Petitionen & Spendenaufrufe » . Can we still be champions?" ca

LUGO, Spain -- Gianni Meersman of Belgium earned his second win in four days at the Spanish Vuelta after a sprint finish and a crash in the peloton in the final two kilometers on Wednesday.Colombian Darwin Atapuma maintained the overall lead for a second day, after avoiding the fallen riders.I had a slight scare, the fall was just in front of me, Atapuma said. I thought when I braked that someone could hit me from behind, but fortunately I was able to stay upright.Chris Froome also dodged the pileup by inches, according to his Sky team. The Tour de France winner posted on Twitter: Phew! That was a close one.Meersman, an Etixx-Quick Step rider, got his first grand tour win on Sundays second stage.The 30-year-old cyclist secured his second after completing a relatively flat 171.3-kilometer (106.4-mile) ride from Viveiro to Lugo in 4 hours, 16 minutes, 42 seconds. He was in a small group juggling for position at the front of the pack when the crash occurred behind them.Fabio Felline of Italy was second, followed by Frances Kevin Reza in the same time as Meersman.The stage featured Portuguese rider Tiago Machado on a breakaway run of over 150 kilometers (93 miles) that ended when the peloton swallowed him up with 13 kilometers (8 miles) to go.Atapuma, a BMC rider, leads former winner Alejandro Valverde by 28 seconds. Froome trails by :32, followed by Colombian pair Nairo Quintana and Esteban Chaves at :38 behind.The rest of the field trails by more than a minute, including three-time Vuelta winner Alberto Contador at 1:52.I dont know how long my legs will last, Atapuma said. We will fight day by day, and see what the Vuelta has in store for us.Thursdays stage continues in the northwestern province of Galicia with a 163.2-kilometer (101.4-mile) trip from Monforte de Lemos to Luintra.The three-week race ends in Madrid on Sept. 11. Rob Ramage Jersey Large . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Authentic Custom Avalanche Jersey . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. http://www.customavalanchejersey.com/ . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Custom Avalanche Jerseys . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Custom Avalanche T-shirts . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record.LONDON -- For English football, it has long seemed unthinkable: a league season starting without the finger-jabbing, combative colossus of management on the touchlines. Alex Ferguson will be a bystander for the first time since 1986, watching from afar as Manchester United starts its pursuit of a record-extending 21st English title. David Moyes now carries that responsibility. Widely admired during 11 years at Everton despite failing to collect a major honour, Moyes was hand-picked by Ferguson in the biggest decision -- gamble, perhaps -- taken by the owning Glazer family. "People are asking whether we can win the trophy again. Can we still be champions?" captain Nemanja Vidic acknowledged. Although he openly flirted with United in the months before Fergusons retirement was publicly disclosed, Jose Mourinho -- one of the most talented but temperamental managers of his generation -- wasnt approached for the job. The charismatic Portuguese is back in the Premier League, though, after six years collecting trophies with Inter Milan and Real Madrid. Claiming to have mellowed since leaving Chelsea after a fall-out, Mourinho is widely expected to return to his combustible self once the season begins and produce the touchline tantrums Ferguson can no longer provide. Just a week into the season, the 50-year-old managers will get a chance to size each other up in a match that could set the tone for the opening weeks, with United hosting Chelsea. "That game will not decide who is going to be champions," Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic said. "But it will decide a lot of things about the confidence." By then, the Blues may have gained an edge by having played an extra game. United will only have played once -- its title defence begins Saturday at Swansea, following last weekends 2-0 win over Wigan in the Community Shield. Ill-feeling between the sides has been inflamed by Chelseas hostile pursuit of United striker Wayne Rooney. Mourinho insists hes not engaging in "mind games" with Moyes, but has still offered a few pointed words of advice. "One of the most difficult things in the club is to create a victory culture, where you walk through the door and you smell the success, you smell confidence, you smell self-esteem," said Mourinho, who has won league titles in England, Spain, Italy and Portugal. "David is in a big club and that is a big help -- everybody knows how to win. Of course, it is up to him now." And he knows just how daunting the task is. "There has to be an element of fear that comes with managing a club like Manchester United," Moyes said. With the spotlight on Mourinho and Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini has been able to make a quiet start to his first job in English management. The 59-year-old Chilean left Malaga for Manchester City after Roberto Mancini was fired for failing to follow up the 2011-12 Premier League title with a single trophy last season, finishing 11 points behind United in second. Talk of dressing room disharmony has melted away as Pellegrini started to re-shape the squad, spending more than $130 million on strikers Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo, midfielder Fernandinho and winger Jesus Navas. Such a lavish outlay was easily affordable for the oil-rich AAbu Dhabi ownership, but the spending could pose a challenge in complying with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, a requirement of playing in the Champions League.dddddddddddd By contrast, United failed in its pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas, and even more ambitious thoughts of bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford from Madrid. Chelsea might have missed out on Rooney, but around $40 million has still been spent on signing striker Andre Schuerrle and midfielder Marco van Ginkel. As for Arsenal, which finished behind Chelsea in fourth, not a penny has been spent. Thats despite chief executive Ivan Gazidis raising the hopes of fans in June by pledging to "escalate" spending. Moves to entice Luis Suarez from Liverpool for more than $60 million have been rebuffed by Liverpool, which is insisting that the Uruguay striker honour his contract after the club backed him through racism and biting controversies. The Gunners have seen north London rival Tottenham invest $65 million in the squad, although manager Andre Villa-Boas could still be faced with losing arguably the leagues most potent player in Gareth Bale before the transfer window closes Sept. 2. Real Madrids pursuit of the Wales forward threatens to destabilize Tottenham in the opening weeks of the season unless quickly resolved. Bale would be leaving a Premier League that will feature two Welsh teams for the first time after Cardiff gained promotion to join Swansea, which will find it hard to repeat last seasons 11th-place finish and League Cup success. The Cardiff-Swansea derby is shaping up to be one of the fieriest fixtures of the season. The manager to watch out for, though, will be Paolo Di Canio, the confrontational and divisive Italian who succeeded in keeping Sunderland in the top flight after being hired in the closing stages of the season. Sunderland is one of the six Premier League clubs under American ownership. Alongside Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa, Fulham is the latest, with Shad Khan buying out Mohamed Al Fayed last month. The attraction of teams to foreign businessmen is underscored by the new riches being injected into the Premier League, notably from the United States, where NBC has captured the TV rights and covered New York subway trains with its advertising. New rights TV deals will generate around $8.5 billion over the next three years, with a record share of $90 million per season guaranteed for even the bottom team -- and it is newcomers Crystal Palace, Cardiff and Hull who are tipped to go straight back down. Another landmark, highlighting the global allure, will be when Southamptons Victor Wanyama becomes the first player in the Premier League from Kenya, making the African nation the 100th country from outside Britain to be represented in a game. Yet for all the new arrivals and the dramas that unfold in the 20 grounds in the coming months, the absence of one man is still likely to be felt most. Moyes job is to ensure United fans dont hanker after the 71-year-old Ferguson and plead for his return. "It has to be a new era," Moyes said. "My job now is to make my history ... make sure now that my history and my time is something which the fans and people in the future talk about." ' ' '