MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France -- Going down a row of television cameras, answering one question after another, the wearer of the Tour de Frances yellow jersey never veered off message. Yes, said Chris Froome, he was delighted to have increased his race lead with a super-fast ride in the time trial. But, no, he added, the Tour isnt over yet because the road to Paris is still long. Froome is right about the long part -- Paris is still 1,661 kilometres away. But if Froome really believes there is any doubt that he will be standing on top of the podium on the Champs-Elysees on July 21, then he is part of a quickly shrinking minority. After Wednesdays time trial race against the clock to the medieval abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel -- among the most beautiful backdrops ever visited by the 110-year-old Tour -- the Briton has a lead that now appears unassailable. Looking like spacemen in their aerodynamic teardrop-shaped helmets and riding special go-fast bikes to better slice through the air, the 182 riders set off one after another from the Normandy town of Avranches, which the forces of U.S. Gen. George S. Patton liberated in World War II. Froome, as race leader, set out last. His skin-tight racing suit was yellow, so was his saddle, parts of his bike frame and a thick stripe down the middle of his otherwise black helmet. He puffed out his cheeks and licked his lips. The race starter held up five fingers and counted down. When the fingers were folded away, Froome raced off, powering past crowds several rows deep. Through a patchwork of fields green and gold he rode. Through tidal marshlands where sheep graze, giving their meat a tang of saltiness from the sea. Through picture-postcard villages of cottages built of dark granite. Not that he noticed. "During the race, you cant really take any of that in at all," he said. "You go into tunnel vision, and its just a blur of noise and colour around you." But with each push on his pedals, Froomes lead over his rivals grew. By the end, with Mont-Saint-Michel rising majestically in front of him from an islet off the Brittany coast, Froome wasnt far from catching Alejandro Valverde, even though the Spaniard set off three minutes earlier than him from Avranches. As Valverde was crossing the line in front of the abbey called the "Wonder of the West," the crowds could already be heard cheering for Froome, who zoomed in just one minute later. Although Valverde is still Froomes closest rival, its really no longer close. Froomes lead over the Spaniard more than doubled to three minutes 25 seconds. At the Tour, that might as well be light years. Froome would have to crash, suffer some other mishap or get sick and melt down on the towering Mont Ventoux and in the Alps next week for his rivals to catch him. "Once we get into the Alps, theres a run of a few days, back to back, which are going to be very hard," he said. "Im sure other teams are really going to test us." Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., a time-trial specialist, finished sixth in Wednesdays stage in 38:04. Victorias Ryder Hesjedal remained the top Canadian in the overall classification in 41st place, 32:38 behind Froome. Quebec Citys David Veilleux was 130th overall, while Tuft was 178th. For the moment, two-time champion Alberto Contador still isnt ready to surrender to Froome -- even though hes essentially racing for second place. The time trials at this 100th Tour were shortened from those last year to try to maintain suspense in the outcome. But Contador still lost more than two minutes to Froome on the 33-kilometre course. He is now 3:54 behind Froome in fourth place. Dutch rider Bauke Mollema is third, 3:37 behind Froome. "No ones won the Tour de France yet and no ones lost it. We have to get to Paris yet," Contador said, perhaps more in hope than conviction. "Chris Froome is in impressive form and is a great climber, but there are still many stages left." The winner of Stage 11 was time trial world champion Tony Martin. The German collapsed exhausted after crossing the line and lay face-up on the asphalt, a towel covering his eyes, before slowly climbing back to his feet. A kid immediately got him to cough up an autograph. Martins white world champions jersey with rainbow stripes was so drenched with sweat that it turned translucent, revealing underneath scabs on his skin from a terrifying crash on Stage 1. Martin looked like he had been attacked by a vegetable peeler after that pileup, because he lost so much skin on his back from scrapping along the asphalt. The pain robbed him of sleep. His mother, Bettina Martin, said she was "very shocked, very worried." But because the Tour isnt just any old race, Martin said he felt compelled to continue after doctors gave the OK to do so. It also helped that he had conditioned himself before the race to expect a crash. "I kept in mind before the Tour that I would crash one or two times in the first week. Its more or less usual to crash. So if you are ready for it, I think with a lot of morale, I think you can survive this." The only ugliness on this otherwise spectacular stage was that a roadside spectator apparently sprayed urine at British rider Mark Cavendish as he was riding the course, said Patrick Lefevere, manager of his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. Froome noted that one of the attractions of cycling is that spectators get close to the athletes. The Cavendish incident "ruins the whole atmosphere."Cheap Michael Jordan Jersey . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. 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Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid.PHILADELPHIA -- Tampa Bays goaltending tandem of Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy is doing its best to help the Lightning make up for the loss of Steven Stamkos.Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for his second consecutive shutout, leading Tampa Bay to a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Lightning, who have won four in a row to improve to 12-6-1.Stamkos got hurt in the first period of a 4-3 win at Detroit on Tuesday. The team announced Thursday that he had a torn ligament in his right knee, shelving the star center for four months.Bishop then stopped 32 shots in a 4-1 victory at Buffalo on Thursday night, and Vasilevskiy stepped up against Philadelphia. He also earned a shutout in his last appearance, stopping 24 shots in a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders on Monday night.Hes locked in, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Vasilevskiy. Hes in command. Guys are coming down against him and theyre almost deflated because hes in that much command of whats going on. Hes tracking every puck and when stuff gets a little scrambly hes the calm in the storm and hes swallowing pucks.The Flyers (8-8-3) lost in regulation for the first time since Nov. 11, ending a 2-0-1 streak. They went 0 for 5 on the power play.We were not good, Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek said. Sometimes you get the bounces that you dont get in the other games. Sometimes the power play isnt working your way but you still get the shots through and some lucky tips. We just have to make sure we keep working on it.Drouins goal capped a tough game for the forward, who missed seven straight games with an injury and left for a briief stretch after taking a check to the head.ddddddddddddHe got a long stretch pass from Palat and beat Steve Mason for his third of the season at 4:26 of the third.We made a couple of errors there, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. But he made a heck of a play and finished it with a good, strong drive to the net.The Lightning were outshot 12-6 in the first period, but grabbed a 1-0 lead on Johnsons sixth of the season. Alex Killorn slid a pass to Johnson for a tap-in on the power play at 14:25.Palat made it 2-0 in the second, weaving through the slot and snapping a shot past Mason for his third of the season.Mason finished with 15 saves.Cooper said the Lightning need to keep getting solid team efforts if they hope to keep winning without Stamkos.The problem is it happened to somebody that was playing as good as weve ever seen him play in his career and hes our captain, Cooper said. But these things happen in the game and weve got to push on and weve been doing that.Game notesThe Lightning lost Drouin in the first period and LW Ryan Callahan in the second, but both players returned from their injuries. ... LW Brian Boyle sat out with an upper-body injury, leaving the Lightning with 11 healthy forwards and seven defensemen. D Anton Stralman (upper-body injury) also sat out. ... Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere returned after he was a healthy scratch Thursday night against Winnipeg. D Andrew MacDonald sat in his place.UP NEXTFlyers: Visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.Lightning: Visit the Nashville Predators on Monday night. ' ' '
