NICE, France -- At the Tour de France, it really isnt a cliche to say that every second counts. As a former winner, Cadel Evans knows that better than most. The 2011 champion was one of the losers Tuesday in the team time trial. Even riding bikes that cost as much as a gd second-hand family saln car, with sharp edges to slice through the air and fancy electric gears, Evans and his teammates still couldnt keep up with two of his main rivals -- Chris Frme and Alberto Contador. Evans surrendered 23 seconds to Frme and 17 to Contador. So early in the Tour -- the team race against the clock was only the fourth of 21 stages -- such small losses are by no means fatal to Evans hopes of finishing on the podium in Paris on July 21. Riders who have bad days in the Pyrenees, in the second week, or on Mont Ventoux and in the Alps, in the third week, could lose far more than that on just one steep climb. Still, Evans was the first to acknowledge that handing this early edge to the big favourites for the overall victory was far from ideal. Somewhere, somehow, Evans now has to make up that lost time if he can. Depending on how the race unfolds, the deficit could force the Australian to try to attack Frme and Contador in the mountains. That will be risky because both are better climbers than Evans. Contador, 30, and Frme, 28, are also a gd bit younger than the 36-year-old Australian. "You lk to gain every second at this point in the Tour and losing a lot of seconds certainly isnt what I hoped for today and it isnt what I expected," he said. "Weve been put on the back ft and well have to see what opportunities come our way. "The simple analysis is we werent fast enough." That wasnt true of Orica-GreenEdge. The team of six Australians, a Swiss rider, a South African and time-trial specialist Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., made itself at home on the Promenade des Anglais -- "the promenade of the English" -- with the quickest ever team time trial on the 15.5-mile route that went out and back along the famous beachside avenue in the Mediterranean city of Nice. Racing past the palm trees Orica beat Omega Pharma-Quick Step by less than 1 second and Frmes Team Sky by 3 seconds. Oricas average speed of 35.9 mph was the fastest ever for a team time trial at the 110-year-old Tour. According to the race organizers history guide, the previous fastest team time trial was by Discovery Channel, with Lance Armstrong. It averaged 35.6 mph on a course nearly three times as long in 2005. This 100th Tour is the first since Armstrong was last year stripped of his wins from 1999-2005 for serial doping. Setting aside that tainted result, Garmin-Cervelo rode an average speed of 34.5 mph on a 14.3-mile course in 2011. The team event is as much about rhythm and the nine riders working smthly together as it is about raw speed. In their aerodynamic tear-drop shaped helmets that wouldnt lk out of place in Star Trek, the teams set off one after another at four-minute intervals. The riders take turns at the front, pedalling as hard as they can, while their teammates follow in a line, catching their breath in the slipstream before they go back to the front again. Mastering the choreography is an art. The strongest riders must make sure not to leave teammates behind. "It was just smth. When youre going really high speed, its all about keeping it smth. You know, no champion efforts, no big individual efforts, it is about riding to the strength of the team," Orica rider Stuart OGrady said. Another Orica rider, Simon Gerrans, tk over the race lead and the yellow jersey that goes with it. Orica has so far been the standout team at this Tour -- mostly for gd reasons but also for bad. Its bus got stuck at the finish line of Stage 1, causing momentary mayhem and making the team the butt of jokes. But it wiped the smile off rivals faces with Gerrans winning Stage 3 and now in yellow thanks to the time trial victory that gave him and two teammates the top three spots in the overall standings. Gerrans tk up cycling to help rehabilitate knee injuries he got racing motorbikes. He was introduced to the sport and coached by Phil Anderson, the first Australian to wear the yellow jersey, back in 1981. One of Oricas directors is Matt White -- a former teammate of Armstrong. White last year admitted to involvement in doping when he rode with Armstrongs U.S. Postal Service team. White was banned for six months. The punishment was reduced from two years because White is helping the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigate cycling. White wouldnt get into detail on this Tuesday. "I think everythings been said," he said. "So obviously with ongoing investigations theres nothing more to say about that." After four stages, the Tour has now had three different proud bearers of the yellow jersey. Marcel Kittel and Jan Bakelants wore it before Gerrans. In 2012, the Tour had just two leaders -- Fabian Cancellara and then eventual winner Bradley Wiggins, who tk the jersey on Stage 7 and never gave it back. Victorias Ryder Hesjedal was the top Canadian in the overall classification after four stages in 16th place, 17 seconds behind Gerrans. Quebec Citys David Veilleux, riding with Team Europcar, was in 117th place, 15:20 off the pace. Tuft was in 152nd, 26 minutes back. Frme, Wiggins lieutenant last year on Team Sky but now its leader, was buoyant after the time trial. He is starting to sound more comfortable with the mantle of race favourite. "Im feeling like Im really coming into some gd form now ahead of the mountains," the Briton said. His aim, of course, is to get the yellow jersey eventually, but not quite yet. The Tour swings westward through Provence to Marseille and then Montpellier on Wednesday and Thursday. Those predominantly flat stages are for sprinters or riders who will be allowed to breakaway because they arent a threat for overall victory. Frme, Contador, Evans and other main contenders will probably be happy to sit safely in the pack before they do battle in the more decisive mountain climbs and two individual time trials later in the race. "It gives us a few more days to be in the peloton and wait until the mountains come, where I feel the team will really excel," Frme said. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Outlet . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. 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The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Cheap Borussia Dortmund Jerseys China . 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. KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kyle Busch continued his dominance of the Xfinity Series at Kansas Speedway on Saturday.Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez continued their chase for a title.Pulling double-duty this weekend, Busch led 150 of the 200 laps in a thoroughly dominant performance for his ninth series win of the season. It was also his third straight Xfinity win at Kansas, where he won in his Sprint Cup car for the first time this spring.There were a lot of things trying to work against us toward the end, but we just persevered, said Busch, who at one point was a lap down. We had great speed. I think we showed it all weekend. It was just a matter of putting it all together and ending up in victory lane, where we deserved to be.Sadler finished second and Suarez finished third to give the Chase contenders a nice start to the three-race round of eight, which now takes a two-week break before continuing at Texas.Everyone is starting off square, Sadler said, so youre trying to get a point here and get a point there. Now everybody will have different strategies as we go to Texas and Phoenix.Two more Sprint Cup regulars, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson, waged an entertaining duel to round out the top five. But it was some drama around them in the closing laps that shk up the title chase.Justin Allgaier and Darrell Wallace Jr. were involved in a late wreck, though Allgaiers partially destroyed car was able to finish a lap down in 14th. Wallace wound up 33rd and now has a massive deficit to make up the next two races if he wants to avoid elimination.PPretty hard hit.dddddddddddd Just unfortunate, said Wallace, who was blinking away some pain when he tk off his helmet. We were making some gd calls and running our own race and thats part of it.I think we could have gotten a top-10 if we hit our restarts right, but just not our day.Nor was it Brendan Gaughans day. He went slip-sliding through the grass on the front stretch late in the race and wound up 31st -- though he did provide some comic relief when he sprinted from the infield care center back to his car in an attempt to squeeze a few more laps in before the finish.It wound up having no bearing on his result.Erik Jones also had a gripe after spending most of the day near the front. He was hit from behind by Larson on a late restart, sending him into Ty Dillon and causing enough damage to force a costly pit stop.Jones ended finishing 15th, fifth among the eight drivers competing for a championship.Its all my fault, Larson told his spotter after the impact.Blake Koch finished ninth in a strong start to the round for his championship hopes, while Ryan Reed dealt with a series of problems all afternn and finished behind Allgaier and Jones in 16th.Now, theyll all be chasing Sadler and Suarez over the next two races.We had a great race. So proud of my team, Sadler said. We kept working on the car, working on the car, getting better and better. I just have to do a better job of out-running that 18 car. ' ' '