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SAINT-GERVAIS MONT BLANC -- Chris Froome was relieved to have finished relatively unscathed, albeit sore. He knew too well that his crash on Friday could have cost him a likely third Tour de France title.He is also aware that Saturdays final day in the mountains poses a similar danger, with rain again forecast and with the fight for the podium just as tight as it was 24 hours earlier.Froome has been saying throughout this Tour that winning would be the toughest challenge of his career. That may well prove to be, even though the Briton extended his overall lead again -- but over a reshuffled deck of rivals -- in a crash-marred and rain-stricken 146-kilometer Stage 19 in the Alps on Friday from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.The stage unfolded as a story of misadventure for so many, including Froome, who crashed with 11.2 km to go on the final descent and nearing the last of four climbs of the day, the 9.8-km ascent to Le Bettex overlooking Saint Gervais Mont Blanc.Its ironic really. I was trying to stay up front and out of trouble, [but] I just hit one of the white lines and lost my wheel, said Froome, who abandoned his first Tour defence in 2014 following several early-stage crashes in slippery conditions.Im OK. Im lucky, nothing is seriously injured. I just lost a little skin and banged my knee a bit. Today was that kind of day, that Im grateful to have a four-minute advantage to fall back on.Froome (Sky) went down heavily on his right shoulder, elbow and knee as he and Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) slipped on the white lane marker in the middle of the road.Fortunately for Froome, he had teammates nearby. They included Welshman Geraint Thomas, who immediately gave Froome his bike when the Tour leader realised his was damaged in the spill. Three other teammates -- Dutchman Wouter Poels and the Spanish duo of Mikel Landa and Sergio Henao -- were able to bring him back to the group of overall contenders.It was great to have all the team around me, said Froome, the 2013 and 2015 champion. Wout in particular ... all the guys. It was a great team effort. It feels good to be one day closer to Paris.It was soon after Froome crashed that Frenchman Romain Bardet (Ag2r) set off in pursuit of stage leader Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida). Bardet eventually overhauled the Portuguese to secure the first stage win by a French rider in this years Tour.Bardet also moved up from fifth place overall to second -- four minutes, 11 seconds behind Froome.?Froome finished the stage on Poels wheel with his yellow jersey torn on the upper right, back at 36 seconds to Bardet, who won the stage by 23 seconds from a group of three riders: Spains Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) in third, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in fourth, and South African Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida) in fifth.Behind them followed a mishmash of exhausted riders, including two other overall contenders who, like Froome, also crashed in the wet, slippery conditions.They were Australian Richie Porte (BMC) in 10th at 53 seconds -- now up one place into fifth but at five minutes, 17 seconds off the front -- and Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), who finished 23rd and plummeted from second overall to 10th, a full seven minutes, 42 seconds back.It was a terrible day for the Netherlands. Dutchman Tom Dumoulin also crashed and quit the Tour with a fractured left wrist, placing in serious doubt his availability for the Olympic Games in Rio, where he was a gold-medal favourite for the time trial.While Froome leads Bardet by a lengthy margin, the time gap between second and fifth places overall is 65 seconds, while between third and fifth the margin is 50 seconds.After Froome and Bardet, Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) is now third at 4:27, while Briton Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) is fourth at 4:46 after being handed a 10-second time penalty for receiving an illegal hand sling, and Porte in fifth at 5:17.Stage 20, 146.5 km from Megève to Morzine in the Alps, includes four categorized climbs, the last of which is followed by a tricky and sinewy descent to the finish line.Its going to be hard, really hard, said Froome. Ill be stiff and sore. Hopefully, Im going to rely on my teammates and just have one last push to get through [the] stage.Despite the myriad crashes, Bardet fully deserved the accolades that came his way.I was thinking about the general classification, but when Costa was dropped, I also thought about the stage win, Bardet said. Now I am in second place, and I hope to retain that position tomorrow. One more big mountain stage, so I am satisfied with the situation now.Bardet, who won Stage 18 last year, said his winning moved was not planned. Its the way I like to race, to have fun, with audacity, he said.Last year, the stage win was the goal, this year, I was really working on the GC. Today the rain made it even harder. To win, you have to take risks. I knew this climb, and I knew my bearings, and I knew where I could attack.I was hearing comments that there have been no attacks in this Tour, but we are all very fatigued I also knew I am in the best shape of my life. I just raced today, without any plan.Similarly, Bardet will not forget to enjoy the rest of the Tour that finishes on Sunday with the 21st stage from Chantilly to the Champs élysées in Paris that will suit the sprinters.I want to enjoy this, and take it as it comes, Bardet said. Last year, I tried to defend the climbers jersey, and I could not sleep at night. Now I am more relaxed, and if I manage to finish on the podium in Paris, it will be like a fairytale. Lou Williams Jersey .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. Paul George Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. https://www.clipperslockerroom.com/Mfiondu-Kabengele-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Jerome Robinson Jersey . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Patrick Beverley Jersey . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozans early season scoring surge has slowed.The Toronto Raptors havent.Kyle Lowry had 29 points and eight assists, DeRozan scored 24 points and the Raptors ended the Memphis Grizzlies six-game road winning streak with a 120-105 victory.DeRozan was held under 30 points for the sixth consecutive game after averaging 33 points in his first 12 contests. He was ably backed up by Lowry, though, helping the Raptors beat the Grizzlies for the third straight matchup and sixth time in their last seven meetings.It was just a period of time where we were reliant on him big time and now were trying to take a little bit of the load off of him, Lowry said.The Raptors seized control midway through the fourth quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from Patrick Patterson and Cory Joseph over a 1:01 span for a seven-point lead. A trio of free throws by Lowry quickly pushed that advantage up to eight, and a DeMarre Carrolls 3-pointer with 4:10 remaining made it a 12-point edge. The Raptors led by double digits the rest of the way, with Joseph finishing with a season-high 16 points off the bench and Patterson recording his 14th career double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds.Up until that point it had been anyones game. The short-handed Grizzlies, without six of their regular players because of injury and other reasons, had to get by with what coach David Fizdale called their Nasty Nine healthy players.When you play a team like that, with a lot of young guys playing out of position, theyre going to play extremely hard and theres going to be a lot of things that youre not used to seeing or that youre not expecting, said DeRozan, who had five turnovers in the first quarter.The Raptors committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the game, but also made a season-high 16 3-pointers.Fizdale praised his teams gutsy effort, with Andrew Harrison leading the way with a career-high 21 points. Memphis could have tied the franchise record of seven consecutive road wins, set in the 2009-10 season, with a victory.The effort was fantastic. I just thought we had a bad stretch where we got careless with the ball, starting turning the ball over, Fizdale said of the Raptors 16-5 run which took the game away from Mempphis.ddddddddddddarrison echoed his coachs thoughts and bemoaned the loss of Mike Conley, the teams star guard who was ruled out for at least six weeks Tuesday with fractured vertebrae in his lower back. Conley was injured during Mondays loss to Charlotte.I know we were short-handed, but we have a bunch of guys on the team and we all believe that we could win this game, he said. Losing Mike was big, hes an MVP candidate in my eyes, but we know what we have to do, we have to bring it every night.TIP INSGrizzlies: G Chandler Parsons (left knee), F Brandan Wright (left ankle), F Vince Carter (right hip), F James Ennis III (right calf) and F Zach Randolph (personal) missed the game. ... Carter, the former Raptor, received one of the loudest cheers of the night when he was shown on the video board in the second quarter.Raptors: Toronto finished the first month of the season with a winning record (11-7) and 10-plus wins for the third consecutive season. ... The biggest cheer of the night came late in the fourth quarter when the big screen revealed that Major League Soccer team Toronto FC had beaten Canadian rival Montreal Impact 5-2 on the night and 7-5 on aggregate to advance to their first MLS Cup final.CENTURY MARKWednesdays game was Torontos 100th straight sellout in the regular season and playoffs at the Air Canada Centre, the longest streak in franchise history.DOWN BUT NOT OUTDespite his teams lengthy injury list, Fizdale refused to dwell on the situation.I dont look at it like that. I see nothing but opportunity and I preach that to our guys. We dont feel sorry for ourselves. Next man up and trust that next guy to do his job well enough to win on the road.ACES HIGHThe worlds No. 3 mens tennis player, Canadian Milos Raonic, sat courtside. He signed a number of balls and sat back as the team mascot, the Raptor, shot them high into the stands with a tennis racquet.UP NEXTGrizzlies: Aim for a ninth straight home victory against Orlando on Thursday night.Raptors: Continue six-game homestand on Friday night seeking fourth straight victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. ' ' '