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ARCALIS, Andorra -- Through hail, heat and constant pressure from some of his main rivals, Chris Froome rode strong during the toughest stage in the Pyrenees of the Tour de France on Sunday.The British riders furious pedaling in an uphill finish padded his lead over several opponents and put him in control with the yellow jersey entering the races first rest day.That was a tough stage and the weather made it even tougher, Froome said. One minute we were pouring water over our heads and ice packs down our backs and the next minute there was ice falling from the sky.We were just trying to ride face down so the hail didnt hit our faces, added Froome, who took the yellow jersey with a downhill attack and stage win a day earlier. It was pretty difficult out there.Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin won the ninth leg with a solo breakaway on the beyond-category finishing climb.Froome crossed 11th, 6:35 behind Dumoulin, right behind fellow British rider Adam Yates and immediately ahead of top rival Nairo Quintana of Colombia.In the back of my mind I was waiting for (Quintanas) attack all the way up the last climb, Froome said. I thought he was saving it for one big one. But that never came. I would like to think he was on his limit. It was a tough day out there. He just stuck to my wheel like glue.He seems to be going well but right now hes not showing any more than anyone else, Froome added.In the overall classification, Froome holds a 16-second lead over Yates, with Dan Martin of Ireland third, 19 seconds behind, and Quintana fourth, 23 seconds back.Its a very open race at this point but Im very happy to have the lead going into the first rest day, Froome said.Two-time champion Alberto Contador pulled out with a fever midway through the stage.Among those who couldnt keep up with Froome on the final climb were French favorite Romain Bardet, top American hope Tejay van Garderen and Fabio Aru of Italy.Bardet is sixth overall, 44 seconds behind, Van Garderen is 11th with a gap of 1:01 and Aru is 13th at 1:23.Still, Froome hasnt fully shaken Yates, Martin and Quintana.I feel that this is going to be the biggest battle of my career, said Froome, who won the Tour in 2013 and 2015. By no means did I expect this to be easy and that I would ride away from everyone. The level is higher.Part of an early breakaway, Dumoulin attacked with 12 kilometers remaining in the 184.5-kilometer (115-mile) leg from Vielha dAran, Spain, to Arcalis in the principality of Andorra.A few days ago if you said I would win maybe the hardest day in the whole Tour de France this year, I would say you were crazy, said Dumoulin, who was sick last week. But sometimes it all comes together and the legs were feeling good today.Im a time trialist so if I have a gap its difficult to close it on me, Dumoulin added.The stage featured five demanding climbs, including an uphill, beyond-category finish in Arcalis.We went through all states, Bardet said. In the valley, the heat was suffocating. Then in the finale it was apocalyptic.On Team Giant-Alpecin, Dumoulin won the opening time trial in this years Giro dItalia and wore the overall leaders pink jersey for six stages before withdrawing midway through the race with saddle sores.He also won two stages in last years Spanish Vuelta.Approaching the finish line Sunday, Dumoulin turned around to make eye contact with his team director in a car behind him and then, on the verge of tears, stuck his tongue out and raised his arms in celebration.Rui Costa, the former world champion from Portugal, crossed second and Rafal Majka of Poland was third, each 38 seconds behind.Contador crashed in each of the opening stages and had already dropped significant time to the other overall favorites. He was in 20th position at the end of Saturdays eighth stage, 3 minutes, 12 seconds behind Froome.It was quite a surprise to hear on the radio that he was in the car, Froome said. Its a shame. Hes a great rider and he would have only added to what is already quite an exciting race.For the second consecutive day, there was an incident involving a spectator. George Bennett of New Zealand knocked down a fan blocking his way while coming around a tight turn.Monday is the races first rest day. Then there is one more stage in the Pyrenees on Tuesday, a 197-kilometer (122-mile) leg from Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra, to Revel, France.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Aaron Brooks Jersey .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Jack Marin Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. https://www.cheaprocketsonline.com/357z-elvin-hayes-jersey-rockets.html . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Rick Barry Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Kenny Smith Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. WASHINGTON -- A pair of teams that squandered third-period leads before winning in overtime on Thursday will face off when the Florida Panthers visit the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.Washington squandered a 3-0 third-period lead before dominating the overtime session and picking up its fourth straight win on Alex Ovechkins power-play goal, his second tally of the game.On Tuesday night, also against Winnipeg, Washington surrendered a 2-0, third period lead before winning in the final minute of regulation.Weve just got to work on our consistency a little bit, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said after Thursdays win. I knew that at some point we were going to have a little bit of a flat period, but we were able to battle through it. When youre not playing your best you find ways to win and we did.For Ovechkin, who also assisted on linemate Nicklas Backstroms goal, it was his 18th overtime tally, one behind Floridas Jaromir Jagr for first place all-time. It was Ovechkins 91st game winner -- tying him with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Recchi for 16th all-time -- and the Capitals improved to 7-2-1, good for second place in the Metropolitan Division.Weve had some early success, weve got a pretty good record, but were not really happy with the last game, Tom Wilson told the Capitals website. Weve got to continue to develop our game and eliminate certain bad stuff from our game.Florida (5-5-1) lost four of six but picked up two points when Vincent Trochecks second goal of the game, with 43 seconds left in overtime, lifted the Panthers to a 4-3 victory over the Devils.We definitely needed to get back on the winning track, so tonight was a good start, Trocheck told NHL.com.Florida led 3-1 beforre the Devils rallied to tie it.dddddddddddd Rookie Denis Malgin scored in his second straight game and back-up goalie James Reimer made 31 saves.Tonight wasnt a real complete game, but like I said, I thought we played good against Boston in a loss (Tuesday) and tonight we just played okay and we won, so I guess they all make up, Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said.The Capitals won the first meeting between the teams, Oct. 20 in Florida, 4-2, but the Panthers were 2-0-1 against Washington a year ago.The last couple of years theyve given us trouble, Wilson said. I think last year they were one of the few teams with a winning record against us and they come hard. Theyve got a lot of skill. Theyre fast. Theyve got good size.Free-agent signee Jonathan Marchessault leads Florida with six goals and six assists. Fellow free agent acquisition Colton Sceviour has five goals and three assists.Theyre really quick, Trotz said of Florida. Theyre one of the best transition teams in the league.Jagr has 32 goals and 61 assists against the Capitals, one of his former teams, and Keith Yandle owns 11 assists in 17 games.Goalie Robert Luongo, who lost his last three starts overall, is 20-11-3 with a 2.34 goals against average and two shutouts versus Washington.Ovechkin, who scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season Thursday night, owns 34 goals and 37 assists in 55 career games against the Panthers while Backstrom adds 10 goals and 35 assists in 43 contests.Workhorse Washington goalie Braden Holtby is 8-0-1 with a 2.43 goals against and one shutout against the Panthers. ' ' '