SAINT GERVAIS MONT BLANC, France -- As Chris Froome heads toward victory in the Tour de France with a trail of rivals fighting for the podium places next to him, further back in the field -- way, way back -- the little known or seen battle just to finish the race on Sunday continues.It is the race for those who will have little or no say in the final overall outcome, or who at best are sprinters or domestiques for the fast finishers who are saving themselves for one more crack at a stage win in Sundays flat 21st stage from Chantilly to the Champs-Elysees in Paris.But there are also a large number of them who are just struggling to survive and reach Paris for the honour of saying after three weeks of racing that they are a Tour de France finisher.Whatever category these riders fall into, this late in the Tour they will work together in the grupetto -- the group that forms after the overall contenders increase the ante up front, creating a pace that for most riders behind them is too hard to maintain.Its no matter that they may be from rival teams and on any other day intent on racing against each other. Now they race with each other at a pace calculated to finish within the days time limit, as as they did in Fridays 146-kilometer 19th stage from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc in the Alps and will do so again on Saturday in Stage 20, 146.5km from Megeve to Morzine.Survive that stage and the grupetto?-- barring disaster -- should all reach Paris on Sunday.Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data), 35, an 11-time Tour rider from Austria and one of the key lead-out riders for British sprinter Mark Cavendish -- who left the race on Tuesday to focus on his Olympic Games preparation -- speaks of a special camaraderie within the grupetto.It is a spirit that grows especially in the third week when the suffering ramps up.It definitely started after the second rest day [on Tuesday], Eisel told ESPN in Albertville before Fridays start to Stage 19. These last two mountain stages [Thursday and Friday], this is where the pressure builds up and it gets a little bit more nervous. Will there be a grupetto? Will I get dropped before? Thats the crucial point.If you get dropped before the grupetto?is formed then it is a long long day for you.Eisel said the Tour is different in the first and second weeks for the peloton as most riders try to hang on as long as they can and the group forms really late; whereas in the third week the grupetto?usually forms early through accumulated exhaustion suddenly kicking in and the realisation that just finishing the stage within the time limit is the one real goal left.In the last week we try to look after each other, added Eisel, who as one of the senior riders is often tasked with setting the grupettos?pace. I try to look after the guys every day. It doesnt matter which team he is from or where he is from because I know how hard it is.Eisel began Fridays stage 174th overall from 177 riders, at 3 hours, 45 minutes, 21 seconds to Froome. By the end of a day marred by a crashes, Eisel was 172nd from 175 riders at 4:21:17 after placing 170th at 31:44 to French stage winner Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale). Bardet is now second overall at 4:11 to Froome, with Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) third at 4:27.Eisels result aside, the Tour has been a huge success for him in light of his role in helping Cavendish win four stages and enjoy a day in the yellow leaders jersey after his first win.With Cavendishs victories, Eisels South African-registered Dimension Data team can add a fifth, with Briton Stephen Cummings win in Stage 7. They have also been present in many breaks with the likes of Belgian Serge Pauwels and Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen.Five stage wins is incredible. We hoped for two, Eisel said. We had the [yellow] jersey for one day and pretty much managed everything on the first stage. There on it was a nice flow.We pretty much havent missed a breakaway. We are definitely showing the jersey.Regarding Cavendish, who has been selected for the Olympics in Rio to race in the omnium on the track and be Team GBs fifth rider for the team pursuit, Eisel said: He is on fire. We saw him creeping before the Tour.He was a little bit sick. He turned it over. It was probably good he had a rest before the Tour. He got his legs spinning and in the end he was definitely the strongest ... at least the fastest [here].At the same time, thats why I think it was a good decision to go home and concentrate on the Olympics ... [to] get a little rest before he goes back to the track. Frank Ntilikina Jersey .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Trey Burke Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. 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Walt Frazier Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian described by a judge as a fallen hero, was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in a South African prison for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in a ruling viewed by some as too lenient.However, Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared to anticipate criticism of a jail term that fell far short of the normally mandated 15 years for murder under South African law, declaring: Our courts are courts of law, not courts of public opinion.Pistorius, who shot Steenkamp through the door of a toilet cubicle in his home in 2013, was asked to stand and face Masipa as she announced his sentence in a wood-paneled courtroom in the South African capital, Pretoria. He was calm after the ruling, embracing his aunt and tearful sister before being led down a courtroom staircase to a holding cell ahead of being taken to prison.Later, a convoy of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing left a side entrance of the courthouse. In the convoy was a van with tinted windows, possibly carrying Pistorius.The sentencing was the latest act of a three-and-a-half-year legal drama that has often played out on live television and shown the fall from grace of a runner once viewed as an inspiration to many for overcoming his disability. Both of Pistorius legs were amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old because of a congenital defect.He made history by running at the 2012 Olympics on his carbon-fiber running blades and was one of the worlds most recognizable athletes.Hes a fallen hero -- he has lost his career and he is ruined financially, said Masipa, who originally convicted Pistorius of manslaughter, a ruling that was overturned by an appeals court that instead convicted him of murder and sent the case back to her for sentencing.In explaining the sentence, Masipa said there are substantial and compelling circumstances to show leniency toward Pistorius because he is a good candidate for rehabilitation, is unlikely to commit another crime and had shown what appeared to be genuine remorse over Steenkamps death.Pistorius, 29, maintained he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, by mistake thinking she was an intruder hiding in the bathroom early on Valentines Day 2013. Prosecutors alleged that he killed her intentionally after the couple argued.Pistorius will be eligible to apply for parole after three years, according to legal experts. Prosecutors, who had asked that he be sentenced to 15 years in prison,, can appeal for a heavier sentence but have yet to comment on whether they will do so.ddddddddddddThe family accepts the judgment, Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for the Pistorius family, said outside the courthouse.The Steenkamp family did not criticize the sentence. The family has said it before they wanted the law to run its course. It has done so. No further comment. They will keep a dignified silence, said Dup de Bruyn, Steenkamp family representative.Legal expert Marius du Toit described the sentence as lenient but not wrong.Some people who gathered outside the courthouse were critical.The law didnt take its course, said Dukes Masanabo, a South African sports official who had hoped Pistorius would be sentenced to 10 to 12 years, not six.He said the sentence is too light because Pistorius was sentenced to almost the same sentence -- five years -- for his earlier manslaughter conviction. He served one year of that sentence before being place under house arrest at his uncles mansion in Pretoria, and he had some freedom of movement outside the home during certain hours.The time that Pistorius has already served in prison is not subtracted from his new sentence.Another South African, Sarah Maete, said she wanted Pistorius to get the full 15 years in prison for murder.Its not enough, she said.In delivering her sentence, Masipa referred to the difficulties she faced in deciding a sentence that satisfies every relevant interest in a case that captured the worlds attention and led to extremes of opinion over the celebrated athlete. She noted that Pistorius had fired four times -- not once -- through the closed toilet door and spoke of the devastating effect the crime had on Steenkamps family.Ultimately, mitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating factors, the judge said.Steenkamps parents, Barry and June, were present in the courtroom, which was packed with relatives of both Pistorius and Steenkamp, journalists and other observers.Pistorius defense lawyers had asked for no jail time at all, saying he should be allowed to do charity work with children.Ulrich Roux, a South African lawyer and commentator who is not involved in the Pistorius case, said it had opened a window for South Africans into how their justice system works, including cross-examination and how a judge reaches a decision.He said: Its been a huge learning curve for our society. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 ' ' '