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LYON, France -- Italian cyclist Matteo Trentin timed his finish perfectly to win the hilly 14th stage of the Tour de France, while Chris Froome preserved his overall lead by staying in the pack on Saturday. Froome and the other main contenders were more than seven minutes back when Trentin crossed the line in Lyon to become the first Italian to win a stage this year. Froome managed not to lose any more time to his main rival Alberto Contador ahead of Sundays daunting 21-kilometre ascent of Mont Ventoux -- one of cyclings toughest climbs, where Britains Tom Simpson collapsed and died during the 1967 Tour. "Im concentrating on the GC (overall classification), but of course it would be great to win tomorrow," Froome said. "In cycling terms it would be like a dream come true." Froome, the Tour favourite, lost more than a minute to Contador, the two-time former champion, and Dutchman Bauke Mollema in Fridays incident-packed sprint stage. This time, he thanked his teammates for keeping him out of danger on the 191-kilometre leg from the winemaking town of Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule in central France to the east-central city of Lyon, one of the gourmet capitals of France and home to the seven-time French football champion. "My teammates controlled the stage and did a great job," Froome said. "Just keeping an eye on things." Froome remains 2:28 ahead of Mollema, considered an outsider, and 2:45 clear of Contador, the 2007 and 09 champion who was stripped of his 2010 title for doping. "A lot of people have reason to attack now," Froome said. "A lot of people spent energy in the last couple of days, so it will be an interesting one." Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria is the top Canadian in 55th place. David Veilleux of Cap-Rouge, Que., is 137th, while Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., is 178th. Meanwhile, Trentin was overjoyed with his first stage win in a major race. "I knew that if I started from 200 metres I could win," he said. "For sure a win in the Tour, this means something. I want to enjoy this because the next days are going to be hard." As they contested the sprint outside Stade Gerland football stadium,Trentin surged from the back to beat Swiss rider Michael Albasini by half a wheel. American Andrew Talansky was third. It was the second straight stage win -- and third in the last four -- for the Omega Pharma QuickStep team after Mark Cavendish won on Friday and Tony Martin clinched Wednesdays time trial. "To be part of this team is incredible," Trentin said. "When I won the stage all my teammates came to say Congratulations." The first three were followed seven minutes 17 seconds later by the heaving mass of riders in the peloton, with Froomes Sky and Alberto Contadors Saxo-Tinkoff teams forming a shield around their star riders. An 18-man breakaway set off early, with Jens Voigt, Jan Bakelants and British rider David Millar driving it hard to get Garmin-Sharp teammate Talansky -- the groups highest-placed rider in the general classification -- in a good position. Voigts first Tour was in 1998 and Saturdays was his 303rd day of racing in the showcase race in his 16th Tour. "To be honest, five years too many," Voigt said when asked why he couldnt last. "Im 41, thats nature." The yellow jersey group was about five minutes behind when the front-runners had all completed the second Category 3 climb. Those two were the biggest ones of the day but only moderate ascents compared to what awaits the riders on Sunday. Millar calls the Ventoux climb "horrible" and Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski is dreading it. "Its such a legendary mountain that Im a little bit scared about it," said Kwiatkowski, seventh overall but nearly five minutes behind Froome. Sunday is Bastille Day. Judging by the thousands of people who turned out on the roadside to cheer on Saturday, the atmosphere up Ventoux promises to be electric. Froomes Sky teammates have clearly struggled in two stages so far -- in the Pyrenees in Stage 9 and Fridays flat stage -- and he needs them to be at their best to repel any attacks from Contador so he can relax on Mondays rest day -- the second of the race. "My focus is going to be on keeping yellow, preserving the advantage I have," Froome said. Jordan 12 Cheap Real . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Jordan 12 Cheap China . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. http://www.cheapairjordan12.net/ . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. Air Jordan 12 Cheap Sale . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Jordan 12 For Sale Cheap Real . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- C.J. Bryce scored 18 points and UNC Wilmington used a big first half to beat Western Michigan 97-92 on Wednesday night.Devontae Cacoks layup broke a 22-all tie and put the Seahawks in front for good. Ambrose Mosley made three straight 3-pointers, the Seahawks made 8 of 17 from long distance, and UNC Wilmington led 51-32 at halftime.Western Michigan closed in the second half and outscored the Seahawks 60-46, but ran out of time.Ambrose Mosley scored a career-high 17 points and made 5 of 9 3-pointerss for the Seahawks, Chris Flemmings added 17 and Denzel Ingram scored 16 with 4 of 7 3s.ddddddddddddUNC Wilmington (6-1) finished shooting 12 of 29 from beyond the arc (41.4 percent) and 21 of 28 (75 percent) from the free throw line.Tucker Haymond scored 24 points for Western Michigan (2-5), Thomas Wilder scored 22 points, Reggie Jones added 16 and Brandon Johnson had 10 with 14 rebounds. ' ' '