and reducing suspense at cyclings biggest race.This decision responds to two-pronged objective: the first being to improve the safety conditions for the riders with a smaller peloton on roads equipped with more and more street furniture, the organizers said in their statement. The second, which is a

International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel said he had a good discussion Wednesday with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association Executive Director Don Fehr about the worlds top hockey players participating in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.No hitting, and no elbows, Fasel joked in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.Bettman described the meeting as constructive and candid.Still lots of issues, Bettman wrote in an email to the AP.Fasel said his job is to raise funds for the players transportation and insurance. The International Olympic Committee does not want to cover those costs as it has the previous five Olympics. Fasel hopes to persuade the IOC to financially support the NHLs participation.It is the only league that shuts down to participate in the Winter or Summer Olympics, Fasel said.Bettman and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly declined to comment on a Sportsnet report indicating the league has offered to sign off on allowing players to go for gold in South Korea in exchange for the union not opting out of the collective bargaining agreement in September 2019, which would in effect extend the deal for three years.There have been some suggestions that could be construed that that discussion would be worth having, Fehr told reporters in New York. Obviously, we discuss that with players. We have begun that process, but were a long way from done.Bettman has said a decision would need to be made by early January at the latest, giving the league time to create its 2017-18 schedule with or without a two-plus week break for the Olympics.Fasel isnt in a rush.We can wait longer because we want to do all we can to keep best-on-best hockey in the Olympics, Fasel said.NHL and NHLPA officials recently visited the Olympic site in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and have deemed it suitable for international competition.Whether the worlds best hockey players go to South Korea in about 15 months is up to the league and union, though Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has said he will go even if there isnt an agreement.The IOC spent about $14 million to cover travel and insurance costs for NHL players for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Fasel has said the bill would be about $10 million for the next Olympics because it wont be necessary to charter planes to South Korea as it was to get players to Sochi.The NHL hasnt sounded eager about going to South Korea, but does appear very interested in tapping into Chinas huge market in 2022.When the IOC awarded the Beijing Games, it certainly created a bigger opportunity than we thought existed potentially before, Daly said in September. But it is also possible that you dont go to one Olympics and you do go to the other. I dont think anybody has ruled that out as a possibility.Fasel has been trying to persuade national Olympic committees and hockey federations to donate funds to keep the games best players on the biggest stage in sports. He acknowledged the IIHF could possibly use some of the $40 million it gets from the IOC every four years and make cuts from its development programs for boys and girls.Its not going to be easy to get this done, but thats my job, Fasel said.---Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage Cheap Marlins Jerseys ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. Cheap Andre Dawson Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.com/ . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Cheap Marlins Jerseys China . 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. Cheap MLB Jerseys . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. PARIS -- Grands Tours organizers have decided to reduce the number of riders at their races in a move aimed at improving safety and increasing competition.The Tour de France, Giro dItalia and Spanish Vuelta organizers said in a joint statement Friday that the number of riders per team will decrease to eight, instead of the nine currently at their three-week races.The decision taken by ASO -- which organizes the Tour de France and Vuelta -- RCS Sport and one-day races organizers Flanders Classics will come into effect for the 2017 season. It will also see a reduction of riders at the other races they organize, with teams reduced to seven riders instead of eight.Following a meeting of the international association of cycling race organizers, they said they want to improve safety by reducing traffic on roads and make it more difficult for a team to dominate a race. The numbers of teams per raace will remain unchanged.ddddddddddddThe organizers believe that reducing the number of riders will help open up the races so that they are less controlled. Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froomes Sky Team has been the dominant team in the peloton recently, locking down the race in the mountains and reducing suspense at cyclings biggest race.This decision responds to two-pronged objective: the first being to improve the safety conditions for the riders with a smaller peloton on roads equipped with more and more street furniture, the organizers said in their statement. The second, which is a fortunate consequence of the first, is to make it more difficult to dominate a race as well as enhance conditions for events to offer better racing for cycling fans. ' ' '