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 Wholesale Custom Clippers Shirts .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. Authentic Custom Clippers Jersey . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.customclippersjersey.com/ . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Cheap Clippers Jerseys . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Custom Clippers T-shirts . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. MIAMI -- The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back their ace with open arms as Clayton Kershaw took the mound Friday for the first time in 75 days.Out since late June with a lower-back injury, the three-time Cy Young Award winner gave up two runs on five hits over three innings in the Dodgers 4-1 loss to the?Miami Marlins, throwing 66 pitches in the process.It was not vintage Kershaw by any means, but the left-hander still recorded five strikeouts, striking out the side in the second inning.He rated his outing as not great.I threw a lot of pitches. I was averaging 20-plus pitches an inning, so regardless if the pitch count was in effect or not, it probably would have been a short night, Kershaw said after the game. You try to look at the positives, and I got to pitch again, so thats good. But you dont want to be a detriment to the team, either. Ill definitely try and pitch a little deeper next time.Despite the short outing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was happy to see his ace back on the mound.?There wasnt the sharpness we expected, the slider wasnt there, but just to see him on the mound was great, Roberts said. And in talking to him after the start, he came back into the dugout and said he felt good.Obviously every game is important, but for Clayton to be back on the mound, I think thats a win for us.Kershaw needed 14 pitches in the first inning, 29 in the second and 23 more in the third. He gave up a solo home run to J.T. Realmuto in the opening inning and an RBI single to Chris Johnson in the second. Kershaw gave up three hits in the second inning, including a comebacker up the middle from opposing pitcher Jose Fernandez that knocked him to the ground.Five of the last six outs Kershaw recorded were via strikeout. He exited trailiing the Marlins 2-0.ddddddddddddAsked whether it was realistic for him to regain his old form after a 75-day lull, Kershaw said, I dont get that luxury.Its not a perfect world, obviously. But at the same time, its September whatever-it-is and weve got a division to win, he said. While there might be some rough spots for me at times, there really cant be.Roberts said Kershaw wanted to go back out on the mound despite his struggles.He wants to finish every game he starts. So thats what makes him great. There was a little discussion, but he understood this was in his and our best interest, Roberts said.The short outing was not a complete surprise,considering the Dodgers are slowly building up his pitch count. In his only minor league rehab start earlier this week, Kershaw threw 34 pitches and then 15 more in the bullpen after his outing.Before he went to the disabled list with a mild disk herniation, Kershaw was 11-2 in 16 starts with a 1.79 ERA and had 145 strikeouts to just nine walks.It was the second time Kershaw has been on the disabled list in his career -- he also sat out more than a month at the outset of the 2014 season when he won both the National League Cy Young and MVP awards.Kershaw admitted he briefly thought about whether he would ever come back.?It definitely started creeping in my mind, Kershaw said. But you cant really think like that. I probably pouted for a day and got over it.It was a little unfortunate that I couldnt get out there for a couple more innings. But the arm feels good. The pitches werent great. But I dont think it was because I was tired or anything. It just wasnt a great night. ' ' '