BERN, Switzerland -- As the Tour de France heads toward the Alps, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde have only a few opportunities left to try and derail Chris Froomes bid for a third title in four years.The remaining three high-mountain stages and uphill time trial should be the ideal playground for the Movistar teammates, who need to abandon their conservative approach and take all risks to make up for the big chunk of time they have lost.Quintana, runner-up to Froome in 2013 and 2015, is in fourth place overall, 2 minutes, 59 seconds behind. Valverde is 18 more seconds behind his teammate.The gaps are significant, but Quintana, a pure climber from Colombia, managed to gain time on Froome in the Alps last year.His subdued performance at the Mont Ventoux and his unimpressive time trial last week have, however, raised doubts about his ability to make a comeback.Even his team manager, Eusebio Unzue, admits Quintana is not at his best.We did not see the Nairo we know at the Mont Ventoux. Hopefully, things will return to normal in the Alps, he said.Unzue has been vainly scratching his head to find the winning formula that will allow his riders to crack Team Skys supremacy. While many observers have been struggling to understand why Quintana and Valverde have not harassed Froome with relentless attacks in the Pyrenees and the Jura mountains, Unzue says his cautious approach was right.Attacking all the time would be good for the show. But its unrealistic and not a guarantee for success, Unzue said. We need to wait for the right time, for the moment that will allow us to be efficient when we make a move.Valverde agreed with his boss, saying Quintana has to try it when he considers he can hurt his competitors.Encouraging for Movisar is that Froome has not been as dominant on the mountains as he has on previous Tours.Froome would normally use the first mountaintop finish to assert his authority on the race, something he has not been able to do this year. Instead, hes built his lead with an impressive showing against the clock combined with master tactical coups in the Peyresourde downhill and the crosswinds near Montpellier.I believe that Froome and his rivals are more or less on the same level in the mountains this year, Unzue said. In Andorra and at the Ventoux, he did not attack to create gaps, I believe that he is not as strong as he was before. The problem is more that he has a team capable of controlling the race in delicate situations.Despite claims in French newspapers that Froome has no rival this year, he is certain he will be given a hard challenge in the Alps, where he struggled with a chest infection and lost nearly two minutes to Quintana last year. As a result, he has slightly changed his preparation to be in a better shape in the final week of racing.I feel more ready for the third week than I have been previously, said Froome, who has a 1:47 lead over his closest rival, Dutch rider Bauke Mollema. Starting the season later helped, and I had a quieter run-in to the Tour. I said at the beginning of the race I wanted to be at my best in the third week and Im on track for that.Wednesdays first Alpine stage takes the peloton on a 184.5-kilometer ride to the ski resort of Finhaut-Emosson, and features a punishing 10-kilometer final climb to the finish. It will be followed by an uphill time trial and two more grueling stages in high altitude before the ceremonial finish on the Champs Elysees.I feel as if Ive been waiting for these four days, Froome said. Perhaps some other riders have, too. Wholesale Patriots Jerseys .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Fake Patriots Jerseys . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Patriots Jerseys 2019 . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Washington suffered its first loss of the season last week, but its hopes still flicker for a berth in the College Football Playoff.The seventh-ranked Huskies (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12) still control their destiny in the Pac-12 North, needing to beat struggling Arizona State (5-5, 2-5) at home on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX) before finishing the regular season at division-leading Washington State.We do just need to respond, said Washington coach Chris Petersen, whose team lost 26-13 at home to USC last weekend.I hope our guys have a new edge to them a little bit, but I do think theyve done a good job all season long, like Ive been saying, about preparing. They played hard. Both sides played really, really hard. It wasnt about that at all.Washingtons weak nonconference schedule -- Rutgers, Idaho, Portland State -- continues to be an issue as the Huskies now need help to reach the playoff. But they have a chance to impress late in the season, by beating the Cougars and then facing a ranked champion from the Pac-12 South, possibly even getting a rematch against USC.But first up is Arizona State, which has lost four games in a row, allowing at least 37 points in each of them. The Sun Devils have given up 103 total points to Oregon and Utah in the past two outings.Allowing explosive plays has been at the forefront of ASUs undoing.The Sun Devils have allowed 64 plays of 20-plus yards (tied for 121st out of 128 teams nationally), 34 plays of 30-plus yards (123rd), 24 plays of 40-plus yards (127th), 16 plays of 50-plus yards (127th) and 11 plays of 60-plus yards (tied for 126th).For more evidence, see last weeks 49-26 home loss to Utah.The Utes scored on a 64-yard pass, a 27-yard pass, a 17-yard pass, an 82-yard run, a 24-yard pass and a 40-yard run.The story of the whole game, when you go back and look at the film, my only impression is just big plays, said coach Todd Graham. Thats been the big deal. Its just frustrating.Although stonewalled by USC, Washington has all kinds of explosive potential. The Huskies scored 70 against Oregon and 66 vs. Cal this season. The trio of wide receiver John Ross, running back Myles Gaskin and quarterback Jake Browning can provide plenty of fireworks.Browning, after completing 17 of 36 passes for 259 yards with one touchdown and two innterceptions against USC, dropped from first to third nationally in passing efficiency with a rating of 189.dddddddddddd1.Gaskin was held to 51 yards rushing on 15 carries last week, but he did go over 1,000 yards for the season and is averaging 6.0 yards per carry. Ross, one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nations top wideout, picked up his 15th touchdown reception of the season last week.Ross is probably the most dynamic player in our league, Graham said. I would say explosive plays and defense are the two things when I think of them.Washingtons defense has been superb, ranking ninth nationally in points allowed (17.9 per game) and 19th in total defense (336.8). The Huskies lead the nation in turnover margin (plus 1.5 per game).But Washington is now without two of its top two defenders against the run. Linebacker Joe Mathis (foot) was already out for the season and linebacker Azeem Victor suffered a foot injury last week that will keep him sidelined.Redshirt freshman DJ Beavers will replace Victor, who has a team-high 68 tackles.I think he filled in pretty well, Petersen said of Beavers.He made some tackles, played aggressive, played tough. Its hard when you lose a player like Azeem, for sure, but it was not like this, Oh, now we have no chance type of thing. He was right there playing physical.Arizona State has some weapons on offense, although quarterback Manny Wilkins, who has dealt with injuries in recent weeks, looked rusty Saturday against Utah, throwing two interceptions and being sacked nine times.Arizona State uses running back Kalen Ballage in a variety of ways, including taking direct snaps. He is coming off his second consecutive game with 200-plus all-purpose yards, rolling up 244 against Utah -- a career-high 118 receiving, 46 rushing and 80 in the return game.Wide receiver NKeal Harry, a talented true freshman, is coming off his best game. He had eight catches for a career-high 114 yards, rushed for 31 yards on a broken play after he dropped a lateral, and completed a 46-yard pass. Hell have interesting matchups this week against Washington cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Kevin King. ' ' '