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 Frme in a crash the day before, the Italian says hes "afraid" of two-time champ Alberto Contador, and senses other contenders are lking for opportunities to strip him of cyclings most coveted jersey. Nibali tk 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 gd 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 Frme 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 gd punch today, I am really happy," said Greipel, a Lotto Belisol rider who turns 32 next Wednesday. "Of course Im not lking 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, 27 behind. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was tied for 86th in the stage and 132nd overall, 335 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 tk 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. Cheap Jerseys Review . 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Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will be out three to six weeks with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand. CHICAGO -- Paul Konerko is a spot starter and pinch hitter in his 18th and final major league season, and he is determined to succeed in his new role. He lked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. "Its a gd attack. I mean we feel like one through nine we can score runs at any moment," Konerko said. Jose Abreu collected three more hits as the White Sox roughed up Travis Wd on their way to their fourth straight win, extending their season-best streak. The rkie slugger doubled twice to run his major league-best total to 24 extra-base hits. The White Sox also got a nice game from shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who singled in a run in the first and made a great over-the-shoulder catch to rob Welington Castillo of a hit in the ninth. Ramirez then threw to first to double off Starlin Castro for the second out. "Just an awesome play," said Beckham, who was standing near second when Ramirez grabbed the ball in short centre field. "Just fun to watch." The last-place Cubs dropped their fourth consecutive game. Frustrated rkie manager Rick Renteria was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Tom Wdring after he pulled Wd (2-4) with no outs in the fifth. Mike Olt hit his fifth homer for the Cubs, who have managed just five runs and 12 hits in the first three games of the city series against the White Sox. Luis Valbuena and Emilio Bonifacio each had a run-scoring double. "I think we still have to put ourselves back in the situation where we continue to get better at grinding out at-bats," Renteria said. "Putting balls in play with some impact in hitters counts, which are things that we talk about. Things that are being addressed on a daily basis." Bonifacios sharp grounder off the glove of diving third baseman Marcus Semien got the Cubs within 4-3 in the fifth and put runners on second and third with one out. But John Danks (3-2) limited the damage by striking out Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo to end the inning. The White Sox then put the game away iin the bottom half.ddddddddddddThe first three batters reached before Konerko hit a rope into the left-field corner for his second double, chasing Wd and giving him five RBIs in limited action in his final season. Konerko advanced on a groundout and scored on Semiens single, giving the White Sox an 8-3 lead. Konerko doubled again in the seventh in his seventh start of the season. "Its the same name on the back and all that, but nothing this year is connected to the past," said Konerko, a .300 hitter in 75 career games against the Cubs. "This is a new thing and Im trying to be gd at it. Its taking some practice and I think Im getting better at it." Wd allowed a season-high eight runs and matched a career high by issuing five walks in his shortest outing of the year. The left-hander, who made the All-Star team last season, was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two previous starts against the White Sox. "I dont like walking anybody let alone as many as I did," Wd said. "I dont even know how many I had, but I know it wasnt gd." Danks had a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings. The lefty gave up three runs and four hits while stopping a two-game losing streak. Danks got a lift in the fourth when Beckham drove a 1-0 pitch from Wd over the wall in centre for a three-run shot, making it 4-1. Beckham had four hits in a 5-1 victory over the Cubs on Tuesday night, including a tiebreaking solo homer with two out in the eighth. NOTES: White Sox 3B Conor Gillaspie was activated from the 15-day disabled list. He had been sidelined with a bruised left hand. To make rm on the roster, OF Jordan Danks was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. ... The Cubs placed RH reliever Pedro Strop on the 15-day disabled list with a moderate left groin strain. LHP Zac Rosscup was promoted from Triple-A Iowa for his third stint of the season with the major league club. ... Iowa Cubs pitcher Chris Rusin threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over New Orleans. The 27-year-old left-hander struck out three and walked two while throwing 118 pitches. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes on White Sox RHP Scott Carroll (1-1, 0.68 ERA) in the series finale on Thursday night. ' ' '