answer: about twice as valuable to enter with contro

SAINT-ETIENNE, France -- Because of dopings ravages on cycling, its natural for suspicion to fall on Vincenzo Nibali, who led the Tour de France on Thursday for a 10th time in 12 stages. But Nibali says the sport has changed, doping cases have become rare, and "this theme belongs to the past." The Italian has had a praiseworthy, almost unbreakable lock on the yellow jersey, yet he will be looking over his shoulder more on Friday. The great race enters two days in the Alps that feature uphill finishes, starting with the hardest climb that the peloton has faced so far. Off the roads, Nibali said he expected questions about doping, a scourge of much of the last generation, for whom performance-enhancers such as blood-booster EPO or human growth hormone, and methods like blood-doping were common. Many cycling experts say the sport has greatly cleaned up its act. On Thursday, the Sky team, which has won the last two Tours, sacked British cyclist Jonathan Tiernan-Locke after he was banned for an irregular biological passport. He was not a Tour rider, but few would say the Tour peloton was totally clean. Dopings shadow remains at the Tour, among team staffers, and even a rider or two. Nibalis team, Astana, was kicked out of the 2007 Tour after its star rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for banned blood transfusions. He served his ban, returned to racing, and won gold at the London Olympics. Vinokourov is now Astanas general manager. Rider Michele Scarponi who, like Nibali, won the Giro dItalia and was racing in this Tour, was given a three-month ban in 2012 for seeing banned physician Michele Ferrari, a longtime adviser of Lance Armstrong. Nibali says Astana has changed. "Ive chosen Astana for the possibility to build a group that I can trust to bring me at a competitive level for important races like the Giro, the Tour and the (Spanish) Vuelta," he said. "There have been many mistakes in cycling in the past, by many riders, but they belong to the past," Nibali said. "We now have a biological passport, out-of-competition controls, controls at home ... "Nobody can say that cycling hasnt changed. Nowadays, there is an isolated case. Theres always the possibility that an idiot does something stupid ..." Nibali, a native of Messina, Sicily, nicknamed the "Shark of the Strait" after the Strait of Messina, is trying to become only the sixth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain. He would also be the first Italian to win the Tour since Marco Pantani in 1998. The late Pantani was convicted in Italy of doping offences during his career. Giuseppe Martinelli, a cycling guru who worked with Pantani for years before they fell out, is an Astana manager. "Thanks to him," Nibali said of Martinelli through a translator, "I became closer to the Astana team that has invested a lot in an Italian group in order to regain credibility." To succeed Pantani, Nibali is keeping an eye out on other race contenders: Richie Porte of Australia trails by 2 minutes, 23 seconds, and Alejandro Valverde of Spain was third, 2:47 back. The mostly flat 185.5-kilometre (115.5-mile) course from Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint-Etienne in southeastern France was well suited for a possible sprint finish and thats how it was won by Alexander Kristoff, a Norwegian specialist with Katusha. American rider Andrew Talansky pulled out before the stage due to back pain from two previous crashes. A day earlier, the Garmin-Sharp leader rode for hours and finished last. Stage 13 will put riders legs under the most strain yet. The 197.5-kilometre (123-mile) trek begins in Saint-Etienne and will crescendo: It first covers a mid-sized climb and the Category 1 Palaquit pass, and finally an 18-kilometre (12-mile) ascent to Chamrousse -- one of cyclings hardest climbs. "Im sure our rivals will try to attack but on the other hand, if I can gain some seconds, Ill go for it," the race leader said. "Ill have to evaluate the strength of my adversaries and consider every race situation." The race has 10 more days. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Sale .com) - It may just be the right place and the right opponent for the Detroit Red Wings to snap their longest losing streak of the season. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Free Shipping . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. http://www.cheapairjordan1china.com/ . The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Cheap Air Jordan 1 China . Granlund scored 2:04 into the first period. Max Reinhart, on his first NHL shift of the season, neatly stripped the puck from Zack Smith at the Senators blue-line. As he moved in, his attempted shot deflected into the slot where Granlund buried a shot past Craig Anderson. Discount Air Jordan 1 . Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study.Action from the Air Canada Centre is underway, where the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings are scoreless in the first period. Listen to the action live now on TSN Radio 1050. Jonathan Bernier is making his third straight start for Toronto. Coming off an embarrassing 9-2 home loss to Nashville two nights earlier, Toronto (10-8-2) managed to momentarily right the ship by snapping a three-game slide with Thursdays 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay. Were going to play a Detroit Red Wing hockey club tthat really dominated us the last time they were in this building, said coach Randy Carlyle.dddddddddddd Then, we went to Detroit and lost on a tough play. Johan Franzen had two goals and Henrik Zetterberg recorded four assists in Detroits 4-1 victory at Toronto on Oct. 17. The next night, Zetterberg scored with 10 seconds left in overtime to hand the Maple Leafs a 1-0 defeat. Detroit is 0 for 23 with the man advantage over its last seven with Toronto, but has won five of those meetings. ' ' '