LONDON -- At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel. [url=http://www.nmdshoescanada.com/]NMD Canada Online[/url] . Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Mondays Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeths Buckingh

LONDON -- At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel. NMD Canada Online . Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Mondays Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeths Buckingham Palace. Two days earlier, he courted royal attention as Prince William and Kate saw him win Stage 1 in Yorkshire in another sprint. The stage wrapped up the English debut to this 101st Tour edition, a rousing success among cycling-crazed British fans. Riders hopped on planes and bid "au revoir" to the UK before flying across the English Channel onto the races home turf. Rain in the City of London doused riders at the end of the 155-kilometre (96-mile) ride from the university town of Cambridge to a dramatic finish past landmarks Big Ben and Westminster. Italys Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leaders yellow jersey with a 2-second lead over the most likely contenders to win the three-week race in Paris on July 27. Svein Tuft was the top Canadian in 138th place, 16 minutes 13 seconds off the lead. Christian Meier, also from Langley, B.C., was 17:31 back in 154th. Kittel, led out perfectly by Giant-Shimano teammates, made it look easy as he sped down a final wide approach on The Mall with Buckingham Palace behind him. Peter Sagan of Slovakia was second and Australias Mark Renshaw was third. "Im really, really happy I could win in front of Buckingham Palace," said Kittel, who won four Tour stages last year. "It was one of the greatest finishes Ive ever seen in front of this great scenery." FIRST PARIS, NOW LONDON The hulking German made it a tale of two cities. He added London glory to his record after also winning on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, in the Tour finale last year. His job in the sprints got a lot easier after Britains Mark Cavendish pulled out of the race after injuring his shoulder in a crash in Saturdays Stage 1. "Its one big opponent that is not in the race anymore," Kittel said. "Of course, that changes things for me, but also for the team." Kittel is no threat for the yellow jersey. Like many sprinters, he struggles on climbs and fell nearly 20 minutes behind Nibali in the overall standings in an up-and-down ride on Sunday through the hills and dales of Yorkshire. Nibalis biggest challengers for the prized leaders shirt remain title-holder Chris Froome of Britain and Spains Alberto Contador, who finished with the same time as the Italian and Kittel in an 84-rider bunch. On Monday, the pack cruised nervously and let two breakaway riders go free on Monday. The duo was caught with about 6 kilometres (4 miles) left. EUROPEAN UNITY AMONG FANS? Tour officials estimated fans made nearly 5 million individual visits -- some may have attended more than one stage -- to the route in the first three stages. In signs of cross-Channel comity, Tour chief Christian Prudhomme took English lessons before the race; Britons waved both French tricolours and their beloved Union Jacks. But the teeming curbs, sidewalks and roadsides again caused trouble for the riders. With about 30 kilometres (19 miles) left, 2010 Tour winner Andy Schleck of Luxembourg was among riders who crashed briefly, and French TV showed a fan on the ground. Schleck, who gingerly returned to the race, said he didnt hit a spectator. "I guess it was my own fault," said Schleck, who collided with another rider and hurtled over his handlebars. His Trek Factory Racing teammate Jens Voigt said: "I saw about 15 crashes today. In the end there were two guys on the ground but I dont know what happened exactly ... Thats the Tour de France. The first week is always nervous." In other spills, Ted King of Cannondale and Jan Bakelants, a Belgian rider on Cavendishs Omega Pharma QuickStep team who wore yellow jersey two days last year, each scraped up their right elbows and knees. Some fans got political. A few held up placards imploring Prime Minister David Cameron not to back a U.S.-European Union free trade pact. Three topless protesters bearing slogans condemning female genital mutilation staged a brief protest near the Houses of Parliament before police bundled them away in fluorescent vests. The course route Monday notably bypassed Trafalgar Square, whose landmark Nelsons Column commemorates a British hero of the Napoleonic Wars. Stage 4 takes riders over 163.5 kilometres (105 miles) from Le Touquet-Paris Plage to Lille Metropole on the border with Belgium. Froomes Team Sky floated the idea that the pack might well ride under the sea rather than fly over it one day, if the Tour ever returns to the UK. The team released a glitzy video Monday saying that last month he became the first man to cycle through the Channel tunnel. In the video, Froome quipped: "This could be a really, really cool stage of a race." NMD_R1 Shoes Canada . -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. NMD R1 Canada . -- ETwaun Moore had 14 points in 30 minutes, and the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 87-86 on Sunday night. http://www.nmdshoescanada.com/pw-solar-hu-nmd-cheap-canada.html .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. PASADENA, Calif. -- Jameis Winston and Florida State faced down adversity for the first time this season, and showed they could take a punch if thats what it took to win a national championship. The Heisman Trophy winner threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left and No. 1 Florida State beat No. 2 Auburn 34-31 to win the BCS championship game on Monday night. "Theres a lot of heart and guts down in Tallahassee, too," coach Jimbo Fisher said. The Bowl Championship Series went out with a bang, with one of the best championship games in its 16-year history. And the Southeastern Conferences seven-year winning streak in college footballs biggest game was snapped. Winston struggled much of the night but was near perfect when the Seminoles (14-0) needed it most, going 6 for 7 for 77 yards on the game-winning 80 yard drive. A pass interference penalty on Auburns Chris Davis gave Florida State a first-and-goal at the 2 and on the next play Winston hit his big receiver, Benjamin, for the touchdown in traffic. There was no miracle finish this time for the turnaround Tigers. They tossed the ball around on one final play, but it ended with Florida State jumping on a fumble, and the Seminoles sprinting onto the field under a storm of garnet and gold confetti. Tre Mason had given Auburn (12-2) a 31-27 lead with a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left after Kermit Whitfield had put Florida State in the lead for the first time since the first quarter with a 100-yard kickoff return to make it 27-24 with 4:31 left. Mason ran for 195 yards and Nick Marshall threw two touchdown passes for the Tigers. "I told them in the locker room, we put together the biggest turnaround in the history of college football. We were on the brink of making it one of those magical seasons," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. Winston was 20 for 35 for 237 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. Florida State hadnt been challenged like this all season, winning by an average of 42 points. The redshirt freshman, who turned 20 Monday, told his teammates: "I said Guys, we didnt come here for no reason. I said Yall, this is ours, man." The Seminoles were down 21-3 in the first half, and wobbling, but never fell over. And now Florida State is national champion for the first time since 1999, the first team to win it after being down at halftime. Winston was jumpy against a strong Auburn pass rush, led by Dee Ford. He was sacked four times. The Seminoles cut it to 21-10 with a late touchdown in the second quarter and chipped into Auburns lead with a 41-yard field goal by Roberto Aguayo with 6:05 left in the third. Meanwhile, Florida State had found some answers to Auburns spread offence. A holding penalty that wiped out a long pass also helped keep the Tigers scoreless in the third quarter, and the Seminoles began the fourth with P.J. Williams intercepting Marshalls pass and setting up Florida State at its 38. When Winston tossed in the flats to Chad Abram, who hurdled over a tackler on the way to an 11-yard touchdown the lead was 21-19. Florida State was considering going for two to tie, but Devonta Freeman was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and that pushed the extra point back 15 yards and forced the Seminoles to kick and make it 21-20. Auburn responded wwith its best drive since the second quarter, mixing runs by Mason and Marshall with one big pass to Ricardo Louis. Stan Smith Shoes Canada Sale. . But it stalled at the 6 and Cody Parkey added a 22-yard field goal to make it 24-20 with 4:42 left. During Winstons record-breaking season, filled with blowouts and fourth quarters spent watching from the sideline, he never faced a situation in which he had to drive his team to a winning score. Now he had a chance to add that last line to his remarkable resume -- until Whitfield handled it for him. Whitfield broke through a seam around the 30 and hit the sideline at full speed. Fisher ran down the other sideline yelling "Go! Go!" with Winston chasing behind pumping his arms and slapping his coach on the back. Florida State was on top, but Auburn was not done. Mason and Marshall went to work, driving Auburn into Florida State territory, and Auburns Heisman finalist, Mason, finished it off by bowling over Florida State safety Jalen Ramsey on the way to the end zone. Auburn billed itself as a team of destiny, having gone from 3-9 to SEC champs under first-year coach Malzahn -- with the help of some miraculous finishes. But for much of the first half team destiny, the 10-point underdog, was dominating. Marshall flipped into the flats for Mason, who followed a few wipe-out blocks and zipped into the end zone for a 12-yard score with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Florida State trailed for the first time since Sept. 28 against Boston College. The hole got deeper. With Florida States linebackers and safeties peeking into the backfield again, Auburn broke another receiver free down the middle. Marshall threw a strike this time to Melvin Ray, who went 50 yards for his first career touchdown and a 14-3 lead. Meanwhile, for maybe the first time this season, Winston looked rattled. After completing three of his first four passes, he went 1 for 7, including a simple short throw that sailed high and missed its target by at least 10 yards. Fisher could be seen yelling to his coaches that they needed to calm down Winston. Auburns defence certainly didnt look as if it ranked 89th in the country in yards allowed per game. Ford was getting pressure on Winston, Chris Davis defended three passes and the Tigers D was playing like so many other SEC defences that have controlled so many other BCS championship games during the conferences reign over college football. Ben Bradley and Angelo Blackson sandwiched Winston as he tried to tuck and run and the ball came loose. Auburn recovered at Florida States 27 and soon after Marshall swept in from 4 yards out for a 21-3 lead with 5:01 left in the first half. Florida State finally came alive with the help of some trickery and some old-fashioned want-to from Winston. Facing fourth-and-4 in their own territory, the Seminoles faked the punt and ran a reverse to Karlos Williams that went for 7 yards. Then Winston asserted himself in not the typical way for the most efficient passer in the country. On third-and-7, he broke free of the pocket, stiff-armed past one Auburn tackler and went for 21 yards to the 3. Freeman plunged into the end zone on the next play to make it 21-10 with 1:28 left in the half. Fisher patted Winston on the helmet as the quarterback shook his head, as if to say, Im better now. ' ' '