LIMOGES, France -- Chris Froomes team principal likened it to the first round of a boxing match.Froome himself is expecting time gaps.The overall contenders are expected to spring into action in Wednesdays opening mountain stage of the Tour de France.The 216-kilometer (134-mile) route from Limoges to Le Lioran in the Massif Central features five climbs in a constant up and down finish, including the 1,589-meter (5,213-foot) Pas de Peyrol.It will mark the first time that the Tour has gone above 1,500 meters this early in the race since the leg-breaking start to the 1979 edition, which began with three stages in the Pyrenees over the first four days.Its the first test and everyone will be looking at each other. In many respects I guess its like the first round of a boxing match, where you come out and see where the opponents at, Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said Tuesday following Stage 4, which was won by Marcel Kittel in a mass sprint. Its exciting to get into this phase of the race.Froome, a two-time Tour champion, is well placed to defend his title in fifth position overall, 18 seconds behind leader Peter Sagan, who is not a pure climber.Colombian challenger Nairo Quintana, a two-time runner-up to Froome at the Tour, is seventh with the same time as Froome.Among the other contenders, Fabio Aru of Italy, Tejay van Garderen of the United States and Romain Bardet of France also share the same time as Froome.Its a bit too early to see a real GC (general classification) battle but its definitely somewhere where there will be time gaps, said Froome, who won the first mountain stage at last years Tour. Its not going to be a big bunch sprint. Its going to be a more select group coming to the line.While it may not be a tough enough test for Froome to take a stage victory, he could end up with the yellow jersey.Maybe its a stage for someone like (second-placed Julian) Alaphilippe or (third-placed Alejandro) Valverde, Dan Martin maybe, Froome added. I imagine those guys are going to be the favorites for tomorrow.Valverde finished third overall in last years Tour and is coming off a third-place result in this years Giro dItalia. The Spaniard was expected to support Quintana on the Movistar team.(Valverde) seems to be in good (form), Froome said. I wouldnt be surprised if he is just (preparing) himself to ride GC and have a two-pronged approach with Nairo. They definitely have the team to do it. ... Until he loses time Ive got to treat him as a rival.Two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador fell in each of the opening stages and has bruises all over his body. Hes in 54th place, 1:06 behind Sagan.Im still hurting. I had another night of bad sleep. I need some more time to recover, Contador said before Tuesdays stage. As time goes by, things can only get better.Things will also get tougher, though.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap NBA Jerseys . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. China Football Jerseys . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. http://www.cheapjerseysforfree.com/ . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Wholesale China Jerseys . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season.CLEVELAND -- The Browns are playing it safe with Trent Richardson. Clevelands star running back will not play in the clubs exhibition opener on Thursday night against the St. Louis Rams as he continues to recover from an injured right shin. Richardson was accidentally kicked in the shin -- the same one he hurt during spring practice -- last week, and the Browns wont risk him hurting it further. "Were going to be smart," coach Rob Chudzinski said following Wednesdays practice, which was moved indoors because of heavy rain. Chudzinski said Richardson could have played if it was a regular-season game, but the Browns are being careful with the former first-round pick, who has had a history with injuries and played most of last season with two broken ribs. Chudzinski said he is not concerned about Richardsons durability. "Its the preseason, we have a plan of working him and making sure that he gets reps as needed out here in practice and we build him to be ready for the beginning of the season," Chudzinski said. Richardson did not play in any of Clevelands exhibition games a year ago, when he was recovering from minor knee surgery. He recently said one of his goals was to play in all four of Clevelands preseason games. Richardson took part in some drills on Wednesday, but was not on the field during team activities. Chudzinski said Richardson understands the reasons for the Browns keeping him out. Richardson rushed for 950 yards and caught 51 passes for 367 yards as a rookie. He played in 15 games, missing only the finale at Pittsburgh with an ankle injury sustained the previous week at Denver. Chudzinski said Dion Lewis will start in Richardsons spot. Also, starting strong safety T.J. Ward (hamstring) and starting guard Shawn Lauvao (ankle) will also sit out against the Rams. The Browns plan to play their starters for about one quarter, meaning quarterback Brandon Weeden will only have a few series to impress Clevelands coaching staff and maybe silence some critics who dont think hes Clevelands long-term answer at QB. Weeden has showed progress during training camp, and seems more comfortable with the Browns new offence. His goals against the Rams are pretty simple. "Just string together consecutive good plays, string together couple good drives, just get the feel of the game," he said. "Its a little different than practice, obviously ttheres going to be some emotions, theres going to be a lot more adrenaline and stuff like that.dddddddddddd. So I think its just put together a couple good drives and completions and just manage the game and do the things I need to do to move the ball up the field." The Browns defence has had the upper hand during recent practices, but Weeden feels Clevelands offence is starting to gel. "Were making strides," he said. "We have a long ways to go. I dont think were where we need to be. I think if you ask anybody, theyd all say the same thing, weve got a long ways to go. I still feel good about the guys we have. Im excited about the potential we have offensively. Once you get in the game and you get those live reps you can get a better understanding, because its tough when you go against your defence all the time and they have a pretty good idea what youre doing and you know what theyre doing. "So well see, but weve got some work to do." On defence, the Browns will get their first chance to unleash an aggressive scheme that has been installed by new co-ordinator Ray Horton, who spent the past two seasons in Arizona. Cornerback Joe Haden said the Browns are eager to go against another team, if for no other reason than to break up the monotony of training camp. "We just want to be able to hit somebody else besides our own teammates," Haden said. "Honestly, see how the scheme works. See how when were in practice and were blitzing against our offence and sometimes we get to the quarterback and have to back off. How it looks when you really just get to go all out and if the quarterback is really going to have to release it or if the offensive line is going to pick up the blocks. "Its going to be really good to see in a game-time situation how the blitzes really work." ---- NOTES: Rookie CB Leon McFadden (groin) and RB Montario Hardesty (hamstring) will also sit out the preseason opener. McFadden missed his first practice on Wednesday. ... Johnson Bademosi will start for Ward and Jason Pinkston will replace Lauvao at right guard. ... The Browns will honour Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown at their nationally televised Oct. 3 game against Buffalo. The team did not provide any specifics about the tribute but said "the event figures to be among the most singular memories in the teams rich timeline." ' ' '