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REIMS, France -- Vincenzo Nibali is growing comfortable in his yellow jersey. Hes not taking the Tour de France lead for granted, though. Despite the stunning departure of reigning champion Chris Froome in a crash the day before, the Italian says hes "afraid" of two-time champ Alberto Contador, and senses other contenders are looking for opportunities to strip him of cyclings most coveted jersey. Nibali took another, if small, step on Thursday toward the Tour crown by maintaining his lead as the pack arrived in Reims -- whose famed Cathedral hosted many French coronations -- in a drizzly and crash-marred sixth stage won by German sprint specialist Andre Greipel. Nibali, who has won cyclings two other Grand tours -- the Spanish Vuelta and Italian Giro -- made it five straight days in the yellow shirt that he hopes to take home when the race ends on the Champs-Elysees on July 27. Its still very early, though, and the race has only had one real climbing day so far: Far tougher up-and-down days are ahead this weekend in the Vosges mountains, in the Alps in week two, and the Pyrenees in week three. But Nibali says he is "calm" and feeling good physically, his Astana team is the best-performing squad so far, and several rival teams have been losing riders to crashes. "Im still afraid of Contador," said Nibali, adding that he expects the Spaniard and other yellow jersey aspirants to attack when the race enters the eastern Vosges range on Saturday -- culminating with a tough uphill finish in Mondays Stage 10. "Its true that you can lose a lot of energy defending the yellow jersey, but Ive been riding well," Nibali said through a translator. "Its a heavy task to wear it ... (but) to have the jersey could be a little advantage in the coming stages. Well take it day by day." Contador, a day after losing about 2 1/2 minutes to Nibali on a muddy ride over cobblestones, was dealt another setback on Thursday: His Saxo-Tinkoff teammate Jesus Hernandez, who was expected to help him up the climbs, dropped out after a crash that left him dazed on the roadside. Richie Porte, who inherited the leadership of Team Sky after Froome quit, also lost a teammate. Spanish veteran Xabier Zandio was taken to hospital with a suspected broken rib and severe back injury from a group spill with about 79 kilometres left. The race medical report listed a total of 14 riders with varying injuries from "two big crashes." "It was such a stressful day -- horrible actually," Porte said, crediting support from his team. "The guys were around me all day, and while we lost Xabi Zandio to the crash, the rest of us kept out of trouble and we live to fight another day." Greipel, the Germany champion, collected his sixth career Tour stage win ahead of Norways Alexander Kristoff in second and Frances Samuel Dumoulin in third over the 194-kilometre (120-mile) ride. Greipels job got easier after countryman Marcel Kittel, who has dominated the sprints this year, got a late flat. "I had really good punch today, I am really happy," said Greipel, a Lotto Belisol rider who turns 32 next Wednesday. "Of course Im not looking at Kittel. I dont need to hide. I am still one of the fastest in the bunch. "There was a lot of pressure on us, on my shoulders. Its a big relief for us." The top of the standings didnt change, as most of the contenders for victory in the three-week race trailed close behind the muscular Greipel. He was not a challenger for the overall title; like many sprinters, he does not fare well on the climbs that are crucial to winning in Paris. Hes 37 1/2 minutes behind Nibali. Overall, Nibali has a two-second lead over Danish teammate Jakob Fuglsang. Peter Sagan of Slovakia was third, 44 seconds back. Porte, an Australian, was another 70 seconds back in eighth place. American Andrew Talansky, who won the Criterium du Dauphine in June, was ninth, 2:05 behind Nibali. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was 10th, 2:11 back, and Contador was in 18th, 2:37 behind. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was tied for 86th in the stage and 132nd overall, 33:35 off the lead. Christian Meier, also from Langley, was tied for 145th in the stage and was 154th overall, 38:45 back. With the Tour giving a nod to 100 years since the start of World War I, French President Francois Hollande honoured the fallen and took a ride with race director Christian Prudhomme on Thursday. The Tour chief led a ceremony honouring 1909 winner Francois Faber, one of three winners of early Tours who died in the war. Stage 7 on Friday will be the Tours second longest, another mostly flat 234.5-kilometre (146-mile) trek from Epernay to Nancy. Hoyt Wilhelm Jersey .In a statement released Friday, the Catalan club said the Brazil stars recovery would be monitored to determine when he can begin training again. Reggie Jackson Jersey . Roma has a game in hand but now second place is even at risk for the capital side as Napoli moved to within three points with the win. "The result is not always fair," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "If we play like this until the end we will win many matches. https://www.cheaporioles.com/. Noah finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes. He was headed for his fourth triple-double of the season, but sat down with about three minutes left because of the lopsided score. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points for Chicago, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers, Carlos Boozer added 18 points, D. Renato Nunez Jersey . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Evan Phillips Jersey .Stanton suffered fractures in his face and other injuries when he was hit by a pitch Sept. 11. The Marlins are confident hell fully recover and be ready for spring training, and they hope to reach a long-term agreement with him.BOSTON -- Rubby De La Rosa quietly walked up behind reporters waiting for him and went unnoticed before he got their attention. His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. "Hes been outstanding at home," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Even in the couple of situations where we gave an extra base runner, he shut it down and pitched with a lot of poise tonight." Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking homer, sending the defending World Series champions to their sixth win in seven games. Boston is looking to climb back into the race from the AL Easts basement. Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games with a single. The Royals lost for the eighth time in 11 games, falling to 10-20 in one-run games after leading the AL with 31 victories last season. Napolis homer cleared a billboard atop the Green Monster seats and completely left the park in the sixth. De La Rosa (3-2) gave up one run on five hits, walking four and striking out two. He worked out of trouble most of his outing. "Its fun to pitch here," he said. "I feel comfortable here at Fenway. I like the mound. I like the fans. I feel comfortable here." Danny Duffy (5-10) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits in 6 2-3 innings. It was his fifth loss in six starts, but hes allowed two or fewer runs in four of the losses. "Were not scoring enough runs. Its as simple as that," Royals manager Ned Yost said of the one-run losses. "When we score, we win. Our bullpen does a nice job of holding it close. Its a combination of not capitalizing on opportunities, and we had opportunities tonight, a couple of them." The Royals have scored four total runs, and not more than one in any of Duffys last five losses. "I dont even think about it that way," he said. "These guys in here got my back day in and day out."t; Andrew Miller pitched a perfect eighth and All-Star Koji Uehara a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save in 22 chances.dddddddddddd In two of his three home starts, De La Rosa pitched seven shutout innings. In his last one, he gave up three runs in five innings. De La Rosa stranded runners at second base in four of the first six innings, twice also leaving a runner on first. "I didnt try to think about me on base," he said, flashing a quick smile. "I try to think about the next hitter." The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when Jarrod Dyson tripled and scored on shortstop Omar Infantes sacrifice fly. Infantes fielding error allowed Bostons tying run in the fourth. With runners on first and second, Infante had Shane Victorinos probable inning-ending, double-play grounder go right through his legs, scoring Napoli. Boston left fielder Jonny Gomes bumped into shortstop Brock Holt, dropping a ball for a two-base error in the fourth, and called off Holt, but had the ball fall in front of him for a double in the fifth. NOTES: Bostons last eight home wins have all been by one run. ... The Red Sox activated RF Victorino from the 15-day DL before the game and optioned OF/INF Mookie Betts to Pawtucket. Victorino, who had been on the DL since May 24 with a strained right hamstring, got a nice ovation before his first at-bat, and went 1 for 3. ... The Royals started Dyson in CF in place of slumping Lorenzo Cain, who is hitless in his last 19 at-bats. "The off days definitely help him, coming off the three days at Tampa on the turf really beat up his legs," Yost said of Cain. "If I could do it the day I wanted, wed give him the day off tomorrow, but theres a lefty going tomorrow." ... Boston sends LHP Jon Lester (9-7, 2.65 ERA) against RHP Yordano Ventura (7-7, 3.22) is the series finale Sunday. Lester has a 6-3 mark with a 1.60 ERA in 10 career starts against Kansas City. ... Actor Steve Carell of "The Office" was in the stands, wearing a Red Sox T-shirt. ' ' '