VAISON LA ROMAINE, France -- It was the sort of incident that, sadly, was waiting to happen.The shambolic finish to the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday was littered with senseless crowds,? which ruined a dramatic finale. Not only did the incident halt the attack of British two-time Tour champion Chris Froome and Australian Richie Porte, but it turned the finale into a farce.In the shortened 178km stage from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux, Froome (Sky) and Porte (BMC) each crashed into a television motor bike that had been stopped by a virtual wall of fans. This happened as the two, along with Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), were extending their lead on the group of rivals with 1.2 kilometers to go. The replays showed Porte riding straight into the back of the motor bike, striking his chin as he went to the ground, with Froome and Mollema following suit.In addition to the crowds, another contributing factor to the crash was the lack of barriers leading up to the finish. Because the distance of the stage was shortened due to gale-force winds, organizers had not brought more barriers down from the initial finish at the summit of Mont Ventoux.Some might argue that this years Tour has become farcical, remembering the embarrassment of the one-kilometrer-to-go arch falling onto British rider Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) on Saturday. And to think Thursdays crash came just five days after Froomes impassioned plea for crowds to respect the riders and not run too close to them.But the drama didnt end with the crashes. First came the sight of Froome dropping his broken bike, after he got back up on his feet and ran for 50 seconds. Who could have imagined? The yellow jersey wearer, a two-time Tour winner, running as if he was in a triathlon transition zone through the still cheering and shocked masses. He stopped to resume cycling only when the neutral service gave him a spare, but ill-fitting, bike. Finally, his Sky team car reached him to provide a better bike.Then as Mollema raced ahead, the rivals he, Froome and Porte had worked so hard to drop caught up with the chaos, only to sweep by Froome and Porte, who finished 19th and 25th respectively. Meanwhile, Belgian rider Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) won the stage.But the race jury overturned the provisional results and declared a new race leader in Yates, who began the stage in second place overall. Froome and Porte were awarded the same finishing time as Mollema, who placed 10th at 5:05, and Froome was officially put back into first place overall with a lead of 47 seconds on Yates and 54 seconds on Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar). As for Porte, he was up from 14th to 11th overall -- but still at 2:22 to Froome.Froome: Expect the unexpected at the TourYates welcomed the overturn. I dont want to take the jersey like that, he said. Id rather take it with my legs and not a crash in a bad situation. If I was in the same situation in the yellow jersey, Id want the same outcome.Froome did not attend the post stage media zone or news conference that is normally required of the yellow jersey wearer. But he spoke to French Television and released a statement on the Team Sky website: Mount Ventoux always throws up something different, and today was no exception. Obviously its really unfortunate what happened in the last couple of kilometres, but ultimately I think common sense has prevailed and the commissaries have come to the right decision -- so Id like to thank them for that. You always have to expect the unexpected at the Tour, and Ive said all along that this would be my biggest challenge yet. Now Im just looking forward to tomorrows time trial.On Friday, the Tour will resume, as it always does after a crisis, for the Stage 13 time trial, 37.5 kilometers from Bourg-Saint-Andéol to La Caverne du Pont DArc. But as Froome, Porte and the rest of the peloton continue on, the understandable and justified calls for crowds to be controlled must be addressed.A lauded trait of the Tour is the interaction between riders and fans who flock in the hundreds of thousands to watch the worlds biggest bike race. But for years, concerns have been brewing at increasing levels of extreme behavior. The reasons have been many. Fan excitement is one. In the 1993, as Italian Giuseppe Guerini (Telekom) was soloing toward victory on the prestigious Alpine finish at lAlpe dHuez, he was bowled over by a spectator who was standing in the middle of the road to take his photo. Guerini still won the stage and the offending fans, to his credit, apologized the next day.However, in recent years, the frenzy has seen more violent intent. Sentiment toward American Lance Armstrong during his reign as the Tour champion from 1999 to 2005 turned from bitter to extremely volatile as suspicion grew that he was doping. Once encouraging messages of support -- that were either verbalized or painted on the road -- became direct personal insults. Suspicion that Armstrong doped eventually proved correct after he confessed and was banned for life in 2012. He was also stripped of his tour titles.Porte: I dont know what they are going to do.Froome and Porte have both experienced the ugly and angry tone of the crowd, as have other riders. In 2013, when Froome won at Mont Ventoux, after dropping Quintana, he rode to victory through a chorus of boos and jeers. Quintana was otherwise greeted by cheers. Just last year, Froome had urine thrown at him, and Porte was punched during a stage.Even on Thursday, when Froome received his yellow jersey, he was also greeted by boos. Porte was at a loss to explain how the crowds became so uncontrollable. I dont know what [race organizers] are going to do. They need to do something about it because its not fair, Porte said. Its not really the motor bikes, is it? Its the crowds. They are in your face the whole time, pushing order, and at the top there, that was just crazy. We were 23 seconds in front and next thing for something so silly, you know everyone is back on us.De Gendt called for action to be taken: There were a lot of people in the last kilometer, he said. They should do something about that. There was not even a place for one moto.Trouble is, after Froomes plea for respect last week clearly fell on the deaf ears, one cant help but ask: What is the solution? Fake Nike Shoes . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Cheap Shoes Fake . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. http://www.fakeshoesonline.com/ . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Fake Jordan Shoes . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. China Shoes For Sale . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. LOS ANGELES -- Stars filed into Staples Center to watch Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. Cedric the Entertainer, Magic Johnson and the Mamba himself sat courtside Sunday, hoping to see the Sparks clinch the WNBA championship for the first time since 2002.The proverbial stars, however, did not align for the Sparks. Maya Moore scored 31 points and Minnesota won 85-79 to force the WNBA Finals to a decisive Game 5 on Thursday (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET).I think we fought today, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said. When it comes to the focus and awareness, we can sharpen up there, and I think thats what we have to do.Minnesotas game plan was to make someone other than Ogwumike and Candace Parker beat the Lynx. The duo finished with 25 total points, well below their combined playoffs average of 36.9 points per game.Chelsea Gray almost became that player, turning in a performance of 20 points while shooting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. In the end, however, even her herculean performance wasnt enough to lift the Sparks over the top.Obviously Im disappointed that we didnt win and close it out, but Im not thinking its over, said an emotional Parker, slumped in a chair. I think our team has done things the hard way all year, so this is another test for us.Nothing came easy for Parker on Sunday. She fought and scraped for 14 points, and managed only three rebounds. Even with Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson on the bench for much of the second quarter in foul trouble, Parker struggled to take advantage.Still, the Sparks kept the game close. They had plenty of chances to take conntrol -- and even win -- but they kept getting in their own way.ddddddddddddWe have to play with a little bit more poise down the stretch, Sparks guard Kristi Toliver said. We have to be aggressive, assertive, decisive, and I think that in those last 1:30, we werent that, and thats going to be the difference.Game 5 demands that the Sparks march into Minneapolis to get a win, something theyve done twice this season. With a championship on the line, it will surely be an intense game, but the Sparks know what needs to be done to leave the Twin Cities victorious, even if they dont know from experience what it takes to win a championship.Weve got to fight, Alana Beard said. We need to do the little things, go back to fundamentals, keep Sylvia [Fowles] out of the lane, and everyone making it a point to box out. Its obvious that when they outrebound us on the offensive end, they win the game.Los Angeles also will need to find an answer for Maya Moore. The veteran torched the Sparks defense for 31 points. And Fowles helped the Lynx outrebound The Sparks 41-25.The definite takeaway from Game 4 is that the Sparks arent going down without a fight, and theyre going to Minnesota with their eyes on the prize.Game 5 is going to be exactly like Game 4. Its going to be a dogfight. Its going to be up-and-down. Its going to be physical, Toliver said. Hopefully well learn from this experience [Sunday] of knowing how to close out a series. ' ' '