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Throughout the Tour de France, Australian professional cyclist Richie Porte will be checking in. Here is his first entry, as told to ESPN contributor Rupert Guinness:Stage 1: Mont Saint Michel to Utah BeachSeeing Alberto Contador sitting in the gutter by the side of the road after he crashed in the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday -- and every rider who fell in the opening day of racing -- showcased what is at stake after having spent so much time preparing for the race.The stage, from Mont Saint Michel to Utah Beach in Normandy, was sketchy for the peloton. But thats how it often is on the first day of a Tour that has a road stage like Saturdays. Id prefer it started with a prologue time trial. That would have created some order before the first road stage as the winners team could control the race a bit to defend the yellow jersey.When the Tour starts with a road stage that is raced on narrow roads with plenty of roundabouts, the odds of there being a crash rise so quickly. With the cross winds blowing, there was also going to be some sort of drama.So ... after seeing Alberto down, I wondered, Why do we race on roads like that? ... [We] come into that corner [from a roundabout] so fast when there is hardly any warning, if any at all.I hate to say it, but I believe Sundays second stage from Saint L? to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin will be much of the same. Any Tour start is nerve-racking, but it is not made any easier by some of the roads we are using. And Sunday will be on narrow roads with road furniture, which makes it quite dangerous. It even feels like its a luck thing ... to come out of this first week without any major issues will require a lot of that.What happened to Alberto showed what price it might take. Fortunately, it seems he will be OK; but it is not good to see anyones Tour compromised by an accident. It was the same on Saturday for my teammate Brent Brookwalter and Luke Rowe (Sky), who also came down in the same crash as Albertos.Crashes aside, for the sprint finish, won by Briton Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), I was in quite good position. I was up there when the crash occurred and was lucky to avoid it.It was a good end for me, even though it might not go down as one of the most memorable, unless you are Cavendish with 27 stage wins in his Tour career.It was still quite a hard stage. The pace was on, and then, when we got into the cross-wind section, a few teams tried to split up the peloton. In such a situation, you are always covering breaks. Its one of those nervous stages where you concentrate the whole time. Normally, the good art of that is you sleep well, a great thing on any grand tour.But it is still great to have the stage behind us. It at least feels the Tour has finally started.I have to be honest ... when you are sitting around in your hotel room for days before the Tour starts, the mind does wander ... where you are at, where your form is at. You start to ask all the questions. The show that is the Tour can get to a rider. But I believe that when you are at your best when you to try to focus on the race as if it was just another one of the lead-up races.All the races we do are super hard and super stressful. Sure, at the Tour, seeing the massive crowds makes it that bit more dangerous. It becomes harder to move up because you dont really want to move too much on the sides because there are people everywhere. But then, without the people on the roads, where would the Tour be today? That the crowds can be so close to the race -- and the rider -- still makes the sport, let alone Tour, unique.Having a passionate crowd that loves cycling is great, as I believe the next weeks will show. Nike Tanjun Sale Ireland . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Cheap Nike Tanjun Ireland .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. http://www.cheapniketanjunireland.com/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Nike Tanjun Wholesale . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Cheap Wholesale Nike Tanjun . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. The Baltimore Orioles non-tendered right-hander Vance Worley, allowing him to become a free agent, the team announced Friday.Worley posted a 3.53 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 35 appearances for the Orioles this year, including four starts. The 29-year-old struck out 56 in 86 2/3 innings.In addition, the Orioles tendered contracts to nine arbitratioon-eligible players:Right-handers Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman and Brad BachLeft-handers Zach Britton and T.ddddddddddddJ. McFarlandInfielders Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and Ryan FlahertyCatcher Caleb Joseph ' ' '