julio Cesar, John Bostock, Hogan Ephraim) have not worked out. Some wonder why Toronto -- before Nelsen took over admittedly -- made a big deal out of signing veteran defender Danny Califf only to seemingly ignore him. Still, six of Torontos seven losses have come by one goal, as Nelsen often reminds reporters. The team has not been blown out. And Nelsen has proved a shrewd tactician, with some inspired substitutions, while showing himself to be a good judge of talent in identifying and promoting the likes of rookie midfielder Jonathan Osorio and newly installed holding midfielder Jeremy Hall. Lack of scoring (12 goals in 13 games) has cost Toronto and magnified defensive miscues. And Toronto has shot itself in the foot by leaking late goals, throwing away 11 points in seven games because of it. Worryingly, four of the goals came off corners and throw-ins. It should be noted that Justin Braun and Darel Russell both scored in the final six minutes to secure a 2-2 tie with visiting FC Dallas on April 6, earning Toronto a point. Entering Sunday in ninth spot in the Eastern Conference, Toronto was 11 points behind Philadelphia, which occupied the fifth and last playoff position. Had Toronto held on in those seven games, it would have been tied with the Union. Heres a look at the games in question: March 30: Jose Villarreals 92nd-minute goal gives Los Angeles a 2-2 tie at BMO Field. Two points lost. Osorios first MLS goal in the 78th minute gave Toronto a 2-1 lead as the home side rallied from an early 1-0 deficit. But a poor clearance in stoppage-time led to a wonder scissors-kick goal by Villarreal. April 13: Jack McInerney 94th-minute goal gives Philadelphia a 1-1 tie at PPL Park. Two points lost. Toronto could not clear a long throw from defender Sheanon Williams. A scuffed shot landed at the feet of an unmarked McInerney, with the Toronto defence in disarray, and the Union striker made no mistake. April 20: Warren Creavalles 94th-minute goal gives the Houston Dynamo a 1-1 tie at BMO Field. Two points lost. With Houston defender Jermaine Taylor having received a red card, Hall gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with a slick move to find room for a low shot in the 58th minute. But Creavalles stoppage-time header off a teammates flick from a corner earned the Dynamo the tie. April 27: Tim Cahills 89th-minute goal gives the New York Red Bulls a 2-1 win at BMO Field. One point lost. One again, it looked like Osorio to the rescue with a goal that made it 1-1 in the 83rd minute. But Australian international Cahill restored the Red Bulls lead, heading in his second goal of the game after a failed clearance. Ashtone Morgan was victimized on the winning goal. May 4: Edson Buddles 86th-minute goal gives Colorado Rapids a 1-0 win at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. One point lost. Toronto gifted this goal as defenders Darren ODea and Logan Emory both fell on the play, leaving an unmolested Buddle to tap in a cross from the left flank. May 8: Chris Wondolowskis 81st-minute goal gives San Jose Earthquakes a 2-1 win at Buck Shaw Stadium. One point lost. Toronto went ahead through an early Justin Braun goal only to see Adam John tie it up in the 48th minute. Then Wondolowski sealed the deal off a corner, using his thigh to skillfully redirect a Walter Martinez flick-on from a corner. June 1: Jack McInerneys 91st-minute goal gives Philadelphia Union a 1-1 tie at BMO Field. Two points lost. Similar to the first game between the two. A long throw-in by Williams was headed away by Torontos Hall but only as far as McInerney, whose low shot through traffic beat Joe Bendik as three defenders rushed at the shooter. One can only wonder how a defence could leave McInerney alone, given he entered the game tied for the lead in league scoring with nine goals.Air Max 97 Pas Cher Noir . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Air Max 97 Pas Cher France . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. http://www.pascherbasketnike.fr/ . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Air Max 270 Fausse . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Basket Air Max 97 Pas Cher . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost .Chris Froome realizes hes on the cusp of greatness.The British rider already has two Tour de France victories and a third win in cyclings biggest event -- which starts Saturday -- would make him the most dominant rider of his generation.Another yellow jersey would also put Froome into an elite club of just seven riders who have won the Tour at least three times.Every rider obviously starts every new Tour equal and what has gone before counts for nothing, Froome said. This year I am hungrier than ever for success.Froomes top challengers will likely be two-time runner-up Nairo Quintana of Colombia and Alberto Contador, the Spaniard who has won the Tour twice but took his last victory in the Grande Boucle back in 2009.Froome is the defending champion and also won in 2013.There are a number of riders in other teams capable of putting in a challenge for overall victory, said Dave Brailsford, team principal of Froomes Team Sky. Thats great news for cycling fans, who can look forward to seeing some really competitive racing.The 21-stage race opens Saturday at Mont-Saint-Michel, a World Heritage Benedictine abbey perched on a rock off the Normandy coast. The picture-postcard starting stage ends at Utah Beach, where Allied troops landed on D-Day in 1944.The 3,519-kilometer (2,186-mile) race scales the Pyrenees before the Alps, just as the Tour did last year, again going counter-clockwise around France. That breaks with tradition because generally the Tour alternates between clockwise and counter-clockwise.With neither a prologue nor a team time trial, the route could favor climbing specialists. Still, there are two individual time trials in stages 13 and 18 totaling 54 kilometers (34 miles)).ddddddddddddThe 103rd Tour will visit three neighboring countries -- Spain, Andorra and Switzerland -- and pass through 16 sites and stage cities unseen in previous editions.The most difficult stage on paper appears to be the eighth leg, a challenging 183-kilometer (114-mile) route through the Pyrenees from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon that features the legendary Col du Tourmalet plus three more serious climbs.Another serious test comes in Stage 12 with an ascent of Mont Ventoux on Bastille Day, July 14. Froome was the stage winner when the Tour last scaled Ventouxs barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013.Ventoux was also the site of an epic battle between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani in 2000, and where British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967 after he used a lethal cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol.After all the climbing and time trialing, though, the race could be decided on a dangerous and technical 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) finishing descent to Morzine in the penultimate stage.After this, all that will remain is the traditional -- but mostly ceremonial -- finish alongside cheering crowds on the Champs-Elysees on July 24.Security will be tight, with France in a state of emergency since attacks on Paris in November killed 130 people.The Tour will be protected by an unprecedented force of 23,000 police officers, including SWAT-like intervention squads.The Tour will also hope to attract overlapping audiences from the European Championship soccer tournament hosted by France, which ends July 10.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf ' ' '