Allgemein » injury recurrence interrupting his bounce back season. "

NAPLES, Italy -- British standout Mark Cavendish won the opening stage of the Giro dItalia in a sprint Saturday that was marred by a crash shortly before the finish. The main pack was split into two groups when riders went down with less than two kilometres to go in the 130-kilometre leg and less than a dozen riders were left in front to contest the sprint. Cavendish, who rides for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, finished in two hours 58 minutes 38 seconds on the circuit in downtown Naples, which featured a long, flat finishing straight. The Isle of Man rider has now won a combined 37 stages at the Giro, Tour and Vuelta -- cyclings three Grand Tours. Defending champion Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria, and other overall favourites Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali, finished safely in the main pack. All of the riders who finished in the main pack were given the same time as the winner courtesy of the neutralizing rule for crashes in the final kilometres. Elia Viviani, an Italian with Cannondale, crossed second, and Nacer Bouhanni, a Frenchman with FDJ, was third. It was the 11th Giro stage win of Cavendishs career and his 98th victory overall. Hell wear the overall leaders pink jersey in Sundays second stage, a team time trial on the nearby island of Ischia. With time bonuses of 20, 12 and eight seconds handed out to the top three finishers, Cavendish took an eight-second lead on Viviani in the overall standings. It will mark the fourth time Cavendish wears the pink jersey. He wore it for two days in 2009 when his former team Columbia won the opening team time trial and for one day in 2011 after a stage win. "Ive worn it before at the start but that was thanks to my team," Cavendish said. "I really wanted to win this here in Napoli. ... Now I want to go for a pizza." Cavendish didnt have any teammates helping him in the finish but he used the crosswind to good effect and burst in front just before the line. "Im lucky I have the speed to be able to come like that in the final," he said The course featured two mild climbs in the Posillipo neighbourhood and several loops down the finishing straight alongside the bay. On a warm spring day, fans came out en masse to watch the race. Some even brought their dogs, one of which nearly tripped up some riders on a sharp corner after slipping under a barrier lining the road. With the roads narrow in areas and stretches of cobblestones, there were several crashes. Among those who hit the asphalt early on were Laurent Pichon of France, Matteo Rabottini of Italy and Miguel Minguez Ayala of Spain. Italians Mattia Gavazzi and Davide Apollonio, plus Belgian Klaas Lodewyck, were involved in the crash near the end that split the group, although they appeared to escape serious injury. "Some guys took me with them and I crashed into the barriers," Lodewyck said. Cavendish attributed the crashes to hairpin turns after long, wide straightaways. "Circuit races always have crashes but its nice to have circuit races for the fans," Cavendish said. "This is probably the most chaotic city Ive been to so to clear the traffic from the city centre Ive really got to take my hat off to the organizers." There were a couple of groups of early breakaway riders and the last man caught by the main pack was Cameron Wurf, an Australian with Cannondale, with about 20 kilometres to go. Cavendishs Omega team led the chase. Sundays team time trial from Ischia to Forio lasts 17.4 kilometres. While Omega is without its time trial specialist Tony Martin, Cavendish is hoping for a solid performance. "Were going to do everything we can to keep it," he said of the pink jersey. The race ends May 26 in Brescia.Bulls Jerseys China . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. John Paxson Jersey Large . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. http://www.custombullsjersey.com/ .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Cheap Bulls Jerseys .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. Custom Bulls Jerseys . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford.TORONTO - Mondays 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers got the Toronto Blue Jays back to the break-even mark in their seemingly constant flirt with .500. It was an important win coming off a 2-5 road trip through American League East-rival cities Tampa Bay and Boston and because the Tigers are scheduled to pitch the nasty trifecta of Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander over the next three nights. Not to mention the injury bug. With R.A. Dickey pitching at full health and showing it on the mound (seven innings, two earned runs on Monday) and Jose Reyes back in the lineup, the ranks of the infirmary seemed to be thinning. However, Edwin Encarnacion – more on him in a moment – and Adam Lind are nursing nagging injuries which kept them out of Mondays game. Linds back, which was a problem for him during three down seasons between 2010-2012, is once again an issue. This time, the issue is mid-back. He says his lower back, the scene of the previous trouble, is fine. "Hopefully its just a couple of days," said Lind. "I came out of the game (Sunday) so it would only be a couple of days instead of trying to play through it and turn it into a month." Lind, who took up yoga in the offseason to better keep his muscles loose and improve flexibility, has been unable to continue with classes in-season due to the demands of the playing schedule. He has maintained an exercise routine but admits there have been moments this year when his back has wrenched. Its just that Sunday felt different and, like he gives partial credit to maturity and a better understanding of himself for his offensive turnaround, Lind is taking the conservative approach to dealing with thhis latest setback.dddddddddddd. "I could have came out the last few years but I decided to try and stick it out and play a few extra innings which resulted in a month on the DL," said Lind. "I didnt want to put myself through that again. It just wasnt the smart thing to do." Lind is hitting .327/.386/.547 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. He admits the last 24 hours have been emotionally taxing, worrying about an injury recurrence interrupting his bounce back season. "I feel better (today)", said Lind. "I can take deep breaths. Im in a better mental situation than I was yesterday. I was pretty rattled and shook up ... I was pretty distraught, especially for a couple of innings and then it took a doctor like four innings to get to the clubhouse. It was just like, come on. I was pretty shook up." Meantime, Mark DeRosa, also ailing, was pressed into action Monday afternoon when Encarnacion was a late scratch with tightness in his left hamstring. Encarnacion, 30, is having an all-star-calibre season. His slash line is .270/.350/.537 and his 23 home runs and 66 RBI lead the club. Encarnacions also been dealing with nagging pain in his wrist. DeRosas three-run home run in the fourth off Tigers reliever Luke Putkonen gave the Jays an 8-2 lead and put the game out of reach. DeRosa played with pain in his neck, which hes dealt with sporadically since 2008. He believes its the result of a bulging disk. The absence of Lind and Encarnacion, who remain on the active roster, left manager John Gibbons with only Emilio Bonifacio on his bench. Gibbons says he doesnt anticipate the Blue Jays having to make a roster move to deepen the reserve. ' ' '