TOURS, France -- Marcel Kittel overtook Mark Cavendish at the line to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, while Chris Froome avoided a late crash to protect his big lead. Cavendish attacked first but Kittels late burst got him to the finish first by half a wheel to earn his second stage win in three days, and third of this race. "As we say in Germany, good things come in three," Kittel said. "It was a real sprint today, thats why Im so happy." German riders have won five stages so far -- with Tony Martin winning Wednesdays time trial and Andre Greipel also winning a sprint stage. Beating Cavendish for pure speed, a rare feat, will further boost Kittels confidence. "Its a big achievement for me, my team, and for German sprinters as well," Kittel said. It has been a nervy Tour so far and about 20 riders were caught in a crash near the end. Froomes Sky teammate, Edvald Boasson Hagen, broke his right shoulder blade and dropped out of the tour. Froome was close enough to "hear the crash" but just far ahead enough to avoid it. "Its always like that at the end before a sprint," Froome said. "Its scary for everyone." Froome still leads Alejandro Valverde by 3 minutes, 25 seconds and is 3:54 ahead of two-time former champion Alberto Contador. "At the moment Im trying to save as much energy as possible for Mont Ventoux at the end of the week and then the Alps next week," said Froome, who dominated the first big mountain stage of the race in the Pyrenees last Saturday. "Mont Ventoux will be the next really hard day for the general classification," he added. While Froome is firmly on track to become the second British rider to ever win the race -- Bradley Wiggins won it ahead of Froome last year -- countryman Cavendish has had a frustrating race. The Tours best sprinter two years ago, he looked well set to clinch his 25th career stage win as his Omega Pharma QuickStep teammate Gert Steegmans got him in a great position. Surprisingly, Cavendish did not have the legs to hold on. "I could jump onto his wheel and it worked out really well for us," Kittel said. "Im very proud of that victory. I showed today that I can beat the best sprinters." Cavendish did not look for excuses. "I can go back and look over it but he was just faster," he said. "(My teammates) delivered me at the right time. I was just beaten by a better guy." Peter Sagan finished third and holds a comfortable 96-point lead in his bid to retain the best sprinters green jersey. Cavendish was second, Greipel third and Kittel fourth. The peloton rolled through vineyards and alongside the Chinon forest on a 218-kilometre (135.5-mile) route from Fougeres to Tours in the Loire valley, a picturesque region dotted with imposing chateaux such as the spiral-towered Chateau dUsse, which dates from the 11th century, and the 16th century Chateau dAzay-le-Rideau, which rests on the water. Keen to keep their riders near the front of the main pack and limit the risk of crashes, Froomes Sky and Contadors Saxo-Tinkoff squads took turns pushing from the front. "That is the best position to be in because there are crashes everywhere," Froome said. "I did hear the crash behind me." Saxo-Tinkoff tried to pull away with about five kilometres (three miles) left, but Ian Stannard helped Froome catch them. Moments later, Norwegian rider Boasson Hagens tour ended when he was the worst affected in a pile-up of 20-odd riders who were sent flying backwards, upwards and sideways off their bikes. "Its a real shame for Edvald and a setback for the team," Sky manager Dave Brailsford said. "But ultimately were still confident that, with the riders weve got left, we can pull together and see the race through." Then, with the finish in sight, Froome survived a delicate moment when he appeared to be nudged by Tom Veelers. "I must have hit 10 guys on the run-in today," Froome said. "Thats the way it is." Vapormax Flyknit 3 Outlet .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Vapormax 97 Metallic Dark Sea . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. http://www.vapormaxcheapoutlet.com/ . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Vapormax Flyknit 3 White And Black . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Nike Vapormax 2019 Outlet . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. TORONTO -- Team North America and its breathtaking style of play are gone after three thrilling games at the World Cup of Hockey, their 2-1-0 record missing out on a semifinal berth by a hair.It seems so unfair, first and foremost for these North American kids, who surpassed all expectations in beating Sweden and Finland and losing by just a goal to Russia -- the loss that came back to haunt them. And its just as unfair to the fans of this sport, who were transported back to Edmonton Oilers 1980s-style hockey this week.Yeah, no matter what happens this afternoon, I think we can be proud of ourselves, North America star Connor McDavid said Thursday before Russias 3-0 win over Finland sealed Team North Americas fate. We can hold our heads high and know that we did almost everything we could do. ... Its been so much fun. We dont really want it to be over.Neither does anyone else.But what a memory the kids left us with.Its great. Its good for hockey. Its good for the future of hockey, Team Canada veteran defenseman Shea Weber said Thursday of the North American team. You see all the young talent coming through now. Its the future of our sport. Theyre a very competitive team. ... Theyve had some success, and its been fun to watch.But will they be back? The early indications are that the 23-and-under concept is a one-and-done experiment for a variety of reasons, one of them being that I dont think USA Hockey would endorse it again, not unless it can first choose which kids it wants on the senior team.Even McDavid said hed prefer to play for Team Canada next time around, even though hed be under 24 if the next World Cup is in 2020 and would qualify for a North American team in the existing framework.Lets see where this goes. The NHL and NHL Players Association might see the impact the kids team had on fans and decide to bring back a version of it. But the reality, too, is that this was a unique squad in terms of generational talent. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau, Nathan MacKinnon -- youre not going to get that class of players every four years.But what a tourney it was for Team North America: the chemistry 2015 No. 1 pick McDavid and 2016 No. 1 pick Matthews formed on a line together; Gaudreaus mesmerizing hands; the opening two minutes of the Sweden game; and the capper was MacKinnons ridiculous OT goal to beat the Swedes.Its an absolute shame the youngsters are gone. A semifinal matchup with Team Canada on a Saturday night would have been unreal theater.Oh, well. We can only ponder now what that would have been like.Other top stories from the preliminary round:? There was so much focus within Team USA on building its roster to beat Team Canada that wwe should have almost predicted the 3-0 stinker in the opener against Europe.dddddddddddd The teams in this tournament are way too good to focus all your energy on one rival. Thats truly the mistake, I think, that was made in assembling and preparing this team. The Americans were not ready for Team Europe, and it cost them an early exit.? Its a huge disappointment to see Finland go 0-3-0 and score just one goal in the tournament. The back-to-back Olympic bronze medalists deserved a better fate against Sweden (2-0 loss), but they otherwise were rather ordinary in losses to North America and Russia. I wouldnt read too much into it, however. The Finns are developing superb talent at younger levels and will be a force to reckon with again.? If they awarded a Jack Adams Award for best coach of the round-robin, the winner would be Team Europes Ralph Krueger. The way he brought together players from eight nations in such a short time to play such a cohesive, structured game is nothing short of remarkable.? Sweden still hasnt hit its high gear, as a Sunday semifinal (1 ET, ESPN) date with Europe awaits. Seen from the get-go as Team Canadas biggest threat, the Swedes have been good in stretches but have yet to put together three great periods. I think youll see that Sunday.? High marks to Russia for shedding some demons in finally reaching the semifinals of a best-on-best event after quarterfinal exits at the Sochi (2014) and Vancouver (2010) Winter Olympics. After the Russians opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Sweden, Alex Ovechkins squad really had its back against the wall against North America. A loss in that game would have eliminated Russia, with the added layer being the ignominy of getting kicked out by the kids. While that game could have gone either way, Im impressed by the passion and resiliency Russia showed in finding a way to win. It might be something the Russians can draw on as they try to upset Canada on Saturday night (7 ET, ESPN2).? And yes, Team Canada. Ho-hum, right? All Canada does is win and win and win. The Canadians went a perfect 6-0-0 in Sochi and walked through the round-robin at 3-0-0, crushing Team USA along the way. Sidney Crosbys top line has been out of this world. The fourth line centered by Ryan OReilly was the difference in the win over the U.S., and Jonathan Toews line led Canada past Europe. As Canadian coach Mike Babcock said Thursday, no doubt Ryan Getzlafs line is up next. Can Canada be beaten? Of course. But its going to take a heroic goaltending performance and opportunistic scoring to do it. ' ' '